Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502100100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Donning a pair of dark goggles, Roanoke College freshman Winston McKenna stood inside the Sutton Student Center on Thursday afternoon waving a gun at fellow student Tim Morin.
Standing less than 10 feet away, Morin had his own gun and goggles, and McKenna was his target.
Circling above their heads were deadly pterodactyls ready to swoop down for the kill.
Sound a little far-fetched for Roanoke College's sedate Salem campus?
You're right; it wasn't real.
It was virtual reality - a catch phrase for new ways in which humans think and act with computers.
By making fuller use of vision, hearing and touch, and exploiting computer graphics and sound, designers are able to create artificial electronic worlds that computer users can "virtually" enter.
Instead of watching a video screen, a user wears goggles that provide a three-dimensional video display. The user then pulls on a special glove, or holds some type of weapon, that registers hand movements, eliminating the need for a computer keyboard. Electronic sensors detect where the user is standing, facing and pointing.
As part of their Winterfest celebration, Roanoke College students were given a chance on Thursday to experience virtual reality.
Michigan-based Kramer Entertainment Agency Inc. trucked in two huge computer platforms and invited students to play Dactyl Nightmare - "a stereoscopic 360-degree walk through cyberspace."
McKenna was impressed with his first journey into the world of virtual reality.
"It was very interactive," he said. "It was like I was in a computer."
Dactyl Nightmare, developed in 1988, is one of the most basic virtual reality games.
Two at a time, the students hopped onto the oval-like computer platforms, strapped on a gun belt and pulled the goggles over their eyes. The view inside the goggles was of a 3-D room with lots of platforms and stairs.
The students guided themselves through the room's maze by turning their bodies.
The two computer platforms were linked together, and for the next three minutes, the students tried to shoot each other's computer image while avoiding the pterodactyls flying above their heads.
Sophomore Jennifer DeGolyer had mixed feelings after her turn at the game.
"It was weird," she said. "It kind of made you feel dizzy."
Terry Dillon, a manager for Kramer Entertainment, calls the virtual reality games dream machines.
"Anything you can dream up, you can do with these machines," he said.
Mark Petersen, the college's dean of students, said the virtual reality games are educational for students, because in a few years, the technology is going to be used in everyday tasks.
"This isn't science fiction anymore," he said. "All these kids are going to live this stuff."
by CNB