Lucio: The title of the presentation is Creating natural-looking virtual worlds... Lucio: Ok ....my name is Lucio Pascarelli ...
Lucio: ..and I am responsible for Communication Services at FAO in Rome, Italy Lucio: FAO stands for the "Food and Agriculture Organization" of the United Nations…
Lucio: … one of the largest specialized agencies of the U.N. Lucio: … and focused on the global issues relating to food production and nutrition.
Lucio: Needless to say, without food, any human being rapidly becomes just a hungry animal…
Lucio: … and that's why FAO believes that the most basic of human rights is the right to adequate food and nutrition
Lucio: … the "right to food"…
Lucio: … without which, the "right to freedom" becomes meaningless.
Lucio: Every minute of every day, a dozen children under five die of hunger and malnutrition… Lucio: … and like the vast majority of the 800 million chronically undernourished people around the globe today,
Lucio: … most of them live and die in rural areas of the developing world. Lucio: Having said this... lets get back onto the topic of the conference....
Lucio: In FAO, I focus on providing telecommunications services to the organization.
Lucio: This frequently leads me to the most underdeveloped regions of the planet, Lucio: where most of FAO's "business" is conducted.
Lucio: Needless to say, almost all of these countries also have very poor telecommunications infrastructures.
Lucio: Now, I'm sure that most of you have one time or another believed that the Internet would somehow "unite" the planet
Lucio: into a "global village". Lucio: Unfortunately this is not happening…. because more than a "global village" .... the global Internet is starting to look more like a city …
Lucio: … with suburban "slums" … Lucio: … where the "bandwidth" poor live. Lucio: Bandwidth is by now a true commodity, just like oil and other heavily consumed goods.
Lucio: Can you see the pictures ?
Tao: YES!!!!!!!!!!
"LoRez": yes
paulix: yeah
Princess Tia: yes
Lucio: The real problem though, is how much bandwidth is really necessary ?
Lucio: Let me pause for a second...
AMD: Ok
"Alex": hello everybody!!
Lucio: Think of the effect the pictures have on you...
Lucio: ... and lets get back to bandwidth ...
Lucio: The slides behind me will give an indication of bandwidth requirements per communications method.
Lucio: E-mail is the lowest ... only 4.8 k is enough.
Lucio: Next comes Voice... (which is the same as internet since modems work over phone lines)
Lucio: VR .. requires a bit more... when some sort of voice link will be supported... Lucio: but on your right you can see the low-end requirements of video-conferencing.
Lucio: Top end for standard video-conferencing is 384k… way above the panel ;-)
Lucio: For your info, in the places where I work we consider ourselves quite lucky if we can get more than 28.8.
Lucio: Now....
Lucio: ... just like cars in the 70s … following the oil crisis …
Lucio: I believe that Internet technology needs to progress towards more bandwidth-lean tools…
Lucio: … where instead of mileage per gallon …
Lucio: … the unit of measure becomes "information content" … per kilobyte of bandwidth.
AMD: I have 33.6 here, the 56K modem is useless
Lucio: In other words, the more information "satisfied" you get, over a slow modem …
Lucio: ....the more bandwidth lean is the communication tool.
Lucio: I'm sure all of you enjoy spending time in Active Worlds more than in other Internet environments.
Lucio: ...yet the capacity of your modem is the same... as when you surf the net.
Lucio: The obvious conclusion is that VR is more "satisfying" than other 2-d Internet tools.
Lucio: I don't think I have to explain why …. others have done and do so better than me...
Lucio: But I do want to quote what is written in the AV98 stand of Ron "Protagonist" ...
Lucio: ...(the main author of the AW software).
Lucio: The quote says: "People make virtual reality … reality"
Lucio: This is so true…
Lucio: … but it is even more true when the "people" are from different cultures and languages.
Lucio: I think it would be interesting to do a nationality count of the people present at this show. ...
Lucio: I am sure that it is much higher than any other Internet environment. ..
Lucio: Just think of those strange characters that appear on the chat window every now then ....
Lucio: I don't think this is common in other chat environments...
Lucio: The reason is that 3-d environments are "interesting" even if you don't understand the language.
Lucio: The same is definitely not true for the World Wide Web or for text-only chats.
Lucio: It is for this reason that I firmly believe in VR as a means of recovering the low-bandwidth "slums" of the global village.
Lucio: recovering in the sense of ... helping them get out of the slums...
Lucio: I believe that Virtual Reality is really the best compromise for bandwidth/communications content.
Lucio: And in the case of the developing world… Immigration Officer: All speakers telegram digigardener to let us know the status of your session
Lucio: VR is probably the only tool that will allow the bandwidth-poor to be part of the new network economy being fueled by the Internet.
Lucio: This leads me to the second part of my talk. Lucio: Like many AW "citizens" ... I read Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" when it came out…
Lucio: …but it was not until I stumbled into Active Worlds that I convinced myself that the Snow Crash fantasy was becoming reality.
Lucio: In line with what I said before…
Lucio: I set out to experiment with the AW technology.
Lucio: My objective was to convert some of the FAO statistics into meaningful and "communicative" objects in a virtual world.
Lucio: At the moment they are either long "boring" documents... or
Lucio: .. or sterile graphs...
Lucio: It rapidly became clear to me that "manual" building would not get me far.
Lucio: I therefore set out to experiment with HamBot scripts, and more specifically with the build commands.
Lucio: Being an IT person, I tried immediately to link both the RWX and HamBot scripts with the everyday tools I use.
Lucio: This meant figuring ways of interfacing SQL databases and spreadsheets with AW technology.
Lucio: After a two weeks of experimenting I figured out ways to generate objects and scripts from the Visual Basic environments of Microsoft Excel and Access.
Lucio: At that point another idea came up…
Lucio: I noticed that almost all of the Worlds in the AW universe were flat.
Lucio: Most of them were experiments into 3-d environments ... impossible in real life.
Lucio: However, all of them, including the non-flat ones, fell quite short of having a natural look.
Lucio: I therefore set out to develop a world "as natural" looking as possible.
Lucio: Those of you that have explored the world of Fractals know that these non-linear mathematical formulas are the ones that best reproduce natural processes.
Lucio: Armed with the world generation tools developed so far, ...
Lucio: I experimented with ways of feeding my programs with "fractal" like data.
Lucio: The result of these experiments is now a world called Virtualy, of which you see pictures behind me.
Lucio: Virtualy is made up of over 60,000 objects, all placed in the world by non-linear processing programs.
paulix: a bot with a sweet heart
Lucio: Some of these programs are now available on the news groups....
Lucio: . I have also held some classes on the Virtualy technique on AW University.
Lucio: In anycase, Feel free to contact me at lucio@pascarelli.com if you are interested.
Lucio: When people tell me that Virtualy is beautiful....
Lucio: I can't help thinking that all they are looking at is a hill with a bunch of trees …. LOL
Lucio: The lesson learned is that recreating nature ....
Lucio: ...manually ...
Lucio: is very difficult….
Lucio: … I guess that's what artists are for :)
Lucio: Anyway (and in conclusion) … now that the Virtualy experiment is done…
Lucio: I am starting to work on my first objective….
Lucio: … which is figuring ways to create a meaningfull world with the FAO data.
Lucio: The FAO world (set up rapidly for Avatars 98)... right now contains some samples of the type of data that FAO maintains…
Lucio: … however, the data is far from being presented the way I would like it to be...
Lucio: … for example… how can I convert the FAO hunger map into a 3-d scene that is communicative ?
Lucio: I think 3-d objects can be much more communicative than words...
Lucio: if properly used...
Lucio: ... they are also mostly independent from language and culture.
Lucio: … I don't have the answers to that yet… but I am here to experiment.
Lucio: And I look forwards to continuing this experiment with the friends I have met here..
Lucio: The only problme is that I can't invite them to have a spaghetti dinner with me...
Lucio: ... in true Italian style :))))
Lucio: Thanks for coming … and visit Fao and Virtualy if you have time J
Lucio: :)))
Emanuele: YES !!!!!!!!! There should be more talks about these topics. Great Lucio , clap, clap clap, clap
Wireball: Interesting
Emanuele: ariclapette, ariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapetteariclapette
shard: We'll be posting the text of talks (with speaker's permission only, of course) in the next few days.
Lucio: fine for me :)
shard: Thank you very very much! :-))
Emanuele: ola, IoI IoI IoI IoI IoI IoI IoI IoI IoI IoI
AMD: Excellent talk
Lucio :)
Princess Tia: very good :))
paulix: ditto Virtualy0: clap,clap,clap!=)
"LoRez": nice ideas of yours
Lucio: Thanks :)
shard: Hi, Lucio, I'm Anita. Very pleased to have been able to be here for your talk!
Lucio: My pleasure :)
paulix: so a virtual talk can be synchronised with slides!
paulix: in a thought-provoking way
Lucio: yes... although we had some problems ...
Lucio: just like IRL....
shard: The slides were put up in real time... by Bonnie deVarco, during the talk
paulix: :)
shard: yes, like in rl
shard: Lucio provided all the slides from a website
Lucio: but the advantage is that you don't have to carry around your slide projector and portable :)
Princess Tia: :))
shard: and Bonnie put them up -- haha, Lucio, and no figerprints on your slides, either
Lucio: hahaha....
paulix: but you need your trusty bandwidth :-)
Lucio: I think this is a great application for a bot...
shard: I wonder if talks like this will have an audience that grows because of the digital documentation...
Lucio: it reads your script ... and understands when to change the slides :)
shard: and perhaps a Special Interest Groupon a topic like this (aha! Lucio is a science fiction writer i see)
shard: oh oh... for a bot! yes indeed!!
Emanuele: it would be called virtuallink, the natural extention of an hyperjump...
"LoRez": the problem wih this media ( as i see it, newbie me) is not bandwidth, but the fact that it takes a smaller geniu to make it work proparly...
Lucio: shard ... I think the challenges is real-time versus reading after...
"LoRez": or a greaer audience simpleness is needed
shard: yes indeed... and this was a beginning test of the technology and possibilities
shard: it should lead to some organized notes of recommendations to the Circle of Fire crew about properties needed
shard: in AW
Lucio: Yes .... I agree :)
Lucio: but... the real change will come with audio ...
shard: Your "slides" timed with your ideas presented...
shard: ...and with the interactive possibilities...
shard: make for a dynamic learning experience, I think
shard: I fear tho that I'm saying nothing useful. Better that we should talk about your talk, your ideas.
Lucio: No.... my talk was about this...
shard: It should be quite possible to stage a talk in Virtualy, for instance...
Lucio: the issue is how (soon) will this technology become commercially better than meeting person to person...
"LoRez": how "real" is virtual reality going to be, from your perspective, lucio??
Lucio: For work purposes...
"LoRez": is there any limits?
Lucio: I am convinced it will be quite real...
Lucio: It can't replace human contact...
Lucio: but it will be fine ... and cheaper ... than traditional working environments.
Lucio: Telecommuting is much cheaper... also on the environment.
shard: Whenever "work" is the gathering and presenting of information, the centralizing of our intelligence...
shard: ...the digital medium and its delivery possibilities is quite sensible.
Lucio: Yep... "infospace"...
shard: I very much like your notion of 3D capabilities of presenting untexted information
Lucio: In otherwords... I would love to telecommute ... and not meet some co-workers...
Lucio: when it gives me more time to stay with friends...
shard: yes yes!
"LoRez": im a musician and from being totally into anologic instruments, im only working digitally now, its a big step, but i cant believe the way i used to work before!! much easier, better quality, and so on
"LoRez": acveything is beter now
shard: Hmmm
"LoRez": im talking sedin sounds an samples ocer the net
"LoRez": in a way that was impossible before for me
shard: Yes. Under what circumstances could I ever have met and discussed global hunger with Lucio? Except these?
Lucio: Right...
"LoRez": true
Lucio: And I don;t even know where you are from...
Lucio: In any other circumnstance that would have been the first thing...
Lucio: ... to ask :)
shard: It may permit people to more quickly grow information in their mutual nurturing
Lucio: In this world it does not matter....
"LoRez": north sweden here (if u asked) :)
Lucio: :)
shard: so long as we have a common language...
Lucio: LoRez: the non-linear programming of virtualy... is similar to the the richness of analog sounds...
Lucio: ... compared to the "first generation" digital sounds ... remember the DX7
"LoRez": true, although much easier to learn, at least i think so
"LoRez": yes!!
"LoRez": hehe
Lucio: when creating Virtualy... I found myself going around and taking Visual samples of the world...
"LoRez": what i really would like to try is an totally online session
Lucio: with a VideoCam....\
Princess Tia: :)
"LoRez": with musicians all ocver the world
Lucio: I used to do that with a taperecorder...
"LoRez": :)
Lucio: The problem LoRez is Latency...
shard: wonderful
"LoRez": yes
shard: latency...?
"LoRez": bandwith... :)
Lucio: No... not bandwidth... but latency...
Lucio: It takes about 400 milliseconds for any TCP/IP message to reach you and back...
Lucio: That means that I cannot play in time with you...
Lucio: I cannot hear you beat and play along...
"LoRez": on the other hand, that could lead to a totally new concept
shard: ah... I was just thinking that oo, LoRez
"LoRez": it only sounds good here
"LoRez": and there
"LoRez": but not in the middle
Lucio: LOL....
"LoRez": :)
Lucio: a different kind of music....
Lucio: definitely not possible IRL
shard: Just heard of Voce, at Mark Pesce's website, one of the speakers today, and it may...
shard: ...have some audio aspects worth noticing...
"LoRez": ahhh i missed that shard: hey... the avvy awards are pretty soon, in about 15 minutes. You European folks must be weary, eh? 1am?
"LoRez": my p02 actually...
Lucio: No... probs... ready to see the dawn :)
Lucio: lets go :)
"LoRez": yes shard: [I also missed mark's talk, but his speakerpage will lead you to news of Voce.]
shard: yes, let's go to where it's paralyzingly populated

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