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AGOCG VR Survey 1997 On-Line


A survey of VR activities in the UK commissioned by the Advisory Group on Computer Graphics (AGOCG) was carried out by the Advanced Virtual Reality Research Group (AVRRC) at Loughborough University early in 1997. This is available on-line at:
http://sgi-6.lut.ac.uk/~vrsupp/Survey97.html

Alternatively hard copies may be requested from Anne Mumford The survey is a follow-up of two previous surveys commissioned by AGOCG and conducted by the Advanced Interfaces Group at the University of Manchester in 1994 and 1995 by Howard et al, and available on:
http://www.agocg.ac.uk/TechReports/VRinUK/report.html

The aims of the survey were:

A questionnaire was produced and made available by post, by e-mail and on the AVRRC web site (http://sgi-6.lut.ac.uk/~vrsupp/flyer.html). To facilitate comparison with the previous surveys most of the key questions used in the former surveys were repeated. In addition, respondents were requested to provide a list of their publications in the VR area. This list is available on-line at the AVRRC web site. It is the intention that this list is maintained and expanded. Any readers wishing to have publications listed on the site, or to add to their current listings are encouraged to contact the AGOCG VR support officer at the address below.

It is also intended that the survey will be updated on a continuous basis. The survey questionnaire will remain on-line at the above address and readers are encouraged to submit revised information as and if circumstances change. Also, readers who did not make a submission in response to the original call are encouraged to do so. Feedback on the content of the survey is welcomed, with particular emphasis on information that readers feel would be desirable but which is not covered in the questionnaire.

An outcome of the survey was the identification of VR software and hardware products that are currently in use, or that groups are intending to use in the near future. The most commonly cited items were Division dVS/dVISE, Sense8, and Superscape. The AGOCG support officer is undertaking descriptive evaluations of these items to identify aspects of their use within the context of application in Higher Education. The aim of these evaluations will be to provide potential users with an overview of the products:

To this end, an evaluation framework has been drafted and is available on:
http://sgi-6.lut.ac.uk/~vrsupp/eval_frmwk.html

Reader's comments on this framework are welcomed and should be directed to the Support Officer at the address below. Feedback on the proposed list of products chosen for evaluation would also be welcomed.

For further information, or to provide feedback on the issues raised above please contact:

Lenny Stapleton, AVRRC
Department of Human Sciences
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leicester
LE11 3TU

l.j.stapleton@lboro.ac.uk