Return to InterCHI-Interactive-Experience-Proposal CVS log

Up to [Micropolis - Activity] / micropolis / src / notes

Annotation of micropolis/src/notes/InterCHI-Interactive-Experience-Proposal, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: MicropolisNet: a Cooperative Multi User City Simulation
        !             2: 
        !             3: MicropolisNet is an animated interactive system simulation game, providing 
        !             4: a set of rules and tools for planning and building a complex
        !             5: dynamic simulated city.  Several people on different workstations can
        !             6: participate in the same game, cooperating and coordinating their
        !             7: actions over the net. 
        !             8: 
        !             9: Working together, you can zone land use, hook up the power grid, build
        !            10: roads, bridges, parks and stadiums, raise taxes, and even summon
        !            11: disasters, causing the city to grow and thrive, or crumble and die.
        !            12: MicropolisNet features multiple city views and maps with overlays,
        !            13: simultaneous editing and user interface interaction, "voting panels"
        !            14: for group decision making, and multimedia communication and
        !            15: annotation features ("bridges between players").
        !            16: 
        !            17: The multi user interface supports communication via three media in
        !            18: parallel: text, sound, and graphics.  It includes a scrolling text log
        !            19: for telegram messages, a networked audio server for sound effects and
        !            20: voice intercom, and shared cursors and graphical overlays for
        !            21: pointing, gesturing, annotating and editing the map.
        !            22: 
        !            23: I propose to build a model of the Amsterdam neighborhood near
        !            24: the conference ("bridges between dijks"), and let people walk up 
        !            25: and interact as they please.  Experienced MicropolisNet players can
        !            26: participate, using the shared environment and communication features
        !            27: to demonstrate the system, advise other players, and coordinate the
        !            28: game.  
        !            29: 
        !            30: The purpose of the experience is to create a constructive cooperative
        !            31: virtual environment, where people can collaborate towards a common goal, 
        !            32: take part in group decisions, and share resources, responsibility, 
        !            33: and the consequences of each others actions. 
        !            34: 
        !            35: MicropolisNet is robust and easy to use, with engaging interactive sound
        !            36: effects and lively graphical animation, so it's fun to watch as well
        !            37: as play.  
        !            38: 
        !            39: MicropolisNet can be played across several different makes of computer at 
        !            40: once ("bridges between brands").  It presently runs on color SPARC and 
        !            41: Indigo workstations (and is easily portable to other Unix platforms), 
        !            42: and plays over the net (but without sound) on other 8 bit color X 
        !            43: terminals and workstations.  I can ship my own SPARC if necessary, and 
        !            44: I'm trying to obtain support and a loan of equipment (hopefully Indigos) 
        !            45: in Holland.
        !            46: 
        !            47: It would be useful to have a high resolution video projector, visible 
        !            48: from the other workstations.  The projector could display overall city 
        !            49: maps, graphs, messages, statistics and other global data, so players 
        !            50: don't need to spend their own screen space.  
        !            51: 
        !            52: I need enough floor and table space to place workstations where people 
        !            53: can walk up to them and use the keyboard, mouse, and microphone.  Most 
        !            54: could be together in a group within view of the video projector, but 
        !            55: others could be in remote locations. 
        !            56: 
        !            57: The workstations, network, video projector, and posters must be set 
        !            58: up and torn down, but none of that's very difficult.  Thin wire ethernet
        !            59: would be preferable, and would require thick to thin transceiver for the
        !            60: workstations equipped with thick wire ethernet plugs.  
        !            61: 
        !            62: Once MicropolisNet is set up and running, it doesn't require special
        !            63: supervision.  I will attend and demonstrate the system as much as I
        !            64: can, but during other times, unless someone volunteers, it can run 
        !            65: on its own, as long as there's enough security that none of the 
        !            66: equipment walks off.  
        !            67: 
        !            68: I'm presently implementing MicropolisNet on X11 for DUX Software (who
        !            69: licensed Micropolis from Maxis).  It's mostly functional now, and will
        !            70: be ready to demonstrate, but not yet released as a product, by the time 
        !            71: of the conference.  Soon I'll have an "Alpha" demo version for the SGI
        !            72: and SPARC, for limited distribution to INTERCHI reviewers and other
        !            73: interested people.  I'll make a video tape as soon as I have the 
        !            74: time and equipment.  
        !            75: 
        !            76: I've given many talks and interactive presentations at conferences, 
        !            77: and run demos at trade show booths.  At CHI'90, I participated in the 
        !            78: "Empowered" performance (giving a whirlwind tour of pie menu based user
        !            79: interfaces I'd implemented).  Last year, I ported Micropolis (single user) 
        !            80: to OpenWindows on the SPARC (which won "Product of the Year 1992" from
        !            81: Unix World).  I worked as a developer of The NeWS Toolkit (at Sun in
        !            82: Mountain View) and the HyperLook UIMS (at the Turing Institute in
        !            83: Glasgow), both of which I used to port Micropolis to the SPARC.  To 
        !            84: implement MicropolisNet on X11, I'm using the Tk toolkit, which I chose 
        !            85: to use because it's free, simple, and extensible. 

This archive runs on limited infrastructure. Preserving old code on modern bandwidth. Automated agents are requested to crawl responsibly.