Hello again,
The recent talk about starship/air-raft flight controls reminded me of
a random thought I had some time ago. I was reading an article in Science
(1992, vol.256, pg.s 616-617) called, "Virtual acoustics put sound in its place"
The article explains that audial perception of the real world is more than
simply the triangulation effect. Something that is implicit in having two ears
that are seperated by the thickness of the head (and boy!, some people I know
have very thick heads! :-) Sonic information is significantly effected by its
passage through/past the outer ear. It is a challenge to audio engineers to try
and understand this process and simulate it using computers so as to give a
truely realistic impression of the spacial dimension of sound using only a
"simple" stereo headset.
Atari, Nintendo, Sega etc. are spending mega-bucks on this concept for
their vidio games as would be expected. However, some very serious uses are also
envisaged. The one cited is for air trafic controllers and pilots. It is
strongly felt that the directional cues given by such a system can improve
response times by fractions or even whole seconds which can be a very important
thing.
To cut a long story short, this all led me to think that any "task that
is three-dimensional in nature" can be enhanced by virtual technology, and I'm
thinking of other than the visual/data glove virtual reality which is so popular
at the moment. In sci-fi where artificial gravity within space ships is so
common, one could easily loose all cues with the spacial dimensions of the
outside world. If we assume that at least in some instances (and probably very
crucial instances) direct control of a ship by its pilot will occur, it seems
to me that any technologically advanced society will be using some of these
virtual tricks to improve flying effeciency. Not only acoustics but also subtle
changes inthe gravitational directions of the flight deck could give real
appreciation of the spacial state of the ship. The idea of having fans blowing
onto Droyne pilots is in the same vein. It may look a little amusing at first
but there would be a very good and serious reason for it.
Unfortunately, I have gotten to the end of this and had the thought that
it's all pretty obvious and may well have been said before, and probably right
under my nose. If so.....oooppps, sorry!
Alex Jeffries
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Alex Jeffries
Molecular Virology Lab.
Waite Agricultural Research Inst. [email removed]
The University of Adeliade
Glen Osmond, South Australia
Australia
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If you think having a Grand Prix in your back yard is exciting, well YOU WRONG!
It's noisy.
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