Digital Illusion: Entertaining the Future with High Technology

Digital Illusion is the future of entertainment. That future, as seen in this book, is at the intersection of show business and interactivity. It is a future where games, theme-park attractions, and networked virtual worlds are built with seamless, interactive, computer technology, and where exciting new kinds of experience and enjoyment are made possible. It's a future that has already begun!

Clark Dodsworth has participated for years in this convergence of the computer and entertainment industries. Here, he gathers prominent contributors from both worlds to describe the design and implementation of computer-based entertainment applications. With striking examples, they show what has been accomplished and preview what is yet to come.

The book covers diverse subjects in some technical detail, making it a useful resource for readers designing or developing their own applications. Topics include the infrastructure required for new applications; advances in creative tools, multiplayer systems, and networking; interface-design techniques, including avatars and agents; and practical hardware issues. A section on business applications, with predictions from industry insiders, explores economic opportunities for both content vendors and providers, and shows how digital entertainment is fast becoming a key profit center in our economy. Much of the book, however, is accessible and interesting to the general reader-anyone fascinated by the potential for high-tech fun-who wonders, say, what it might be like to wield magical powers in an imaginary universe.

Clark Dodsworth is a consultant in interactive product development, especially entertainment applications, in San Francisco. He co-produced the critically acclaimed Digital Bayou venue at the ACM/SIGGRAPH '96 Conference in New Orleans, a showcase of cutting edge interfaces and applications. Educated at the University of Illinois and the Art Institute of Chicago, Dodsworth has worked on both the production and creative sides of TV commercials, networked databases, educational videos, electronic toys, and digital animation.

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