Customer Reviews (2)

Amazing Stories
I really enjoyed this book - Mary please write more books soon

Solid Collection by an Author Deserving Wider Publication
Rosenblum is an excellent author that does not get the wider attentionmany lessor talents recieve.

This collection displays the best of hergritty, distopian style.I personally prefer the more (do I say it?)"cyberpunkish" stories over the eco-disaster "Drylands" stories.

If I can find any fault with the author, it is in her slowproduction of novels.Recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
A fascinating look at the brave new world of virtual reality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Most Convincing Argument
I have never thought possible that thought experiments can guide us through a philosophical adventure in such an exciting manner. Zhai's argument that most of cognitive scientists have committed a "Fallacy of Unity Projection" is right to the point and seems to me to have conclusively ruled out the possibility of Strong AI. I agree with the previous reviewer that the argument against Strong AI in Zhai's book is carefully crafted and has the first two chapters prepare the way for it. I would like to see more of the discussion of the implications of VR for the foundation of civilization, though.

I meant to rate it 5 star
I wondered why my review was cut. I said chapters 1 and 2 prepare the starting point for the discussion of Strong AI in chapter 4, and thatfurther invalidates Tosh's comments.

Utter tosh.
I'm sorry. Just don't waste your time.

I know giving just one example doesn't perhaps sound very convincing on it's own. But here it is: he thinkshe can debunk the whole idea of AI in a matter of a few lines, literally - when the brilliant Roger Penrose has spent two books trying to very carefully show what is wrong with the AI project and what still needs to be discovered in Physics. Zhai doesn't seem to realise that in his"argument", he has assumed the very thing he is trying to prove.

Moreover, he doesn't crediblysingle out what makes machines different from people, which Penrose is at pains to do, very carefully. Penrose leaves open the possibility that we might succeed at AI if we understand the amazing and mysterious laws at work in the human brain - if indeed there are laws operating at all - they would have to be quite unlike any other physical law we know of now, including the weirdest of quantum mechanical laws. Zhai slams the door shut completely, with no appreciation for the benefits and power of science.

Believe me, I'm not rejecting this book because I didn't understand it. On the contrary, what little I read was trifilingly easy to understand, but clearly full of holes. The author simply does not know how to string together a coherent argument. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Simultaneously fun, eye-opening and a public health service!
You can vicariously have sex while pregnant (no matter what your gender), go through a day-long, cruel/kind, lesbian, S&M encounter, and do anirreverent, salacious interview with CamillePaglia all while getting a good,public-health-department-approved lesson on sex in the 90s.Can any other book do the same? ... Read more

Product Description
Although the field of mixed reality has grown significantly over the last decade, there have been few published books about augmented reality, particularly the interface design aspects. Emerging Technologies of Augmented Reality: Interfaces and Design provides a foundation of the main concepts of augmented reality (AR), with a particular emphasis on user interfaces, design, and practical AR techniques, from tracking algorithms to design principles for AR interfaces. Emerging Technologies of Augmented Reality: Interfaces and Design contains comprehensive information focusing on the following topics: technologies that support AR, development environments, interface design and evaluation of applications, and case studies of AR applications. ... Read more

Product Description
Any manager, including organizational decision makers and influencers committed to the virtual organization; leaders and members of value-adding non-collocated work teams, processes; middle managers, product managers, process re-engineering experts, IS and network managers, MBA curriculum designers, distance learning professionals, teachers and students.Helps managers understand the true implications of "the virtual organization," and how to implement it. This is the first book to extend the definition of "virtual" beyond the basics, describing exactly how virtual teams work together using networked, electronic information and communications systems. Covers the electronic operations, cultural implications and technologies of virtual operations, including strategies for training and technology investment. This book helps organizations re- engineer while moving at full speed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fantastically written book.Chapters 18-22: the best
Chapters 18-22 are worth more than the price of the book.The farther I read the more impressed I was.In the beginning I was wondering about its value but it has proved invaluable to me.It's a reference tool that I find myself going to repeatedly.I highly recommend it, even though it was written in 1995, I don't know its equal.Posted 10-2002.

I threw it aside in disgust
A poxy book - between the front and back covers is a lot of air in which the word "virtual" is said 3 times in every sentence. Take the word out and you have one of those ghastly management texts written from a belief system without any real practical backup. The tenets are unbelievably ignorant in some cases. Anyone who can say that executives who express preference for face-to-face communication are being defensive doesn't know a thing about socialisation or tacit knowledge processes. They must think the world can be ordered around aka the military model. oh whoops, one of the authors spent 35 years as a career officer in the USAF. So if you are into military-type operations where commands can be relayed over sophisticated networks, this book is for you. If you are interested in the boundaryless organisation and the meaning for social behaviour, steer clear.

:-)
A very realistic book about the organizational transformation in the '90s An Excellent set of atoms for having in your own home. ... Read more

Product Description
Cybertherapy, the integration of telehealth technologies with the Internet and shared virtual reality, is used for two reasons: either because there is no alternative, or because it is in some sense better than traditional medicine. Nevertheless, the benefits of cybertherapy, due to the variety of its applications and their uneven development, are not self-evident. However, the emergence of cybertherapy is supporting the cost-effectiveness of certain applications, such as assessment, rehabilitation and therapy in clinical psychology and neuroscience. Its key advantage is the possibility of sharing different media and different health care tools in a simple to use and easily accessible Interface. To date, some cybertherapy applications have improved the quality of health care, and later they will probably lead to substantial cost savings. However, cybertherapy is not simply a technology but a complex technological and relational process. In this sense, clinicians and health care providers that want to successfully exploit cybertherapy need to give significant attention to clinical issues, technology, ergonomics, human factors and organizational changes in the structure of the relevant health service. The goal of this volume is to analyze the processes by which cybertherapy applications will contribute to the delivery of state-of-the-art health services. Particular attention is given to the clinical use of virtual reality technology. More in detail, this volume aims at supporting clinicians and scientists, interested in the cybertherapy innovative approach, providing them clinical protocols for the treatment of eating disorders, social phobias, panic disorders and sexual dysfunctions.

IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields.

Some of the areas we publish in:

-Biomedicine
-Oncology
-Artificial intelligence
-Databases and information systems
-Maritime engineering
-Nanotechnology
-Geoengineering
-All aspects of physics
-E-governance
-E-commerce
-The knowledge economy
-Urban studies
-Arms control
-Understanding and responding to terrorism
-Medical informatics
-Computer Sciences ... Read more

Product Description
Virtual reality is a perceptual experience, achieved using technology. Anyone wishing to develop virtual reality should understand the human perceptual processes with which the technology seeks to interact and control. The book presents state-of-the-art reviews of the current understanding of these human perceptual processes and the implications for virtual reality. It reports research which has tried to make the technology capable of delivering the required perceptual experience, comprising a basis for future virtual reality research, so as to achieve the optimum development of the field. It is intended to be of use to anyone who is involved with the creation of a virtual reality experience. ... Read more

Product Description
In this short story aimed at younger readers, brother and sister Josh and Sonya are playing their favorite computer game. When lightning strikes the house they find themselves plunged into the game's virtual realm, only now it's all for real. In order to escape and return to the normal lives, they must first defeat the Dungeon Master. ... Read more

Product Description
Step into the world of virtual reality with your newly created avatar and begin to experience the tools that make this world interactive! During their infancy stage, virtual environments were largely based upon the gaming community and over time have been adapted to meet the growing number of users and educators. The Virtual Worlds Handbook, with CD-ROM, provides a user-friendly approach that will help trainers and educators create an effective and interactive environment within the Second Life virtual world. This book was written to help the novice user tackle the natural learning curve while providing the experienced user with tips, tools, and tricks to help any educator or trainer meet their professional goals faster. The opportunities using virtual reality are limitless and provide online students with a unique opportunity to connect both physically and educationally to one another, to faculty, to university, and to a worldwide market. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Emphasizing the use of Second Life in Education
The "Second Life" world has grown far beyond the original dreams and ideas of the founders. While it has primarily been a social networking site, the opportunity to use the virtual world as a teaching platform has been discovered, explored and developed by thousands of schools from elementary to university level. While there are several books on how to use Second Life, this book covers the use of Second Life with a specific view towards creating an educational environment.

The book begins with the simple steps of signing on to Second Life, creating an account and the basic rules of getting started. The second part of the book gets more into the teaching concepts the authors have developed and reports on what they have had their students do. Finally there is a CD-ROM that includes additional resources that are intended to help in teaching and training purposes. ... Read more

Product Description
We humans are tribal, grouping ourselves by a multitude of criteria: physical, intellectual, political, emotional, etc. The Internet and its auxiliary technologies have enabled a novel dimension in tribal behavior during our recent past. This growing connectivity begs the question: will individuals and their communities come together to solve some very urgent global problems? At MMVR, we explore ways to harness information technology to solve healthcare problems - and in the industrialized nations we are making progress. In the developing world however, things are more challenging. Massive urban poverty fuels violence and misery. Will global networking bring a convergence of individual and tribal problem-solving? Recently, a barrel-shaped water carrier that rolls along the ground was presented, improving daily life for many people. Also the One Laptop per Child project is a good example of how the industrialized nations can help the developing countries. They produce durable and simple laptops which are inexpensive to produce. At MMVR, we focus on cutting-edge medical technology, which is generally pretty expensive. While the benefits of innovation trickle downward, from the privileged few to the broader masses, we should expand this trickle into a flood. Can breakthrough applications in stimulation, visualization, robotics, and informatics engender tools as ingeniously as the water carrier or laptop? With some extra creativity, we can design better healthcare for the developing world too.

IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields.

Some of the areas we publish in:

-Biomedicine
-Oncology
-Artificial intelligence
-Databases and information systems
-Maritime engineering
-Nanotechnology
-Geoengineering
-All aspects of physics
-E-governance
-E-commerce
-The knowledge economy
-Urban studies
-Arms control
-Understanding and responding to terrorism
-Medical informatics
-Computer Sciences ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

Designing Virtual Worlds is the most comprehensive treatment of virtual worlddesign to-date from one of the true pioneers and most sought-after design consultants. It's a tour de force of VW design, stunning in intellectual scope, spanning the literary,economic, sociological, psychological, physical, technological, and ethicalunderpinnings of design, while providing the reader with a deep, well-grounded understanding of VW design principles. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.

Designing Virtual Worlds brings a rich, well-developed approach to the designconcepts behind virtual worlds. It is grounded in the earliest approaches to such designs, but the examples discussed in the book run the gamut from the earliest MUDs to the present-day MMORPG games mentioned above. It teaches the reader the actual, underlying design principles that many designers do not understand when they borrow or build from previous games. There is no other design book on the market in the area of online games and virtual worlds that provides the rich detail, historical context, and conceptual depth ofDesigning Virtual Worlds.

Customer Reviews (12)

Superb history of Virtual Worlds development
Mr. Bartle's writing is precise and his facts carefully researched, even the ones he experienced himself. This is a huge, superbly constructed history of the tools and philosophies developed over the years in experimental and commercial development of online virtual worlds. Because of Mr. Bartle's personal knowledge as a long-time designer and his sharp memory for the significance of trends and details, this book will raise anyone's appreciation of whatever virtual worlds one comes across on line or on disk, whether they be famous commercial ones or those developed by enthusiasts for their own pleasure. I would think it would be a must read for gaming students. What a grand, satisfying, fascinating book! And when one considers that this exciting history is only the beginning of VW development...Wow!

The theory behind Virtual Worlds
This book taught me the theory behind Virtual worlds and I beleive nearly everything I read in this book.

I didn't simply believe everything because it was a published book, I beleived it because Richard used examples from real games.With all the experiance Richard has you would expect him to have learnt everything the hard way, he has but he's also smart enough to realise that sometimes you can learn from others mistakes instead of making them yourself.

The book is aimed at the 'Dungeons and Dragons' (and most of his examples are) type of game but there is no reason the information cannot be used in other genres.

The most amusing part is how right he can be.
Richard states that 'you cannot allow players to carry items over from the Beta testing to the online game, even though your players will try to convince you otherwise'; something I didn't really think and didn't really agree with.
My family and I were all about to join 'Pirates of the Caribbean' when it started; when the announcement was made that players form the Beta test would be allowed to keep items my daughters asked what a Beta test was, I explained and now they don't want to play as they consider that to be cheating.We have all decided not to play.

Learn from others (like Richard) or pay the price.

James

Designing Virtual Worlds
Covers all the aspects of virtual worlds from a psycological perspective; the intentions, the types of virtual worlds.
Doesn't include indepth technology and the development issues related to designing virtual worlds
Good primer on virtual worlds.

Game theory and design? This is the book you've been looking for!
You're getting it straight from the horse's mouth since this book is written by the grandfather of the modern MMORPG.
Rest assured - if you are a game designer, developer, or just love reading about game theory, this book is worth every penny.

I have read many other books on the subject and not one of them are packed with as much depth, knowledge, and wisdom. Bartle covers every avenue that a designer needs to consider in order to be successful. This book will help you and your team create an active, emergent virtual world.

As a game developer, I learned many valuable lessons on what made other games lose subscribers, or worse -- catastrophically fail.


Richard Bartle's writing style is very creative and detailed, and like his games, it gives you the 'just one more page' syndrome.For example, in this book it mentions how often a player must be rewarded in order to retain interest.He uses this same technique for writing by giving you something insightful to read atleast every 10 pages.


Bartle has covered all the bases. Designing Virtual Worlds is a great book, very entertaining. I give it 5 out of 5 stars - a must read.

More than 700 well-written pages packed with valuable insights, and it still leaves you begging for more.

Guide to the philosophyand strategy of designing virtual worlds
To begin with, this book is not a programming book. There is no code, no discussion of VRML, MPEG-4, or X3D. Instead, this book stands back and takes a "big picture" look at the design of a virtual world from the viewpoint of systems engineering, social engineering, philosophy, history, and psychology. Ethical considerations are even tossed in for good measure.
The book starts out with chapters on the history of virtual worlds and the cultural influences that affected their characteristics. Next, there is a fly-over view of the "production line" of building a virtual world. Bartle then turns his attention to the players - who they are, what they want, and how a virtual world can meet their needs. World design is examined from the standpoint of virtual geography, virtual world citizens, and finally the physics required to implement your world. Chapter 5 is about the specific sociology and physiology of the virtual world - skill levels, individual characteristics, how virtual inhabitants divide themselves into groups, combat, and even the meaning of death in the virtual world. The final three chapters are very philisophical in nature. Chapter 6 is basically a liberal arts syllabus through the prism of virtual world design.The last chapter, on ethical considerations, talks about censorship, and also looks at the player as a person and how game playing in virtual worlds can hurt more than help some kinds of people, particularly those prone to addiction.
Bartle's social commentaries may be a bit long-winded for some people, although I found them interesting. Some readers may also be somewhat frustrated by the fact that the book talks more about what can go wrong in the design of a virtual world - overly complex and static story arcs, characters that players do not get invested in, characters in which players get too invested, etc - than what can go right. I really enjoyed the book, mainly because it moves the focus of the potential virtual world designer from the artistic and technical viewpoint to the player's viewpoint - why they plays games, and why a player would pick your game versus someone else's game. ... Read more

Product Description
Photographic based virtual reality is fast becoming one of the most exciting areas of the digital imaging world. No helmets, no gloves; no longer even an interactive panorama tool, the new techniques create fully immersive experiences where the viewer can look up and down as well as sideways whilst playing with virtual objects.

This book provides a visual introduction that is both easy to read and understand. The ideas and techniques draw on those used by industry professionals and are presented in a step by step form, allowing readers to gradually develop VR skills. Practice images and demonstration versions of the software used in the book can be downloaded from the companion website.

The author reviews and discusses a range of hardware and software options, providing VR imaging solutions for budget conscious amateurs and professionals alike. Comprehensive technique overviews are provided for the capture, creation and display of Standard and cubic panoramas, object moviesand Video VR. If you are interested in this subject, this is the book you cannot do without.

Philip Andrews is a photographer, lecturer, author and website designer with an international profile. A former teacher of photography and imaging, he now writes books and articles from his base in Australia, and has created/designed several websites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A great book back in 2003
This has got to be a "must have" for any photographers keen in learning how to take a 360 panoramic photo. It covers very comprehensively the hardware: panoramic tripod heads, printing of such big photos, the various technique such as single row or multi row panoramic photography, a little heritage of panoramic photography and the many software. This book does need an update and it's good to go once again for year 2008 and beyond! It's one of the best book on this topic has it not been a little outdated.

Useful and Informative
I had no prior experience with VR 360 panoramas and this book really provided me with the information I was looking for. It reviews software, equipment, and helped me to gain a better understanding of how it all works. I especially found the section on finding the nodal point helpful.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in doing VR 360 panoramas.

It really deserves 3.5 stars
As a panoramic (or virtual tour) photographer myself, I was hopeful about this book. It's bound well with lots of glossy photos and an easy-to-read layout. It is the only book (that I know of) dealing with the growing area of 360 degree or virtual tour photography. That in and of itself deserves some credibility.

The author gives lots of step-by-step photos, showing the different camera brackets and tripod heads needed, and covers the various techniques for shooting in-line or full cylindrical virtual tours. There are even a few sidebars with comments from other virtual tour photographers or company owners. The coverage and explanation of parallax errors is done well.

I wish there had been more of an explanation as far as the different software types, the pros and cons of each, expenses involved, etc., although there is a nice section on how to polish up finished images, and what to do to get a good exposure when the room & light you're in prohibits it.

Shooting these types of tours with a fisheye isn't really covered, and even though it's not the most popular way to create a panoramic or 360 degree tour right now, neither is the egg-type of 1-shot method the book does go into detail with.

If you're looking for a book on 360 degree imaging, I suggest this book.The website references and up-close equipment shots, and diagrams of stitching methods is very good. It's not a coffee table book full of breathtaking panoramics, so don't buy it if you're looking for that. (Although there are a few nice landscapes.)It's not the be-all of 360 degree imaging, but it's a great start.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

This book is like a bible to any chummer wishing to run in t
Think you know it all about the 'trix cummer, guess again. You dont know drek but this book could change that. "Virtual Realities 2.0" is the most extinsive matrix suplament published by fasa. A great addition toany deckers library.

Part of the Core to the System
There are three books that are "must haves" in the SR world, and this is one of them, with the other two being the main rule-book and Rigger2.

Sure, you can run a campaign with just the BBB (Big Black Book,aka main rulebook) but why?Add in the spice of the decker, give him aplace in the group.Combine this with the Rigger book and you have a wellmatched system.GMs!Give your deckers a reason to exist, buy this bookand scare them out of the matrix!

Excellent Book
VRII is an excellent book.Throw away everything you knew about the old matrix rules before you pick this up, as almsot everything is different. You still have the same ICE types (Trace, Killer, etc) but they have added a few more surprises.

The biggest change is actually how the Matrix works.Instead of just a generic number of successes to get something done, you have Target numbers for ACIFS (Access, Control, Index, File, and Slave), with your programs reducing the TNs.Want to log on? Look at the Access rating, reduce it by your Sleaze, and viola, you're in.

The artwork does leave some to be desired (the Virtual Reality guide in VRI is better then the one in this book and the black and white artist doesn't seem to be able to draw a straight line to save his life).and there are a few places were the rules get sketchy (such as Scramble IC and in depth detail into the Otaku) and that can get annoying, but overall the rules are excellent.

If you have people who want to be deckers, this is a MUST have. It will speed things up and make the game a lot more fun for both the GM and the players.

PS: I have had a chance to speak to the author, Paul Hume, as he once assisted us on the Shadowrun MUX on the Internet. Very nice guy :)

Decking for the Algebra wiz in you
VR 2.0 is a definite must for any campaign incorporating deckers, and FASA's views of it greatly reducing the time matrix runs take (everyone who uses the old system has rented a flic while the decker is navigating through rough diagrams that look like crumpled spiders) are just.However, the amount of setup (beforehand) time in character creation is greatly increased, and a decent eratta sheet has yet to be published. Start bringing that calculator to gaming groups...

Technomancy, Shadowrun style....
This book is an absolute must if you incorporate decking in your Shadowrun campaign. Never again will the decker character feel left out while he decks and the rest of you go for pizza. This new(er) rules supplement brings decking into real time gaming with a vengeance.

Now everyone will want a datajack........ ... Read more

Product Description
VIRTUAL REALITY?

The territory of Veelox has achieved perfect harmony. Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon arrives on this territory in pursuit of the evil Saint Dane, but all is peaceful on Veelox -- because it's deserted. The inhabitants have discovered a way to enter their own personal dream worlds, where they can be whoever they want, wherever they want. Their bodies lie in stasis while their minds escape to this dream realm.

Fresh from his battle with Saint Dane in 1937 Earth, Bobby is confident that they can defeat whatever Saint Dane has planned for this world. But once Bobby enters the virtual world will he be able to resist the lure of the ultimate in escapism?Amazon.com Review
Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon has visited the alternate dimension of Denduron (The Merchant of Death), explored the endangered underworld territory of Cloral (The Lost City of Faar), and traveled back in time on his own planet Earth to uncover the evil plot of the fiendish Saint Dane--the evil force behind all these interworld exploits (The Never War). Now he "flumes" (a kind of time/space travel) into the territory of Veelox expecting to wage another battle against evil... only to find all is peaceful. He quickly discovers the peace is due to the fact that most of the citizens of Veelox have become addicted to Lifelight, a virtual reality lifestyle. Unfortunately, what once seemed so safe and enjoyable has taken a frightening twist, and Bobby must rely on a Veelox Traveler named Aja to help him find a solution--and save the territory. His antagonistic relationship with the brilliant Aja grates on his nerves as she spits out cryptic words of wisdom: "Salvation here can be found in only one place: the imagination. If you can't understand that, you might as well flume out right now."

Fans of D.J. MacHale's Pendragon series will enjoy this latest entry, and look forward to the forthcoming fifth title. The attraction of the series is not so much great writing or character development as fast-paced action and edge-of-seat danger. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Love the book, the book came late and postage due.
We love the book.The service however was slow and the book came postage due.

this is the most awsome book out of all 10 books!
I absoulutley love this book ! I know most people dont agree with me ( including my BFF ) but its true ! It has a very good plot with plenty of suprises. This book also brings out new characters and brings back old ones. this book also has my favorite character in the whole series in it - Aja Killian . the reason most people do not like it is because of the ending but that ending was needed to keep the series going . Also the characters go through transformations. From get off my territory to thanks from we are awsome to oh no. One last thing dont you think virtual reality is cool (that might happen to our world if we get sucked into video games to much ) Thats all for now.

Favorite so far...
The Reality Bug is one of the best books in this series in my opinion.

Again, a great read, with one minor annoyance
Here you have Bobby Pendragon once again fighting the seemingly never ending battle against Saint Dane.It was a great story and a great setting, but the ending bothered me a little from an emotional standpoint.From a literary point of view, however, it did make sense because it created the proper mood and suspense that this series has going through several situations.Anyone who has read the other previous books in the series must definitely read this one and the ones that follow, which I myself intend on doing.

Best in the Pendragon series!!
I was pretty late with getting on the Pendragon wagon seeing as how the final book just came out recently. I just finished The Reality Bug literally about 10 minutes ago and all I could think when I was done with it was "Dang! That was GOOD!!". Seeing as how I've only read the first 4 books in the series, I can't say that this is the best of the Pendragon books because I still need to read 5-10 BUT I will say that as of now this has turned out to be my favorite of the Pendragon series.

This book changes it up a bit from the first three. I'm not going to say how because I don't want to spoil anything. Trust me though, this book is amazing. I am more eager than ever now to find out what will happen in the world of Pendragon. Great job D.J. MacHale!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Are you becoming bored with VR characters who always do the expected? This book/CD supplies everything you need to create interesting, intelligent virtual opponents (& allies) who think, learn, & always offer new challenges. As Watson walks you through the development of a game, he shows you to inhabit it with characters who, like mini-intelligent systems, solve problems, analyze situations, make decisions, second guess you -- and even cheat! Explains the design of the C++ toolkit & provides a wealth of guidelines, tips, & expert advice on how to use the software tools contained in the toolkit for developing your own games. Includes CD-ROM. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

AI and VR?Are we talking about the same book?
The AI techniques presented were overly simplistic, and the examples were somewhere near useless(especially when they were supposed to be geared towards agent intelligence).The VR section seemed to be missing.Therewas a simplistic 3D app in OpenGL, but no discussion on agents usingupper(or lower for that matter) level AI to interact in a VR environ.Saveyour money.

This book has no value
The author wastes about half of the book with code dumps and oversized diagrams.He barely attempts to explain the theory, which is crammed into one chapter.The examples are useless and get little explanation.

Not worth the money.
This book takes about 2 hours to breeze through.The author spends about as much time on how to write OOP code as he does the AI concepts.If I wanted lessons in OOP, I'd buy a book about OOP.This book was supposed tobe about AI!Also, he spends very little time explaining the theory of ai. Statements like "It does not make sense to use crossover operations toevolve the population for recurrent neural networks" are never qualifiedwith an explanation.The reader never gets a sense of why he should bedoing what the author describes.Rather than explain anything, the authorjust sites his other publications.Very poor.This is the real kicker: practically half of the book is dedicated to code dumps or space wastingBooch diagrams.The code dumps aren't even accompanied by anythingmeaningful, just things like, the constructor initializes the data.If Iwanted to see the code in print, I'll use my own printer, thank you.

Cheesy title; solid code; excellent book
The good points:
Clear, solid code, including unit test, integration test, class diagrams, comments. Code for Windows, Mac, and Unix. Both of these qualities are such a rarity in programming books, I'd be tempted to recommend the book just on principle.

The bad points:
The AIs presented aren't "deluxe" -- they work OK, but there's no bells and whistles here. The title is clearly designed to get a lot of "hits" in web searches.

The redeeming values:
If you know C++ (at least a little) you can read this book and produce a pretty good AI. Or you can just pop in the CD and see what the AIs do, no programming required. No nonsense or stupid programmer jokes, no pretense, just good code, VERY well presented. ... Read more

Product Description
"Virtual World Design and Creation for Teens" shows teens like you how to develop virtual 3D worlds using the simple, visual programming language, Alice. Virtual worlds can take the form of animated stories, movies, and games. This book will teach you step-by-step how to create virtual worlds, including developing your story, setting up your world, adding and animating characters, incorporating sound, and sharing your world with others. You'll even discover how to add strategy to your worlds so they can be used as interactive stories or games. Written in clear language using hands-on projects and exercises to teach you each new skill, this book is easy to follow at your own individual pace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Offers step-by-step insights into setting up such worlds using content appropriate for tees ages 12-18
Charles R. Hardnett's VIRTUAL WORLD DESIGN AND CREATION FOR TEENS shows teens how to develop virtual 3D worlds using the easy visual programming language Alice. It offers step-by-step insights into setting up such worlds using content appropriate for tees ages 12-18, hands-on project examples, and including a CD-ROM that includes Alice version 2.2 and solutions to each chapter's projects. While geared for teen programmers, any interested in designing and creating virtual worlds for teens will find this an invaluable introduction.

Great Instructional Book for my Techie Teens
My son loves using this book as he can continue to try new engaging gamer experiences similar to what he learned in his summer program. He continues to talk to his friends when playing XBOX360 that he can make a game better based on what he now knows. The lessons on ALICE are invaluable and I've even been able to "dabble" into the arena. I would recommend this book to anyone who shows an interest in designing cool 3D images, games and other applications. He has since even talked more about careers in technology. As a parent of a talented teen, I would highly suggest for your child and/or their instructors to pick up this must have book. I even ordered a few extra copies for my nieces/nephews who live out of state.

Programming Made Easy
This book was used in our Intro to Programming class and taught us the basics for computer programming without even learning actual code. Teaches you about if/else statements, loops, objects, methods, and even recursion, which makes the transition into real programming quite smooth. It was so easy! We were creating 3D stories the first day of class and disappointed when class was over. Who would have ever thought creating a game would be so simple and fun????

The book provides step-by-step instructions that anyone could follow. Pick up this book and let your imagination run wild. I recommend this to anyone interested in computers, programming, 3D, games, or just a new way to keep busy when you are bored. You will be surprised at the amazing things you could create after just the first few pages.

Awesome Tool for teens!
My 7th grade cousin used this book for a class he took during the summer.He loved the class, he was able to create games, movies and stories in 3D. It was facinating how he was able to create characters, in 3D with their own animations and sounds.It provides clear, simple, easy-to-understand, step-by-step directions, and the book also includes screenshots, to help guide you in the right direction.I recommend this book for any teacher wanting to get teens excited about computer progamming, or any parent who has a teen that is interested in learing how to make their own video games or animated movies. ... Read more