Speaking of software techno-wizardry:  SIGGRAPH was in Orlando this year,
and I'm dizzy with virtual reality.  I have swum with dolphins while
lying on a vibrating liquid crystal bed, done a  "post Euclidean walkabout"
in fourth dimensional hyperspace (projected on 3 walls and the floor of a
small room and viewed wtih liquid crystal glasses), sailed a rum running
ship during Prohibition with a Captain's wheel interface, used a "responsive
workbench," a 3D multi-media station the size of a coffee table with a
projection TV for the top and a whole row of touch panel tools.
 
Whew!
 
Some museum-relevant stuff:  2 virtual reality tours of cathedrals, one
a truly breathtaking St. Peter's.  A VR tour (work in progress) of the
12th Dynasty fort at Buhen in Upper Egypt, done by the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston and the Getty.  Enormous amounts of wonderful stuff on the
visualization of information-- oil reserves, tsunamis, etc.  The
Computer Museum was displaying a cell biology piece.  And,of course,  a lot
of computer art, and a truly astonishing amount of graphics/animation/
rendering/special effects software.  Amazing what you can do with a
$150,000 computer.
 
Ann Mintz
Orlando Science Center
[log in to unmask]