Really Virtual Spaces

The ability to paint dynamic video derived textures to sets of polygons in Croquet spaces makes it possible to project images of reality into virtual reality. Croquet based environments can now not only have people interacting with one another as video avatars, but they can also interact with one another within representations derived from real world contexts in real time. Current Croquet technology makes it possible to 'painthttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif' each of the four walls of a stationary skybox with each of four video feeds taken from four cameras in a particular real-world location (of course, with the right math and a fish-eye lens, a single feed could also come from one camera, be distorted, and then 'painted' on all four walls). In this way, the entire user experience in a Croquet space could be framed by real-time video images of real places.

Who might use such a capability? Consider any situation where experts might need to get together to make decisions about an emerging and poorly-defined situation where the ability to 'look around', discuss, and annotate what is happening is of importance. Projecting images from a single video source into a collaborative Croquet space could offer crucial information feed and quickly establish a meaningful context for dealing with new and emerging real-world situations. The interface between the real and the virtual is an area of deep interest as we move forward with our work.