Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and virtual reality (VR) make possible powerful interactive stories, and this paper focuses on examples of virtual characters in three dimensional (3-D) worlds. Waldern, a virtual reality game designer, has theorized about and implemented software design of virtual teammates and opponents that incorporate AI…

This book helps individuals use Turtle Time Designs programs (i.e., a series of graphics program files to be used with LogoWriter) even if they have little previous experience with LogoWriter. The features of each program are carefully explained and are followed by step-by-step suggestions for teaching the lesson. Examples of the types of designs…

This article includes the results of a survey on the use of computers in chemistry education in British polytechnics, and a discussion of this use in the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere. The author advocates that chemistry students learn to use, but not necessarily program, computers. (SD)

This master's thesis provides an overview of a computer graphics production environment and proposes a realistic approach to orientation and on-going training for employees working within a fast-paced production schedule. Problems involved in meeting the training needs of employees are briefly discussed in the first chapter, while the second…

Computers can be used in a variety of ways in the social studies classroom: (1) as a productivity tool to relieve the teacher of the many bookkeeping tasks and allow for more time to be spent on instructional tasks; (2) in business applications such as data base files, electronic spreadsheets, word processing, computer graphics, and to store large…

Preschool children can benefit by working with microcomputers. Thinking skills are enhanced by software games that focus on logic, memory, problem solving, and pattern recognition. Counting, sequencing, and matching games develop mathematics skills, and word games focusing on basic letter symbol and word recognition develop language skills.…

As the viewer watches the opening credits for the program "Entertainment Tonight," the screen comes to life with rotating shapes and spinning geometric patterns. One has the sense of travelling on an imaginary voyage through space. Many of the computer generated displays common now on television use such visual devices as linear perspective,…

This 10-chapter book is intended to fill a need for a clearly written, easy to follow, introduction to computer programming that teachers or parents can immediately put to use. Its sample programs are designed to capture attention and spark the imagination of children learning to use computers. The first chapter provides such introductory…

This guide to the discovery, analysis, production, communication, and use of statistical information through graphic forms produced by a computer is designed to enable researchers to conduct their analyses and report research results more effectively. It is designed both for individuals with little knowledge about the use of statistical graphs or…

In order for microcomputers to be used in an efficient and effective manner in the classroom, the computer should not be used in trivial ways, such as utilizing it as an electronic ditto sheet or as a video textbook. Educators must take advantage of the computer's unique capabilities, including its branching capacity, its graphic mode, and its…

This paper presents a study on the effects of various data compression methods from the viewpoint of central computer to terminal communications on a large graphics oriented timesharing system, PLATO IV. The desired goal is to increase terminal display speed without significant increase in the transmission error rates. While the major emphasis in…

This manual contains the procedures to teach the relatively inexperienced author how to enter and process graphic information on a graphics processing system developed by the Training Analysis and Evaluation Group. It describes the illustration processing routines, including scanning graphics into computer memory, displaying graphics, enhancing…

This report describes SpaceGraph, a new computer-driven display technology capable of showing space-filling images, i.e., true three dimensional displays, and discusses the advantages of this technology over flat displays for use with the instructor/operator station (IOS) of a flight simulator. Ideas resulting from 17 brainstorming sessions with…

Three graphics producers were interviewed in order to explore the costs associated with production of microfiche, as opposed to the plasma panel, so that an informed selection could be made in those cases in which either technique would suffice. The three producers disagreed about the best production techniques to use, as well as how long various…

The currently operational version of the INGRES data base management system gives a relational view of data, supports two high level, non-procedural data sublanguages, and runs as a collection of user processes on top of a UNIX operating system. The authors stress the design decisions and tradeoffs in relation to (1) structuring the system into…