Though most of the activities announced here take place in the United Kingdom, the issues addressed are not restrictive. Because VR has seemed to fade from the landscape of Internet hype, many people believe that its development has stopped. This list, if you are a VR enthusiast, will demonstrate how wrong that assumption is. It's a very active list whose archives you can find on their adjoining Web site.

There are, of course, the usual listings of local meetings, elections, and conferences, but LVRG is very involved in the international community of VR enthusiasts, so you can also get information about events happening in your area.

Here's a sample of part of a recent posting from the list to give you an idea of the focus:

"Hi all

"The committee (Simon Bore, Avon Huxor, Ruth Conroy, Josh King-Farlow & Mark Gaved) have been working on a series of talks for The London Virtual Reality Group for 1999. We have arranged a series of 4 meetings on the theme 'Refocusing Virtual Reality' (the series has been sponsored by VR NEWS). As we approach the next century (and millennium :-), it seems an appropriate point to assess the state of VR and to look forward to the next 100 years (the next millennium might be too ambitious...but if you have a vision, there will be plenty of time for discussion!).

"The four topics for the series are:

"* presence ( a look at us the latest research and theories concerning the sense of presence in a virtual environment and a debate on future research and applications)

"* the body ( what does it mean to be embodied in a virtual reality, where will this have most impact in the next century)

"* community (is there are developing consensus of how a community will form in shared virtual space, how will the communities of the next century evolve)

"* narrative (how have the complex issues of interactive narrative been addressed and what developments will we see in the future)

"These are only provisional, if you have any suggestions, please mail me.

"We have decided to change the format slightly this series. For the next meeting we will be having 2 short talks (20 mins) and one hands-on 'demonstration' followed by a 'panel led' debate. As usual we will be mixing this with time for informal chat, drinks etc...."