CS-480_Senior Seminar
                                   Fall '02
                                 Hasan AlAref

             Study questions for How the Virtual Inspires the Real


    Daniel Hillis, The Power to Shape the World

1. According to Hillis, "Each year, there would be a hot new technique, and the
   following year, everyone would be using it. A new level of realness would be
   achieved." What can you imagine about this new level? how would it blend
   with reality, and to what extent?  


 2. The details in which Hillis described how the teapot was forming in front
    of them were very impressing.  People are trying to take every small detail
    into account to imitate the real thing.  Is it possible to make these
    objects interactive with the world around it? Or do you think that this
    level is more than enough for a decent simulation? 


 3. Computer Graphics has entered the industry market very quickly. Does this
    mean that knowledge in computer Graphics is a prerequisite to work in this
    field (mainly designing)? How is this going to affect employees in this
    field?  

 4. The idea of affecting Human bodies through this virtual reality is 
    frightening indeed. Is this going to be a similar issue as human cloning? 


 5. "Computer graphics has become our way of connecting to what is real." The
    examples Hillis gave to support this are undeniable.  But how can we have
    complete trust in what we see on the screen?


 6. The responsibility that Hillis lays on humans is a great one.  Do you think
    certification is also needed in this field?


  Alvy Ray Smith, The Reality of Simulated Actors

1. What's the destinction that Smith is after when he says: "... we must 
   separate acting from (the appearance of) actors" ?

2. Smith expects that it will take about 20 years to produce the fully digital 
   "live action" motion picture. Doesn't that seem to be a lot of time,
   especially that we already have movies like Toy Story and such?  Is there
   something more that Smith is expecting in a such a digital movie? 

3. Smith claims that we will never replace actors, but he says that animators 
   are also hired based on thier acting skills. Doesn't this mean that actors
   have to have computer-graphics backgrounds? Doesn't this also mean that
   actors will become animators (or vice-versa)? 


   Clemens Wagner, Markus Schill and Reinhard M"anner, Intracoular Surgery on a
Vritual Eye

1. The first 3 or 4 paragraphs talk about how realistic they are trying to make
   the environment around the surgeon for practice purposes. Dont you think
   that they missed the psychological factor here, especially that the surgeon
   knows that this is not real? Looking at the 2 pictures on page 46, you can
   notice a lot of difference that could create more pressure on the surgeon. 


2. What other suggestions besides optical tracking would be reasonable for 
   monitoring the practice? can you think of other ways to make the practice
   more realistic? 


3. Complexity of objects behavior resembles a real challenge for some 
   professions. Consider how critical it is for surgery purposes, and compare
   it to that of designing a racing computer game. 



   A final question:  It seems like computer science is getting a seat in every
profession. How dangerous or how good is that?


   Articles are from Communications of the ACM, v45/n7, July 2002, pp 33-35,
37-38 and 45-49.