Scan your local techie bookshop for VR literature, and you'll likely find superficial paperbacks and academic conference proceedings. Newly released, The Virtual Reality Casebook, edited by Carl Eugene Loeffler and Tim Anderson, is a godsend for those who want the straight dope on what real folks are doing with VR.
Casebook goes far beyond biomolecules docking into cell receptors, or simulated "shoot-downs" of (insert latest regional conflict identifier here) pilots. It features chapters on the arts, education, social, and cultural issues, and a number of projects around the globe.
Best of all, there's a huge bibliography, including a list of resources on the Net. And many essay authors list ways to contact them.
On the not-so-great side, the chapters are often too short; I would have liked more detail. Also, the section on VR abroad overlooks France and the UK.
But these are minor failings. Casebook is a first-rate Baedeker for navigating the field of VR.
The Virtual Reality Casebook, edited by Carl Eugene Loeffler and Tim Anderson: $US29.95. Van Nostrand Reinhold: (800) 842 3636, +1 (606) 525 6600.
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