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Date: Tue, 22 Oct 91 15:55:17 -0500
From: Greg Newby <gbnewby@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>
Message-Id: <9110222055.AA27246@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>
To: dstamp@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca, glove-list@karazm.math.uh.edu
Subject: Specifics on VPL's Mac
Cc: gbnewby@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
Thanks for the summary, Dave.  You mentioned that you didn't have
the specs for the Mac VPL uses for it's virtual reality setup:

They use a high-end model (Mac II cx or fx), 16 Meg ram.  The Mac runs
a proprietary program (set of programs, really), called "Body 
Electric."  I only used this a little bit, but it was basically
an object definition language -- the programmer would specify
objects and give them characteristics.  The programming language
didn't seem much different from Hypercard, or maybe a database
definition language.  Things such as:
	define ball
		 can move
		 has gravity
		 size = 10
		 shape = round
		 initial position..
etc.  That's not how the language looked, but those are the types
of characteristics that were defined.

The rumor is that they are now trying to remove the Mac from the
picture altogether -- with today's Iris', there's really no need
(older Iris' were a different story....). 

Didn't VPL have a demonstration at SIG/GRAPH with only one Iris?  Or
was it an Iris and a Mac...
  Anyway, that fills in a few details...
-- Greg
gbnewby@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu