Bruce Damer
UC Santa Cruz, Biomolecular Engineering, Faculty Member
- Researcher in the origin of lifeedit
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... Throughout 1995 and 1996, the Consortium has engaged in extensive usability testing of virtualworlds provided by its member companies, which include Worlds Incorporated, Intel, Black Sun Interactive, Time-Warner Interactive, Nippon... more
... Throughout 1995 and 1996, the Consortium has engaged in extensive usability testing of virtualworlds provided by its member companies, which include Worlds Incorporated, Intel, Black Sun Interactive, Time-Warner Interactive, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (Software ...
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Timelines provides perspectives on HCI history, glancing back at a road that sometimes took unexpected branches and turns. History is not a dry list of events; it is about points of view and differing interpretations.
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ABSTRACT "Nerve Garden" is an environment designed to allow users to "plant a seed in cyberspace." It was conceived in early 1996 as a test bed for VRML 2.0 technology. "Nerve Garden... more
ABSTRACT "Nerve Garden" is an environment designed to allow users to "plant a seed in cyberspace." It was conceived in early 1996 as a test bed for VRML 2.0 technology. "Nerve Garden I," demonstrated for five days as a hands-on installation at SIGGRAPH 97, achieved several milestones, including the creation of a cross-platform, all-Java, client-server VRML 2.0 architecture; the generation of VRML using fractal algorithms; and the ability for users to place objects into a multi-user persistent VRML scene through a two-stage 3D experience. "Nerve Garden II," currently under development, will broaden this test bed to encompass: neural-network control of scenegraph evolution and behavior through an engine called Nerves; streaming of world geometry through the transmission of generative algorithms; integration with a database to permit garden cloning and persistent storage; and development of Nerves and its related programming language, NerveScript, into a general-purpose behavioral and control mechanism for a broad range of VRML and Internet applications. The authors hope that "Nerve Garden" may become a strong platform for larger-scale shared object spaces.
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Research Interests: Engineering, Sociology, Computer Science, Metaphor, Virtual Worlds, and 3 moreMetaverse, Artifact, and Avatars
DigitalSpace Corporation has been building an open source real-time three-dimensional (3-D) collaborative design engineering and training platform called Digital Spaces (DSS) in support of the Exploration Vision of the National... more
DigitalSpace Corporation has been building an open source real-time three-dimensional (3-D) collaborative design engineering and training platform called Digital Spaces (DSS) in support of the Exploration Vision of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Real-time 3-D simulation has reached a level of maturity where it is capable of supporting engineering design and operations using off-the-shelf game chipsets and open source physics and rendering technologies. This paper will illustrate a state-of-the-art real-time engineering simulation utilizing DSS in support of NASA lunar excavation studies. During the project DigitalSpace building driveable 3-D models of lunar excavators and South Polar terrain, and added a soil mechanics physics model as well as a random failure generator to the repertoire of standard mobility platform physics in prior use for real-time engineering and operational analysis at NASA.
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The virtual-world environment of Second Life is attracting considerable media attention. Some see it as heralding new ways of working and playing online; others question its prospects. In this column, Bruce Damer considers the history of... more
The virtual-world environment of Second Life is attracting considerable media attention. Some see it as heralding new ways of working and playing online; others question its prospects. In this column, Bruce Damer considers the history of virtual worlds, in which he played an active part. Upon meeting Bruce in Prague in 1994, I was immediately impressed with his insight, energy, and creativity. His DigiBarn computer museum in Santa Cruz is a unique, invaluable computer-history resource, including vintage computers that visitors can experience hands-on.---Jonathan Grudin, Timelines editor
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Research Interests: Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, Polymer, Life, and 4 moreAbiogenesis, Nucleotide, Stacking, and Ribozyme
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Research Interests: Biology, Medicine, Archean, Life, Hydrothermal Vent, and 5 moreAncestor, Abiogenesis, Earth Science, Protocell, and Stromatolite
Two processes required for life's origin are condensation reactions that produce essential biopolymers by a nonenzymatic reaction, and self-assembly of membranous compartments that encapsulate the polymers into populations of... more
Two processes required for life's origin are condensation reactions that produce essential biopolymers by a nonenzymatic reaction, and self-assembly of membranous compartments that encapsulate the polymers into populations of protocells. Because life today thrives not just in the temperate ocean and lakes but also in extreme conditions of temperature, salinity, and pH, there is a general assumption that any form of liquid water would be sufficient to support the origin of life as long as there are sources of chemical energy and simple organic compounds. We argue here that the first forms of life would be physically and chemically fragile and would be strongly affected by ionic solutes and pH. A hypothesis emerges from this statement that hot springs associated with volcanic land masses have an ionic composition more conducive to self-assembly and polymerization than seawater. Here we have compared the ionic solutes of seawater with those of terrestrial hot springs. We then describe preliminary experimental results that show how the hypothesis can be tested in a prebiotic analog environment.
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ABSTRACT After decades of developing and dreaming in the field of Artificial Life, fundamental breakthroughs in computational complexity and laboratory chemical simulation hold forth the promise that virtual worlds may become the proving... more
ABSTRACT After decades of developing and dreaming in the field of Artificial Life, fundamental breakthroughs in computational complexity and laboratory chemical simulation hold forth the promise that virtual worlds may become the proving grounds for an authentic artificial proto-biosystem. Early self-organization and complex phenomena within game spaces and virtual worlds suggest what form this profound new emergence might take. Key questions remain: will…(read more).