NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/sci/virtual/3634

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From: [e-mail] (Bob Jacobson)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: CONF: CyberConf 3 announcement
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Date: 10 Nov 92 01:42:46 GMT
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******************* A  n  n  o  u  n  c  e  m  e  n  t ***************

                                 a n d

       -------- CALL FOR PROPOSALS, ABSTRACTS, AND PAPERS ---------

                           3 C Y B E R C O N F
             THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CYBERSPACE
                           MAY 14 and 15, 1993

                                  AT
                    THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
**********************************************************************


The Third Conference on Cyberspace will be held May 14 and 15, 1993 at
The University of Texas at Austin.  This is a call for proposals for
performances and demonstrations as well as for extended abstracts and
papers, approximately twenty four of which will be selected by the
Program Committee for development and presentation at the Conference.
Selected papers, abstracts, and proposal documents will be published
as The Collected Papers of the Third Conference on Cyberspace and
available at the Conference.  Arrangements are being made to broadcast
parts of the Conference on National Community Cable Television.

Papers should be around 6,000 words.  Abstracts and proposals for
performances and demonstrations should be between 800 and 1000 words,
with illustrations and  photographs where necessary.  All are due in
hard copy and digital form at the address below by January 1, 1993.
Videotapes and recordings are also encouraged.  Selectees will be
notified by February 15, 1993.

       -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

In the interests of vigorous participation by all, attendance at the
Conference is limited.  Priority will be given in the following order.

----Category 1:  Participants who have been selected and invited to
present their papers, perform, or demonstrate their work.

----Category 2:  Participants not selected to present but who  have
submitted papers, abstracts, and proposals judged by the Program
Committee to be serious and of particular interest to the Conference.

----Category 3:  Participants with creative and clearly stated
interests, experience, and expertise in the Topics listed below, as
submitted in writing in advance of the registration deadline.

----Category 4:  Visitors & Observers who are not actively working in
the field at this time but  who have expressed interest in the subject
in writing in advance of the registration deadline.

Like the First Conference at Austin in 1990, and the Second Inter-
national Conference in Santa Cruz in 1991, the Third Conference on
Cyberspace is not only about the enabling technology of virtual
reality, 3-D user interfaces, networking, data visualization, high
speed computer graphics, and so on, but also the nature of cyberspace
as  such, conceived of as an independent realm, a shared virtual
environment whose inhabitants, objects, and spaces are data,
visualized, heard and (perhaps) touched.  It seeks to reach  an
understanding of how the components of cyberspace already "under
construction" in the development and design of  graphic user inter-
faces, scientific visualization techniques, video games, CAD, abstract
architecture and architectural design theory, knowledge navigation,
"cyberpunk" discourse, cultural studies, film and narrative theory,
virtual and artificial reality systems, MU*s, INTERNET, USENET and
other networks, groupware, and hypermedia might someday  function
together to create a true, public cyberspace, as well as private,
special-purpose cyberspaces: viable, 3-dimensional, alternate
realities providing the maximum number of individuals with the means
of communication, creativity, productivity, mobility, and control over
the shapes of their lives within the new information and media
environment.

The Third Conference on Cyberspace is scheduled to take place over two
days and two nights, two sessions held concurrently. In addition,
there will be an evening ROUND TABLE on the night of the 14th and a
DINNER on the night of the 15th.  The attempt will be made to match
Topics to Sessions, but the number, nature, and quality of submissions
will be the deciding  factor in scheduling.

The following is a representative list of the general topics  of
interest to the Conference.  OTHER, is also an option.  The organizers
ask only that rampant speculation be accompanied by "concrete"
accomplishment.




I.  COMMUNICATIONS, MEDIA, AND THE CITY
Papers are invited that discuss and/or report on the proliferation and
diversification of the media-- from TV to telephones, from movies to
magazines, from alternative radio to ATMs--and all other computer-
mediated communication  systems. What are the impacts of these on the
physical  city, its social structure, its human experience?  Surveil-
lance, privacy, and the law.  Is cyberspace to be in  the city, or the
city in cyberspace?


II.  VIRTUAL WORLD AND WORK/PLAYSPACE DESIGN
Artists as well as engineers and programmers are invited to submit
papers that discuss, demonstrate or report on work  done in the design
of single or multi-user computer-generated environments, in parti-
cular, environments--for  whatever use, research, entertainment, or
business--that create three (and higher) dimensional space sensorially
and/or cognitively.  How does "multimedia" become the new "unimedium"
of cyberspace?  The focus is less  on technology than design, less on
hardware than software.


III.  PERSONHOOD, COMMUNITY, AND AGENCY
Contributions that discuss or report on BBS and Net life.  Who/what
are you on the Net? And where? How do cyberspace communities differ
from realspace ones; how might they in the future?  What are the
effects of non-face to face communications on identity?  What are the
effects of increases in bandwidth and/or realspace mobility that come
with ubiquitous computing?  Telephonics. Redefining work and play.
Procrastination space.  Money and time; access and denial; methods and
modes of electronic communication.  Informed discussions of  the
history of technology and consciousness are welcomed.


IV.  COMPUTATION: SPEED, SYNCHRONY, AND OTHER PROBLEMS
Papers are invited that deal with techniques (1) for  handling latency
in graphics processing and display and (2) handling traffic, routing,
and transmission delays in high  speed, long distance networks in the
service of achieving  co-presence.  How are objects in cyberspace to
be realspace- distributed (updated, rendered, displayed, sounded,
etc.)?  Progress reports on distributed processing vs. massively
parallel hosts; network topologies, routing strategies,  optical
methods, multimodal operation, graceful degradation,  etc.  Space
requires local simultaneity: is there special or general relativity in
cyberspace?


V.  INTERFACES: IMMERSION, INTIMACY, IMMENSITY
Papers are invited that report on work underway or achieved in the
area of innovative human-computer interfaces.  Plausible and specific
hardware and software design proposals are acceptable. Stereopsis;
binaural, "convolved" and multitracked sound; eye-, head-, hand-,
body-tracking; contact/touch feedback; inertial motion simulators;
motion control software, etc. are all of interest to the extent that
they promise or deliver spatial immersion at different scales and
subjective distances.  Demonstrations are especially welcomed, as are
relevant studies in psychoacoustics and "pscyhospatiality."


VI.  POETICS AND PERFORMANCE
Papers and performances are invited that make use of networked
interactive computers, robotics, virtual worlds and/or artificial
realities to extend human expression and communication.  Graphic or
sonic works of chiefly artistic  merit that (also) create
(cyber)spaces are welcomed, as are discussions and demonstrations of
powerful on-line literary works.  One or Many Authors?  What
Audience? Autonomous Artworks?  Telepresence?  Teleperformance?
Creation by Agent?  Immersive Aesthetics?  Navigable Music?  Liquid
Architecture? Synaesthesia and Multisensory Correlation?  Ephemery and
Permanence?  Global Art?  The Political Dimension?


VII.  THE NATURE OF INFORMATION
Discussions of the theory of information and theories of meaning as
extended from the purely cybernetic realm to the realm of human
perception and communication are invited; as are reports on, and
demonstrations of, work in scientific or business data visualization
software and theory, the logic of data navigation, search, discovery,
manipulation, sharing, etc.  Are cyberspaces themselves self-
organizing systems?  How are we to measure their complexity,
organization, and value as structures in themselves as well as
container/purveyors of "information?"


VIII.  THE QUESTION OF ECONOMICS
>From education, entertainment, news, law, "intelligence," and science,
to advertising, brokerage, credit histories, prices, and schedules...
the information-for-sale business is distinct from the communications-
tools business (i.e. computing, telephony, printing, etc.).  Submis-
sions are invited that throw light the economics of both, especially
with regard to on-line information services such as  Compuserve and
Amix, and computer network management services such as EDS.  Are these
operations the economic basis for cyberspace?  Or is it to be the
providers of the channels and machines?  Can cyberspace be decen-
tralized, individualized?  Is cyberspace access to be free?  What is
the link to imminent interactive (HD)TV-based information services?
Does hacking pay?  Of what specifically economic value are 3-D and VR
interfaces?


     -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

LOCATION AND ACCOMMODATIONS

Austin is a beautiful and friendly city of 400,000 people in  the
heart of the Texas Hill country.  It is the home of the legislature of
Texas, of Barton Springs, and of thriving electronics, computer,
publishing, music, education, and research industries.  The campus of
The University of Texas is on 350 tree-covered acres, with promenades,
and distinguished limestone buildings.  Usually sunny, temperatures
during May range between 62 degrees Fahrenheit at night to 78 degrees
Fahrenheit during the day. Arrangements are currently being  made with
two hotels: one downtown and adjacent Austin's renowned 6th Street
night life, the other a short walking  distance to campus.  These
arrangements will be finalized in February.  Austin's airport is 10
minutes from the campus and downtown.  Cabs are inexpensive.


RULES FOR SUBMISSIONS

Papers, abstracts and proposals should be printed on 8.5" x 11" paper,
single spaced, with one inch margins and in Times 12-point font,
unless there is specific artistic purpose to breaking these conven-
tions.  Do not number the pages.  Provide six copies, and a floppy
disk with both ASCII and Word versions. Head the first page in the
following way (centered):

                                TITLE
                           (Proposed Session)

                              Your Name
                           Your Affiliation

                      Body of paper or abstract.

Email submissions are not accepted in lieu of hard copy, but are
encouraged in addition to hard copy for availability via FTP.
Send email submissions to [e-mail]  Supplemen-
tary film, videotape, optical disc, and magnetic recordings are
encouraged.  These will be returned on request.  At the submitter's
option, biographical information can accompany submissions on a
single, separate page.

DEADLINES:   <<Deadline>> for submission of papers, abstracts  and
proposals for inclusion in the Conference: Postmarked on before
January 1, 1993.  Notification date of selection for presentation:
February 15, 1993.   <<Deadline>> for Category 3 applications: March
3, 1993.  <<Deadline>> for registration for the Conference: March 15,
1993 (Late registration will be available as space permits and at an
extra charge). <<Deadline>> for submission of final papers (if
abstract was accepted) and for all arrangement-documentation for
demonstrations and performances: May 1, 1993.

NOTE:  Submission of an abstract or proposal indicates the submitter's
intention, obligation, and capability to write/present/perform/demon-
strate the corresponding, full length work if chosen.

All materials should be sent to:

|3CYBERCONF
|THE THIRD International CONFERENCE ON CYBERSPACE
|Submissions
|School of Architecture
|The University of Texas at Austin
|Austin, Texas, 78712

|email: [e-mail]
|PHONE: [phone]
|FAX: [phone]


REGISTRATION.

All registrations cover: admission to all sessions, a copy of the
Collected Papers, various printed materials, and two lunches.

Registration for presenting participants (Category 1) is US$75.00; for
non-presenting participants (Category 2) it is US$200.00.  These
amounts also cover preferred seating  and the final Dinner.

Registration for "participants with expertise" (Category 3) is
US$250.00, and includes the final Dinner.

Registration for visitors and observers (Category  4) is US$200.00.

Make checks payable to 3CYBERCONF at the above address, envelope
marked "Registration"


SCHOLARSHIPS.

A limited number of registrations and accommodations will be made
available at reduced rate to students and others demonstrating
financial need.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
                        1993 PROGRAM COMMITTEE


                             L O C A L:


> Michael Benedikt
Professor,
School of Architecture
The University of Texas at Austin
Director, Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies
CEO, Mental Technology Inc.
email: [e-mail]

> Richard Cutler,
Researcher, School of Communications
Department of Radio, TV and Film
The University of Texas at Austin
email: [e-mail]

> Don Fussell
Director, Advanced Technology Group
Applied Research Laboratories (ARL), and
Professor of Computer Sciences
The University of Texas at Austin
email: [e-mail]

> Erik Josowitz
Partner, ZERO-G Design
[e-mail]

> Marcos Novak
Professor,
The School of Architecture
The University of Texas at Austin
Director, Graduate Advanced Design Studies
email: [e-mail]

> Bruce Sterling,
Writer, Austin.
email: [e-mail]

> Allucquere Roseanne Stone
Director, Center for the Study of Virtual Systems, and
Professor, School of Communications
The University of Texas at Austin,
(recently of The University of California at San Diego)
email: [e-mail]



                        (I N T E R) N A T I O N A L:


> Akira Asada
Professor
Kyoto Institute for Economic Research
Kyoto University, Japan
(Curator, The Museum Inside The Telephone Network,
InterCommunication '91)

> John Perry Barlow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Wyoming, San Francisco

> Michael Century
Director of Program Development
Banff Centre For The Arts,
Alberta, Canada

> David Gelernter
Professor of Computer Science
Yale University

> Robert Jacobson
CEO, Worldesign
Seattle, Wa.
(Formerly of HITLab)

> Brenda Laurel
Researcher,
Interval Research Group
Palo Alto, Ca.
(Formerly: Telepresence Research, Inc.)

> William Mitchell
Dean, School of Architecture and Planning
MIT, Cambridge, Ma.

> J. Wesley Regian
Senior Scientist
Armstrong Laboratory
Brooks AFB, Texas

> Warren Robinett,
Director, Head-Mounted Display Project
Dept. of Computer Science
University of North Carolina.

> Martin Tuori
Keyword Office Technologies
Calgary, Alberta
(Formerly: Director of Strategic Research
Alias Research Inc. Toronto.)

> Alan Wexelblatt,
Advanced Human Interface Group
MIT Media Lab, Ma.

----------------------------------------------------------------------