Austin Tate's Blog

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Updated: 10 min 31 sec ago

Supercar Cutaway 2025

2025, December 13 - 14:12

The Supercar Schematics and an initial partially completed cutaway was created by Shane Pickering in 1999 with a minor update in 2021. The schematics were published in Fanderson’s FAB 98 (July 2022). See

I have tried various AI image generation tools in the last 2 years to see if a reasonably complete Supercar Cutaway could be created, but all gave very poor results. However, the AI tools are improving quickly. So I gave the detailed version of these scehmatics was provided to Google Gemini and provided Shane’s outline cutaway image as a template.

The result was very much better than previous attempts (shown to right, click for larger version). The three engines in the rear comparment were confused and the large cylindrical object in the nose where the batteriesd and inoitial charging and backup power mechnaism is placed was not quite what was expected. But it was close enough that some image editing could get it closer to the original schematics. I also added the emertgency front mounted parachute and added Shane’s 2021 nose cone cutaway detail.

Supercar Control Plans

Supercar operates in any of a set of “Control Plans” which set up the various systems such as hydraulics, valves, wastegates, instruments, sensors and control computers to respond in appropriate ways to the environment and the pilot’s (or remote console’s) control inputs.

Google Gemini generated illustration of the operation of Supercar’s Control Levers

Supercar was created by A.P. Film Studios in association with ITC (now ITC Studios). Supercar internal schematic technical concept, text and drawings by Shane Pickering 1999 with technical assistance from Austin Tate. Original Supercar designed by Reg Hill of A.P. Films. Supercar exterior based on Phil Rae Blueprints and 3-D model by Mick Imrie and Austin Tate. This is fan produced material to promote the shows of Gerry Anderson and provided for your enjoyment, and should not be used for any commercial purpose.

Vue – Sketch Plan to Visualisation

2025, December 11 - 16:09

Using a suggested prompt to turn sketces into 3D visualisations… Transform this simple sketch plan of a virtual world region into an epic, cinematic fantasy landscape looked at from an angle showing the region as it might be fully developed. Show it in dramatic lighting.

Sketch Plan of the Virtual University of Edinburgh (Vue) as envisaged in 2007 for the Second Life multi-region virtual world build. See https://vue.ed.ac.uk

Google Gemini Visualisation..

Google Gemini – Show Thinking…

Developing the Vision

I am now focusing on the High Street’s appearance as a central stone causeway. I’m exploring different lighting scenarios to enhance the dramatic feel and highlight the detailed textures I am considering. The goal is to bring a photorealistic quality to the overall look of the map.

Mapping the Landscape

I’m now zeroing in on the High Street’s presentation as a substantial stone causeway. I am experimenting with various lighting schemes to heighten the intended dramatic impact and bring out the textural nuances I’ve been working on. The goal is to lend the map a realistic, cinematic look. I am incorporating Castle Rock and The Vaults as formidable fortresses.

Refining the Composition

I’m currently focused on the alignment of the elements within the scene. I have verified that all requested landmarks are incorporated and in the requested lighting conditions. My main concern now is the visual balance of these elements within the frame.

Verifying the Elements

I’m now cross-referencing the initial detailed request with the generated image. All specified landmarks are present and rendered with the specified angled perspective and lighting. The goal now is to establish if all the elements have a visually pleasing composition.

Actual Vue Build in Second Life, subsequently also ported to OpenSimulator looked like this in 2008…

OpenSimulator Community Conference 2025 – OSCC25

2025, December 6 - 15:00

The OpenSimulator Community Conference (OSCC) is one of the longest running virtual conference series, having started in 2013 and run annually since. This is OSCC’s 13th year and the event celebrates 18 years of OpenSimulator as the first commit was January 31, 2007. The OpenSimulator community and Avacon Inc. come together to run the event on the OpenSimulator Community Conference (OpenSimCC) grid – http://cc.opensimulator.org:8005 [LoginURI: http://cc.opensimulator.org:8002]

The main keynote presentations area uses the adjacent corners of 4 sims to provide capacity for up to around 400 attendees. There are many other regions for avatars, shopping, exhibition booths for presenters, OpenSim community hub, music and dance venues, etc.

Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/@AvaConOrg/streams

Links to my blog posts on earlier OpenSimulator Community Conferences.. https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/?s=oscc

I gave a talk on Using glTF Mesh in OpenSim on the opening day of the conference… details at https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/using-gltf-mesh-in-opensim/

OpenSim Commits Video

Using glTF Mesh in OpenSim

2025, December 1 - 09:00

OSCC-2025 Presentation

OpenSim has supported glTF mesh import since mid 2025. Since the internal mesh format is identical to that used for Collada mesh imports, glTf mesh import “just works” without OpenSim server side change.

This presentation will describe some of the lessons learned and experience gained while testing glTF mesh import to Second Life and OpenSim and tips for ways to get the best out of using glTF mesh in OpenSim.

History

3D Mesh objects have been able to be used in Second Life using Collada as the import format since 2011 [1][2]. The meshes are converted to an internal mesh format known as llMesh. But Collada format is now old and is becoming unsupported in tools commonly used by creators. Graphics Language Transmission Format (glTF) mesh import to Second Life has been possible since mid 2024 with a public release of the Second Life Viewer in mid 2025 [3]. Initially the glTF meshes are converted internally to the very same mesh format used for Collada, i.e. llMesh. Restrictions on what can and cannot currently be imported are due to that common mesh format usage. The aim stated by Linden Lab for Second Life is that eventually a wider range of glTF models and extensions supported by the Khronos Group standards [4] will be supported. glTF often uses Physically Based Rendering (PBR) materials for texturing and those also are supported in Second Life. OpenSim has supported glTF mesh import since a suitable viewer became available. Firestorm version 7.2.0 and onwards became available from mid 2025 allows for such import

glTF Mesh Import Workflow

Obtain or create 3D model.
Tidy the model up in a 3D modeller such as Blender.
Export to glTF (usually as .glb incorporating all textures and materials).

Check the model in a glTF Model Viewer.
Transform (usually to simplify) the glTF model.
Check the model again in a glTF Model Viewer. Try to remain under the mesh uploader limitations where possible.
Import the transformed glTF mesh back into a 3D modeller such as Blender to make any changes you wish and if necessary to split the model into parts that can be separately imported to allow for scale 1.0 or as a single linkset in inventory after upload.
Export the final glTF mesh.

Import to Second Life or OpenSim (include textures).
Import again into the PBR materials uploader if you want the PBR materials in the model. But currently they must be applied manually after upload. This will change when an integrated mechanism is provided as planned.

Of course, steps 4 to 8 are not necessary for simple models.

Current Limitations on glTF Mesh

The current mesh uploader has the following limits due to internal llMesh restrictions:

Mesh parts with more than 65,534 vertices are split by the mesh uploader into multiple “faces”. If object goes over 8 faces, extra faces become ‘submodels’ and those have limits.
Any mesh part cannot have more than 8 materials. Sub-meshes with more than 8 materials will be split into more meshes in a future build.
The mesh uploader uses a viewer debug setting of ImporterModelLimit (default 768) as a limit of the number of mesh parts. There cannot be more than 4,000 mesh parts (called instances in the mesh loader stats) in a model.
Models must be less than 52,428,800 bytes in total.
There must be less than 256 mesh parts (instances) in a model or the model will upload without linking into one inventory item which can make it difficult to edit, move or delete when rezzed in world.
Mesh part limits (in metres) – Min. <0.01, 0.01, 0.01> (parts will be set to this limit if smaller) Second Life Max. <64.0, 64.0, 64.0> OpenSim Max. <256.0, 256.0, 256.0>
Only one glTF scene is loaded at present – the default scene or first scene if no default.
Rigged meshes cannot have more than four joint weights per vertex. Rigged meshes must be rigged in accordance with with one of the Second Life skeletons[6].

Tips to successfully use glTF Models in OpenSim

Obtain or create your model and make sure to keep the creation safely even if you make versions with simplifications or splitting into parts. Export original .glb model from there.
Always check that the model is within the limitations specified. If there are too many mesh parts the item on import will be a potentially large number of separate coalesced objects in inventory and after rezzing can be difficult to manage or delete.
Use glTF Viewers to make sure the glTF mesh appears as you wish and to look at basic statistics of number of meshes, number of triangles, etc.
Use glTF Transformation tools to simplify the meshes, weld common material parts together where feasible, etc.
Check the overall size of any glTF mesh and if larger than the limitation, consider splitting it into parts.

glTf Model Viewers

Khronos Group glTF Sample Viewer [7] can be used to view the glTF models and in an “Advanced Mode” tab to examine statistics such mesh parts count, triangle count and counts for materials. Also available is the ModelViewer.dev glTF/GLB Viewer [8] which uses “PBR Neutral” lighting with a simple white background which can be useful for photo capture of the models.

glTF Import Differences between Second Life and OpenSim

The maximum mesh extent in Second Life is 64m, whereas in OpenSim it is just under 256m. E.g. RGU Oil Rig (scale 1.0 possible in OpenSim) and 2001 Space Station (scaler 0.6 possible in OpenSim as it is still larger than 256m across).

Mesh Optimisation Prior to Import – glTF Transformation Tools

glb.babylonpress.org [9] and gltf.report [10] are examples of “glTF Transformation” tools which can simplify the glTF prior to upload to make it more suitable and come under some of the limitations t avoid things like model splitting failing to import as a single linkset which would mean many separate objects when an item is rezzed from inventory..

These are essential for complex models. Keep the original model in the 3D modeller of choice, e.g. Blender, but export to glTF and then transform that prior to upload into Second Life or OpenSimulator.

Keep texture format as original as the tools usually convert to webp image format otherwise.

You can adjust other settings, but most defaults will work fine. But even though some of the tools are based on the same underlying code library [11] they do have different defaults which can be worth exploring to achieve your purpose when the mesh is uploaded.

glTF Mesh Testing in OpenSim

Test meshes were as used in Second Life mentioned in the blog post above, and described again below. They are usually originated in a range of 3D creation tools such as Studio Max, Cinema4D, etc or downloaded from sites such as Khronos glTF Sample Assets [12], NASA mesh models [13], Sketchup 3D Warehouse [14], etc. and then converted to Blender. From Blender they are exported to glTF (.glb) and then cleaned up and number of mesh parts reduced to less than 256 parts so they import as one linked inventory object) using glTF transformation tools such as https://glb.babylonpress.org and https://gltf.report.

glTF Rigged Mesh Avatar Testing in OpenSim

Rigged mesh avatars can also be uploaded in glTF format in the same way that Collada rigged mesh works. A version of the Silent Running Drone#1 – Dewey – rigged by Fred Beckhusen and saved as glTF rigged mesh was also tested. Ready Player Me avatars cannot be uploaded in their native .glb format since the skeleton/armature differs between that used by Ready Player Me and SecondLife/OpenSim. Conversion first is needed via a tool such as Onigiri [15].

OAR Converter

OAR Converter [16] is a tool to take OpenSim Archive (OAR) Files and convert them to Collada or OBJ 3d mesh formats for use in external tools and platforms such as 3D modellers like Blender, or game and app development platforms like Unity [17] and Unreal Engine [18], etc. It is now also able to convert to glTF which opens up interesting opportunities including the possibility of reimporting modified content back into OpenSim [18].

References

[1] Khronos Group (2010) “Second Life chooses COLLADA as the official Mesh import format.” The Khronos Group Inc. September 21, 2010.
https://www.khronos.org/news/permalink/second-life-chooses-collada-as-the-official-mesh-import-format

[2] Search Engine Watch (2011) “Mesh Gets a Release Timeline for Second Life.” Search Engine Watch, June 18, 2011.
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2011/06/18/mesh-gets-a-release-timeline-for-second-life

[3] Second Life (2025) “Second Life Release Notes for Viewer version 7.2.0.16356654553 – glTF Mesh Import”, JUly 23, 2025.
https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/viewer/7.2.0.16356654553.html

[4] Khronos Group (2025) “GitHub – glTF”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF

[5] Firestorm Viewer (2025) “Firestorm Beta 7.2.0 and some stats”, August 10, 2025. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://www.firestormviewer.org/firestorm-beta-7-2-0-and-some-stats/

[6] Second Life (2025) “Second Life – Creator Resources”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025). https://github.com/secondlife/creator-resources

[7] Khronos Group (2025) “glTF Sample Viewer”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://github.khronos.org/glTF-Sample-Viewer-Release/

[8] Modelviewer.dev (2025) “ModelViewer.dev glTF/GLB Viewer”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://modelviewer.dev/editor/

[9] glb.babylonpress.org – see Help page for details. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025). https://glb.babylonpress.org

[10] gltf.report (2025). gltf.report. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://gltf.report

[11] GLTF-Transform – glTF 2.0 SDK for JavaScript and TypeScript, on Web and Node.js.
https://gltf-transform.dev/

[12] Khronos Group (2025) glTf Sample Assets. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF-Sample-Assets

[13] NASA (2025) 3D Resources: A repository of 3D models, 3D printable models, and textures. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://science.nasa.gov/3d-resources/

[14] Sketchup (2025) Sketchup 3D Warehouse. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/

[15] Onigiri [12] “GitHub – Onigiri 4”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://github.com/aiaustin/Onigiri
See also https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2023/03/21/ready-player-me-avatars-in-second-life-and-opensim/

[16] Unity (2025) “Unity Real-Time Development Platform | 3D, 2D, VR & AR Engine”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://unity.com/

[17] Epic Games (2025) “Unreal Engine”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://www.unrealengine.com/

[18] Iseki, F and Tate, A. (2025) “OAR Converter with glTF”. (Accessed 3-Oct-2025).
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2024/09/23/oar-converter-with-gltf/

Firestorm VR Mod 7.2.2

2025, November 12 - 12:00

I N P R E P A R A T I O N

Firestorm VR Mod is a version of the popular Firestorm Viewer for Second Life and OpenSimulator with modifications to provide VR capabilities for VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) via SteamVR. This is a community contribution and is experimental. It is not supported by the Core Firestorm Team. Available from https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases

Firestorm VR Mod 7.2.2 onwards is built for computers using the AVX-2 instruction set (usually the case for any computer in the last decade) and uses the P373R VR Mod basic approach, automatic calculation of settings changes by Sgeo (versus the original F5 settings mechanism which is no longer operational) allowing a wider range of VR HMD support (e.g., Meta Quest 2 and 3), and some settings improvements by Humbletim to allow hiding VR controller “laser” pointers, an override for the standard camera angle (override for the usual CameraAngle setting essentially the same as using ctrl-8 and ctrl+0 changes), etc. Search for “vrmod” in the standard Debug Settings dialogue lets the values be configured.

Firestorm VR Mod 7.2.2 release has support for the WebRTC voice services which will be the default in future in Second Life. Vivox voice is still available on regions which use that (including in OpenSim).

For Firestorm VR Mod community support use the Discord Discussion Channel:
P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [Invite]

Table of Contents Usage Settings Troubleshooting Black in HMD SteamVR Popup Fn Keys Default View FPS Advice Xbox Controller 3D SpaceNav Source Code VRLand Test

Firestorm + P373R VR Mod 6.3.3 Changes + “o.mScreen” map to “o.mRT->screen” (see below) + Sgeo Settings + Humbletim vrmod.* Debug Settings: This build includes these changes merged into the Firestorm current release branch. The VR Mod approach takes a minimalistic approach to inserting VR capabilities into the viewer in order that the maintenance overhead is decreased and the potential longevity of the approach is increased. VR Controller support is not included, but laser pointers lines can be hidden via vrmod.* Debug Settings.

The Firestorm VR Mod viewer (for Windows only) is available as a .exe “Setup” installer. Download the release for the latest version at https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha/releases/

You need to install your usual VR Headset drivers and SteamVR. Firestorm VR Mod when run uses SteamVR which will launch any necessary VR headset specific underlying drivers.

Firestorm VR Mod is created using “GitHub Actions” (GHA) thanks to @humbletim and @thoys. Firestorm VR Mod version 7.* is still based on Peter Kappler’s VR Mod code changes (working since version 6.6.3 with only minor changes for the merge) but due to PBR changes, Linden Lab (and hence core Firestorm) reworked the render buffer structures which is one of the tight couplings into the core FS code base. The PBR viewer approach changed how the viewer finds the main screen information. The VR Mod initially relied on a direct path, but that path got moved after the introduction of PBR. Where a developer would use “o.mScreen” before they would now use “o.mRT->screen”. The GitHub Actions have been changed to automatically map the original VR Mod code to new path, so the VR Mod code itself doesn’t need to be changed.

The build also uses the open source openal.dll audio library for sound and builds in the openvr_api.dll library for VR HMD connection.

U S A G E

VR Mode instructions are available via prompts in the viewer or via information on https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/. In short…

Press CTRL+TAB to load or unload the SteamVR driver. Do this each time you want to enter VR mode after starting up.
Press TAB key to enable and disable VR mode.
Moving the mouse to the corners or the sides will shift the screen to this direction so menus can be accessed more easily.
Hold F3 to see some debug info (example here).
Press F4 to disable and enable HMD’s direction changes. It may be better to disable the HMD’s direction interface when editing and flying with the camera. This may be subject to change in future versions.

For issues on specific headsets you might wish to try the Firestorm VR Mod Discord Channel: P373R-WORKSHOP by p373r_kappler [Invite]. Peter Kappler also offers the following advice…

Firestorm VR Mod works best while sitting and using mouse and keyboard.
WindowsMixedReality users may need to press windows key + Y to unlock the mouse when the HMD is worn.
If your VR hardware cannot maintain constant 90 FPS you could try enabling motion reprojection in your HMD. In WindowsMixedReality it can be done by uncommenting “motionReprojectionMode” : “auto”, in the config file located at “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MixedRealityVRDriver\resources\settings\default.vrsettings”. This will make the HMD interpolate between frames and create a smoother experience. Vive and Oculus should have similar functionalities which can be accessed from SteamVR settings. For Vive it is called Motion Smoothing.

S E T T I N G S

Ctrl+TAB initially sets up SteamVR (and HMD support as needed), TAB is used to toggle VR mode on or off.

Firestorm VR Mod shifts the display in VR mode to an edge if the mouse or pointer is placed towards an edge or corner of the viewer window. This is to allow easier access to menus, user interface buttons and HUDs. It can be confusing though if you enter VR mode and find that part of the view is black. It is usually because the mouse is placed towards a corner or edge. Just move the mouse back to the centre of the screen and the full VR view should appear.

Firestorm VR Mod Special Debug Settings

Firestorm VR Mod includes some Debug Settings improvements by Humbletim to allow hiding VR controller “laser” pointers, tuned near clipping (preventing close-up objects from disappearing when viewed in VR) and an override for the standard camera angle (override for the usual CameraAngle setting essentially the same as using ctrl-8 and ctrl+0 changes). Search for “vrmod” in the standard Debug Settings dialogue lets the values be configured.

You can use the vrmod Debug Settings to hide VR controller “laser” pointer traces in the view if they are intrusive.

On some VR HMDs, the Field of View (FOV) may start off zoomed in with a black suround (like looking through a door or keyhole) so you may find it useful to use the FOV change keys (ctrl+8) to zoom out a few times to approximate the FOV in the standard VR Mod version. Ctrl+0 zooms back in and ctrl+9 sets the default FOV. The Debug Setting vrmod.CameraAngle can be changed to have the effect of doing this automatically. Use the Debug Setting CameraAngle to get a FOV value you think works well with your HMD and set that in the Debug Setting vrmod.CameraAngle. Use ctrl+9 or Shift+Esc to return to the default CameraAngle for use in other Firestorm viewers if necessary.

The vrmod.* Debug Settings are actually stored in a “vrmod.json” entry in the main Firestorm Viewer settings.xml file usually saved in C:\Users\…\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm_x64\user_settings\settings.xml

Hovertips

If you see a lot of hover tips showing under the mouse it could be that the debug setting “ShowHoverTips” is set to TRUE (the default) which may show something constantly under the mouse even for inert unscripted objects. You can turn that off via Debug Settings or via Preferences > User Interface > 3D World > Show Hover Tips. Via that same preferences panel, you might alternatively prefer to lengthen the delay before hover tips are activated.

Chat Bubbles

In VR Mode it may be useful to show local nearby chat in “bubbles” over each avatar’s head. This can be done via Preferences > Chat.

T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G

Misaligned VR Cursor

Note from Gaffe on Discord: Firestorm VR Mod’s VR cursor will have a small-to-extreme offset on Windows in particular if you are using Windows UI Scaling with any settings OTHER than 100%. To fix the VR cursor offset, set the Windows UI Scaling for your primary display to 100%.

All Black HMD Display or Black Edges or Strips in HMD Display

An all black display in the VR HMD was an issue in earlier versions and is mostly resolved now… but it can still occur with some headsets. In case you encounter issues with a black HMD display… Peter Kappler suggests the following:

Create a program-specific profile for the viewer in your graphic card settings and enable FXAA.
Second Life only supports FXAA. Other types of Anti-aliasing can be disabled.

SteamVR Reset/Quit Screen Shows in HMD

When you switch to VR mode (after activating VR with Ctrl+TAB and using TAB), you may see a “Next Up… Firestorm” message or a SteamVR popup screen to “Reset the View” and “Quit SteamVR”. This has been observed to occur on the first run of a newly installed viewer. It can usually be dismissed with your controller if that is active, but if not the screen may continue to show the popup in VR mode in the HMD. Try another round of ctrl+TAB and TAB or if that does not work try stopping and restarting the viewer to clear this. These glitches may be more to do with legacy OpenVR + the latest SteamVR updates rather than Firestorm or VR Mod code changes.

Function Keys and Gestures

If you have issues with some of the Function keys (or other Firestorm VR Mod keys) not working… look to see if the F keys involved are mapped to active “Gestures”. You can find a list of the gestures you currently have active and the keys associated with them using the “Gestures” toolbar button… or the Comm -> Gestures menu item (Ctrl+G shortcut).

Adjust Over-the-Shoulder Camera View to Suit Yourself

Sometimes in VR mode the camera will be too high or far back from the avatar. If so, press Esc a couple of times, then Shift+Esc a couple of times, or Ctrl + 9 resets the camera to its default position. Shift + scroll mouse button moves camera up and down. You can also set specific Debug Settings (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S) for camera positions, e.g. “CameraOffsetRearView”. If that doesn’t help, see http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Camera_Control

A D V I C E O N F R A M E R A T E

You do need to ensure you have a good frame rate to have a comfortable VR experience. The Firestorm VR Mod Viewer will not work well if the Second Life/OpenSim region you visit cannot normally be displayed in 2D with a decent frame rate. In VR mode you can assume you will get 50% or less of the frame rate that shows on the 2D normal screen. At low frame rates bad flickering or texture tearing will occur in VR mode. My suggestion is to look at the frame rate (in Firestorm it is displayed in the upper right hand corner of the viewer) and to adjust the graphics settings (especially draw distance, shadows and quality sliders) until you have around 100fps (and definitely more than 50fps) and then try VR.

You may need to disable “vsync” in Settings -> Graphics -> Hardware as if this is on (the default) the FPS is capped to the frame rate of your 2D monitor (often 60fps, meaning in VR you would get less than 30fps).

Firestorm includes an “Improve Graphics Speed” performance tool and facilities to autotune the FPS which may be helpful. See advice on FPS improvement and the new “Performance Floater” and “FPS Autotune” capabilities in Beq Janus’s Blog Post (21-Mar-2022).

To improve frame rate (FPS) you might opt to set shadows to “None”, Water reflections to “None: Opaque”, Mirrors “Off” and use a reasonably low draw distance appropriate to the scene. Also close viewer UI windows and tools and detach any HUDs you are not actively using. The rendering of Linden Water, the water surface and its effects, can significantly reduce frame rates. Setting water reflections to “None; opaque” which gives a big FPS boost whilst still leaving the water looking okay. In an extreme situation, and in an environment that makes sense such as a meeting room, disabling Linden Water entirely can boost frame rates. Do that via Advanced -> Rendering Types -> Water. If the Advanced menu is not shown use Settings -> Advanced -> Show Advanced Menu or World -> Show More -> Advanced menu.

Peter Kappler also suggests: Particles… a fireplace is going to eat 20 to 30 fps! So turn them off for VR.

Tips from David Rowe for using the CtrlAltStudio VR Viewer (which is no longer maintained) may also be relevant:

To improve your frame rate, reduce your draw distance and/or tweak other display settings such as advanced lighting model, shadows, FOV, pixel density, etc.
Make sure you don’t have Preferences > Graphics > Rendering > Limit Framerate enabled.
To display avatar chat above avatars use Preferences > Chat > Visuals > Show chat in bubbles above avatars.
With floating text you may want to adjust the distance the floating text fades at so that distant text is not so annoying in VR mode: Preferences > User Interface > 3D World > Floating text fade distance.

C O N T R O L L E R S

Currently, specialised VR Controllers are not supported, but a range of game controllers and 3D navigation devices do work where supported by the normal viewer code.

Xbox One Controller

Xbox One Controller
An Xbox One controller as used with the Oculus Rift (or an Xbox 360 controller) can be enabled, as usual, in Firestorm via Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement -> Joystick Configuration -> Enable Joystick.

You will probably find the controls are under or over sensitive, or some buttons and triggers don’t do what you expect. See this blog post and the image here (click for a larger version) for some suggestions as to how to amend the settings…
https://hugsalot.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/joystick-settings-for-firestorm-with-xbox-360-controller/

You might want to enter “-1” rather than axis “5” as an indication that axis is not mapped. With the setup suggested the “A” button toggles between the normal avatar view and “FlyCam” mode allowing you to move the camera separately to the avatar.

3D SpaceNavigator or SpaceMouse

As with all versions of Firestorm, the viewer supports other forms of “joystick”. One is the 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator (aka SpaceMouse) which is a “3D mouse” supporting both avatar motion and by clicking the left hand button the separate “FlyCam” camera control.

My recommendation is to install the SpaceNavigator just by plugging it into Windows and receiving default Windows drivers for the device. I do not install any special SpaceNavigator drivers as suggested on the Second Life Wiki, some of which are incompatible with Second Life viewers.

S O U R C E

The GitHub Actions (GHA) source by @HumbleTim used to combine Firestorm source and Peter Kappler’s P373R VR Mod addons, make necessary adaptations and build it using Microsoft Visual Studio is available via https://github.com/humbletim/firestorm-gha.

Firestorm source is available at https://github.com/FirestormViewer/phoenix-firestorm. Look under “Commits” and select the branch for the specific Firestorm version required.

A copy of the VR Mod code insertions are maintained at https://github.com/humbletim/p373r-vrmod.

With Firestorm VR Mod Peter Kappler uses a simple coding approach which injects VR capabilities into the Firestorm Viewer to make the mod easier to maintain in future and for others to repeat or adapt. The source is available from his web page at https://gsgrid.de/firestorm-vr-mod/ [Local Copy].

Impressively, the source is written in a way that it requires only some editing in the llviewerdisplay.cpp and adding 2 files to the project. All changes are marked with #####P373R##### comments. Peter also included the openvr header and lib files you will need in the rar. For information about the rest of the files you will need, read how to compile Firestorm at https://wiki.firestormviewer.org/fs_compiling_firestorm.

Latest version of openvr_api.dll can be obtained (Win64 version for this test version) from https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr/tree/master/bin/.

V R L A N D – T E S T A R E A

VRLand on OSGrid is a metrics area for performance testing and to establish virtual field of view in your VR headset.

hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/RuthAndRoth/16/16/1000

More detail at: https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2016/07/20/vrland-a-community-and-test-region-for-virtual-reality-in-virtual-worlds/

You can also pick up a VR Headset attachment for your avatar in OpenSim on the OSGrid on both the RuthAndRoth and (if available) the VRLand regions. Or in Second Life pick up the VR HMD on the Second Life Marketplace. The 3D models of the Oculus Rift were provided for free use by William Burke (MannyLectro) and imported to OpenSim by Michael Cerquoni (Nebadon Izumi) and Second Life by Ai Austin.

Missing .dll

If you see errors like “missing vcruntime.dll”, “missing msvcp.dll” or the application is not starting at all, then please download and install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio (link for 64-bit operating systems).

Austin Tate – AI Planning Research Contributions

2025, October 27 - 10:45

This is a Google Gemini Deep Research Summary…

Austin Tate’s primary contribution has been the pioneering and long-term development of Hierarchical Task Network (HTN) planning. His work evolved from creating foundational planners to developing comprehensive, constraint-based plan representations. This focus on a rich, shared model for plans directly enabled his later contributions to human-machine collaboration and making AI plans intelligible to human users, particularly in complex, mixed-initiative environments like crisis response.

AI Planning Systems
Tate’s research is marked by a clear progression of influential AI planning systems, each building upon the last:

Interplan (1972-1975): This was Tate’s PhD work, an early planner that focused on managing interactions between goals. It used the “goal structure” of a problem to direct its search.

Nonlin (1974-1982): This is one of Tate’s most significant contributions. Nonlin is described as the original hierarchical task network (HTN), partial-order planner. Instead of enforcing a strict sequence of actions, it created plans where actions were only ordered when necessary, allowing for greater flexibility. This hierarchical, non-linear approach became a foundational method in AI planning and was widely used as a textbook example.

O-Plan (1983-1999): O-Plan expanded on Nonlin’s concepts to create a complete “open planning architecture.” The system was designed as a “situated agent” that could manage the entire planning lifecycle, including task assignment, plan generation, execution monitoring, and “on-the-fly” plan repair. A key feature was its extensive use of constraint management to handle temporal, resource, and other dependencies.

I-X / I-Plan (2000-Present): This work shifted the focus from a single planner to a multi-agent framework for collaboration. I-X is a portable, Java-based environment designed to support cooperative tasks between human and system agents.

Plan Representation

A core theme in Tate’s work is that a plan should be represented as more than just a sequence of actions.

Constraint-Based Model: Tate’s planners moved toward representing plans as a set of constraints. The O-Plan system, for example, managed plans by tracking temporal and resource constraints.

<I-N-OVA> and <I-N-C-A>: This is his key contribution to a formal plan representation. The <I-N-C-A> (Issues – Nodes – Constraints – Annotations) ontology provides a “shared model for mixed-initiative synthesis tasks”. This model represents any plan as a set of constraints and a set of “issues” (e.g., unresolved conflicts, pending decisions) that need to be addressed. This standardized representation allows different agents, both human and artificial, to share, understand, and work on the same plan concurrently.

Human Understandability and Collaboration

Tate’s focus on a rich, shared plan representation directly enabled his work on making plans understandable and useful for human teams.

Intelligible AI Planning: A primary goal of the I-X research was “Intelligible AI Planning.” The <I-N-C-A> model makes the planner’s state and reasoning transparent. A human user can see the current set of constraints, outstanding issues, and options, rather than just being given a final, opaque plan.

Mixed-Initiative Systems: The I-X architecture was explicitly designed for mixed-initiative environments where humans and AI agents collaborate. The shared model allows a human to assign a task, have an AI agent elaborate it, and then have the human review and approve the result, all while working from a common understanding.

I-Room: This is a practical application of his collaboration research. The I-Room is a “Virtual Space for Intelligent Interaction” (often realized in virtual worlds) where AI agents and human teams can jointly view and interact with a shared plan. This is especially valuable for applications like crisis response and search and rescue, where human experts and automated systems must coordinate complex activities.

Google Gemini Deep Research Prompt: Summarise the main contributions of Austin Tate of the University of Edinburgh in the research area of AI Planning, Plan Representation and Human Understandabilty of Plans. Use any available sources including the following indices of papers (PDF versions usually available) and project web sites on the topic from three periods of research work by Tate and his teams.

Overview: https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/plan/
1971-1982: https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/early-planners/
1983-1999: https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/oplan/documents/
2000-Present: https://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/ix/documents/

Omega Chronostop – Driver

2025, October 14 - 17:56

Omega Model 145.010 – Genéve – Driver – 920 movement – 1968-1970
https://www.omegawatches.com/en-gb/watch-omega-geneve-chronostop-st-145-0010

Case water resistant to 30 meters, designed to be worn under the wrist, with engraveable clasp. Omega marketed this version as the “DRIVER” model. It was designed to be worn “under” the wrist, instead of in the normal position “above” the wrist. The thinking was that whilst driving (with your hands in the 14:45 position), you could read the time, without removing your hands from the steering wheel.

There are 2 movements that have been used in this watch series. The 865 and 920. The 865 doesn’t have a date and the 920 does. Both movements are manual winding chronograph. The 865 movement was introduced in 1966 and 124,000 were made. The 920 movement was introduced 2 years later in 1968 and 61,000 were made. Both of these movements were only ever used in Chronostop watches. They both have 17 jewels & run with 21,600 Bph.

Omega Chronostop Brochure scan on 4th January 2003 by Chuck Maddox from a catalogue owned by David Alstott:
http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/omega/catalogs/chronostop/chronostop.html

Details of Omega Chronostop Watches, Straps and Catalogues:
http://www.old-omegas.com/chronostop.html

Omega No. 27 Leather Strap with Clasp

Kemlo & Krillie – The SPITAR Anomaly

2025, October 12 - 11:08

This is Storybook 8 in “The Further Adventures of Kemlo & Krillie in Space” series. It is produced using Google Gemini Storybooks AI App which lets you create a customized picture book, for either children or adults, given a topic, an optional target audience age, and an optional art style for the images.

Prompt: Use the background given in the attached document to write an exciting storybook for a teenager target audience about “The Further Adventures of Kemlo and Krillie in Space”. Kemlo and Krillie are teenagers who live on Satellite Belt K in Earth Orbit. Keep the character appearance and name badge label and position on clothing consistent with the attached images. Keep the spacecraft and Belt K space station designs as provided in the images.

SPITAR – Space Personal Investigation Training and Research Craft Number XK240. The spacecraft has a single central rocket engine and three pods on the horizontal and vertical fins can carry experimental fuels and can be easily swapped out.

Kemlo, Captain of Space Scouts on Belt K is an assigned test pilot for an experimental new spacecraft called SPITAR. The storybook opens with Kemlo looking alongside Belt K engineers at the blueprints for SPITAR. They are seen in the engineering labs where SPITAR is under construction, Kemlo looks on making observations as the work progresses. SPITAR is ready for its first test flight. Kemlo asks Krillie his friend and a qualified engineer to assist and make recordings as they go. Use you imagination to come up with an original and exciting story.

The Storybook produced is available at: https://g.co/gemini/share/95941518717b PDF Format

Further Resources: Kemlo & Krillie Resources

Note: version for editing (needs Ai Austin author login) is here (Development Notes).

This is Storybook 7 in “The

2025, October 12 - 10:57

This is Storybook 7 in “The Further Adventures of Kemlo & Krillie in Space” series. It is produced using Google Gemini Storybooks AI App which lets you create a customized picture book, for either children or adults, given a topic, an optional target audience age, and an optional art style for the images.

Prompt: Use the background given in the attached document to write an exciting storybook for a teenager target audience about “The Further Adventures of Kemlo and Krillie in Space”. Kemlo and Krillie are teenagers who live on Satellite Belt K in Earth Orbit. They can fly in space with the Green “Space Runabout” pictured. Keep the character appearance and name badge label and position on clothing consistent with the attached images. Keep the spacecraft and Belt K space station designs as provided in the images. Use you imagination to come up with an original and exciting story.

The Storybook produced is available at: https://g.co/gemini/share/c2625e4ef48c PDF Format

Further Resources: Kemlo & Krillie Resources

Note: version for editing (needs Ai Austin author login) is here (Development

Kemlo & Krillie – Index

2025, October 5 - 09:33

The Kemlo series is a collection of children’s science fiction novels written by Reginald Alec Martin, under the pseudonym of E. C. Eliott. The first book, Kemlo and the Crazy Planet was published in 1954; the fifteenth and final book in the series, Kemlo and the Masters of Space, was published in 1963. [Text from Wikipedia – Kemlo]

“The Further Adventures of Kemlo & Krillie in Space” is Fan Fiction by Austin Tate based on the Kemlo books with the characters now in their late teens and some other changes. This blog post acts an an index into various resources, blog posts and web pages related to their adventures.

Kemlo & Krillie Briefing – Overview of Satellite Belt K, its organisation and facilities and the main characters: Kemlo and Krillie.
[Early version before further character development]
Belt K Technical Manual – Space Station, Spacecraft, Drones, Ray Guns, etc.
Kemlo & Krillie – Character Sheets
Other Characters – Family, Friends and other Characters.
Kemlo & Krillie Storybooks are storybooks about The Further Adventures of Kemlo & Krillie in Space.
Krillie’s Diary is aimed at those interested in what is happening in space and to describe her life as a Space Girl including education and training, living arrangements and adventures.
Kemlo & Krillie Fashion [Belt K Fashion, Krillie Tries it on, Century 21 Cosplay, Fancy Dress and Movie Costumes]
Century 22 Sports
Century 22 Food
Kemlo & Krillie Figurines, Kemlo & Krillie in LEGO
KEMLO Font
More Kemlo & Krillie Related Blog Posts
Further Resources: Kemlo & Krillie character details, spacecraft, space station, Kemlo Font

“The Further Adventures of Kemlo & Krillie in Space” uses background created previously using AI tools based on the Kemlo Spaceworld series of books by E.C. Eliott published in 1954 to 1963. As background it uses images and PDF of the contents of this blog post: https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2025/09/10/kemlo-and-krillie-briefing/

Forest Ranger

2025, October 4 - 10:49

Blog Post: Lord of the Rings Role Play, Austin Tate, May 18, 2016.
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2016/05/18/lord-of-the-rings-role-play/

Blog Post: Orcrist, Austin Tate, April 12, 2018.
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2018/04/12/orcrist/

Forest Ranger – Aragorn Inspired Character with Orcrist Sword (via Google Gemini)

Ai Austin Second Life Avatar as Strider with Orcrist Sword

Kemlo & Krillie Parents and Friends

2025, September 29 - 21:32

Kemlo’s Parents:

Krillie’s Parents:

Prompt: Create a comic book style page as the two 22nd Century Earth orbiting space station born teenagers, Kemlo and Krillie, fly away from Satellite Belt K in their two seater green spaceship. –sref 4099490849

Prompt: Create a comic book style page as the two 22nd Century Earth orbiting space station born teenagers Kemlo and Krillie are asked to investigate a “Gravity Anomaly” near the Moon. They zoom away from Satellite Belt K in their two seater green spaceship headed towards the Moon. As they approach they see an old space relic glowing red and emitting Gravity Rays.They capture it in their own Gravity Ray emission system. They return it to Belt K engineers to safely disable. Mission Complete! –sref 4099490849

… and hence Introducing Kemlo’s Parents…

Prompt: Kemlo’s father is the overall Satellite Belt K commander. Given the context can you suggest suitable names for Kemlo’s father and mother?

In the Kemlo books, while the name of Kemlo’s father, the commander of Satellite Belt K, is not explicitly stated, he is often referred to by his rank. A suitable name for his father, given the context of the 1950s and 1960s British science fiction, could be something classic and authoritative, such as Commander Robert “Bob” Stuart.

As for Kemlo’s mother, her role is primarily that of a homemaker and a loving mother, fitting the societal norms of the era in which the books were written. A fitting name for her would be something traditional and gentle, such as Eleanor “Ellie” Stuart.

Prompt: Given that Krillie’s parents are technical engineers on Satellite Belt K can you suggest suitable names to use for them in extended Kemlo and Krillie stories?

While their names aren’t mentioned in the original books, suitable names for Krillie’s parents, the technical engineers on Satellite Belt K, could be:

For her father: A name that suggests technical proficiency and a solid, reliable character. Alistair “Al” Calder or Stephen “Steve” Davies would fit the 1950s/60s British sci-fi tone.

For her mother: A name that sounds both intelligent and capable. Brenda Mills or Margaret “Meg” Evans would be appropriate for the time period and their role as engineers.

Prompt: Kemlo and Krillie have some friends and acquaintances who also were born on Belt K and therefore have names starting with K. Can you make me a complete list of all such people mentioned in the Kemlo books? Add a note on each if you know their gender, age and any role they play.

Based on the information available, the following individuals are mentioned in the Kemlo books with names starting with “K” and who were born on Satellite Belt K:

Kemlo: The central character of the series. He is a young boy who grows up as the series progresses. He is the Captain of the Space Scouts.

Krillie: A friend of Kemlo. In the first book, she is described as being precocious. She is also noted to be the youngest of the group of friends.

Krinsetta: Krillie’s sister. She is described as being “bossy” towards Kemlo.

Kerowski: A friend of Kemlo’s. He is described as being “tall, gangling, and pubertal,” with his voice breaking, which is often a source of humour.

Kartin: A friend of Kemlo’s. No additional details are provided about this character’s gender, age, or specific role.

Century 22 Food

2025, September 24 - 12:00

Hi, I’m Krillie. I was born in space on an Earth orbiting space station called “Satellite Belt K”. I write a diary under the moniker “Space Girl” for those interested in what is happening in space and to describe life as a Space Girl. I cover a lot of our activities, about our education and training, our living arrangements and some of our adventures. Along with my friend Kemlo, I write some of the books in “The Further Adventures of Kemlo and Krillie in Space” series. I hope my Diary is of interest to children on Earth, in the Satellite Belts and beyond.

Hey everyone! Krillie here, coming to you live from the orbital Agricultural Labs on Unity Station today. So, you’re probably wondering what we eat up here, right? Do we just munch on nutrient paste and recycled algae all day? Not a chance! We’ve got it pretty good, actually.

Remember those old movies where astronauts squeezed food out of tubes? Hilarious, but so, so wrong. While we don’t exactly have dirt-grown veggies in the traditional sense, we’ve got some amazing tech that lets us grow a huge variety of fresh stuff. Think of our hydroponic towers – they’re like vertical farms on steroids, using nutrient-rich water instead of soil. We grow everything from leafy greens like kale and spinach to juicy tomatoes and peppers. And some dishes have a very 22nd Century vibe to them.

I am visiting my friend Anya in the Orbital Harvests area on Unity Station. She has been on the Space Station there for a couple of years, but originally came from Earth as a Food Technologist.

One of the coolest things is our “protein replicators.” Sounds fancy, right? Basically, they use cellular agriculture to grow real meat, fish, and even some dairy products without needing actual animals. It’s totally sustainable and tastes exactly like the real thing. One of my favourites is the replicated tuna steak – perfect for a zero-g barbecue!

And get this: we even have our own little insect farms for sustainable protein. Before you gross out, hear me out! Crickets are actually super nutritious and when they’re processed into flour, you can’t even tell the difference. We use it in our baked goods and protein bars. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

Of course, we still get some supplies from Earth, mostly things that are too energy-intensive to produce up here, like certain spices or specialty grains. But for the most part, our meals are crafted from what we grow and create right here in the Belts. It’s pretty amazing to think that almost every bite I take has been cultivated within these very domes, under the watchful eye of our beautiful blue marble planet.

My Favourite Foods

Alright, so you want to know my absolute favourite meals up here? Where do I even begin? If I had to pick some, it would definitely be these:

First up, you can’t beat a good “Cosmic Caprese Salad.” Seriously, it’s out of this world! We take those perfectly ripe, juicy tomatoes we grow in the hydroponics bay, slice them up thick, and layer them with fresh, house-cultured mozzarella. Then we drizzle it with basil oil – made from our own basil plants, of course – and a tiny dash of balsamic reduction that comes from Earth (some things are just worth the shipping cost!). The zero-g environment actually makes the flavours feel even more intense, and the freshness just bursts in your mouth. It’s light, it’s flavourful, and it reminds me that even in space, we can enjoy the simple, beautiful things.

Next on the list, and this might surprise you, is “Stellar Spiced Cricket Stir-Fry”, I know, I know, “cricket” sounds weird, but trust me on this! We use ground cricket protein, seasoned with a blend of Earth-imported spices like ginger, garlic, and chili. We stir-fry it with a medley of our hydroponic veggies – crisp bell peppers, tender snap peas, and crunchy carrots – all grown right here. It’s packed with protein, super flavourful, and gives you a real energy boost without feeling heavy. Plus, it’s a testament to how creative and sustainable our food systems are. You wouldn’t even know it was crickets unless someone told you!

For a bit of a culinary adventure, my go-to is “Stardust Sushi Rolls”. Forget those messy plates of deconstructed sushi; we make ours into these awesome, self-contained rolls. We grow our own seaweed-like sheets in the aquaculture domes and fill them with replicated tuna or salmon that tastes exactly like the real thing. Then we add in hydroponic avocado, crisp cucumber strips, and a dash of spicy aioli. The best part is the “stardust”—it’s a sprinkle of finely ground, iridescent rice crackers that gives it a cosmic sparkle. It’s the perfect zero-g snack: all the flavours in one bite, and it holds together perfectly, so you don’t have to chase rogue pieces of fish around the galley!

And for the grand finale, my number one, can’t-live-without dessert: the “Galaxy Sundae”. This isn’t just ice cream; it’s a work of edible art! We make our own ice cream from bio-cultured dairy, but instead of vanilla or chocolate, we have flavours like “Nebula” (a swirl of blueberry, raspberry, and lavender), “Supernova” (spicy cinnamon with popping candy), and “Black Hole” (a dark charcoal flavour with streaks of sweet, black liquorice). We scoop three or four different flavours into a floating, transparent orb-bowl, then drizzle it with a shimmering, iridescent syrup that looks like liquid starlight. To top it all off, we sprinkle it with crushed “meteorites”—carbonated sugar crystals that crackle and pop as they dissolve—and a single piece of freeze-dried fruit, which floats like a miniature moon. The two bases on the bowl are fun (and a challenge) for a sharing desert. It’s a full sensory experience, and every bite is a little explosion of cosmic flavour!

And for when you want to feel truly sophisticated, there’s nothing better than the “Orion’s Belt Fizz.” This isn’t your average juice; it’s a layered masterpiece of flavour and science. We start with a base of cold-pressed “starfruit” juice, grown in our botanical dome, which has a crisp, slightly tangy flavour. We then carefully layer in a vibrant blue “nebula” syrup, made from a blend of fermented blueberries and edible butterfly pea flower extract, which creates a mesmerizing colour separation. A final float of sparkling, carbonated water gives it a fizzy finish. The whole concoction is served in a sleek, elegant glass with a thin, glowing rim—our version of a fancy cocktail glass—and garnished with a single, perfectly spherical “moon berry” that’s been grown to float on the surface. It’s chic, refreshing, and the perfect way to hold your head up high in any fancy orbital lounge.

So yes, space food isn’t just about survival anymore; it’s about culinary creativity and enjoying delicious, fresh meals, all thanks to the incredible engineering and agriculture we have up here!

Krillie’s Diary uses background created previously using AI tools based on the Kemlo Spaceworld series of books by E.C. Eliott published in 1954 to 1963. It uses images and PDF of the contents of this blog post: https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2025/09/10/kemlo-and-krillie-briefing/.

See also:

When you get older no one asks what your favourite dinosaur is!

2025, September 24 - 11:54

When you get older no one asks what your favourite dinosaur is! They don’t even care! A Google Gemini Storybook about my favourite Dinosaur – inspired by a Dinosaur novelty mug from Rosie Made a Thing – the Brontosaurus.

Google Gemini Storybook: https://g.co/gemini/share/37a0448c121f
Image animation via @Grok: https://x.com/i/status/1970755843344736279

Prompt: Write a story book with title “When you get older no one asks what your favourite dinosaur is!”

Start the story including the text “When you get older no one asks what your favourite dinosaur is… nobody cares!”

Austin’s favourite is a Brontosaurus. And no one seemed to care about them either for a while. Some scientists thought the Brontosaurus was actually just one type of Apatosaurus, which almost no one had heard of.

Tell an exciting story about Austin travelling back in time to see.. guess what.. a couple of Brontosaurus munching away high up with there long necks on foliage up in a tree.

Austin returns to the present day and is seen studying a Dinosaur book.

He is excited to discover that scientists have changed their mind, and a Brontosaurus is now classified as its own dinosaur species.

End the story including the text “When you get older.. always make sure you know your favourite dinosaur… someone may care. But more importantly, You care!”

Century 22 Sports

2025, September 23 - 12:18

Kemlo and myself are keen on sports and the are are many fun things to do in the Sports Domes on Belt K. Yoga and Ballet are popular for both men and women, as well as children, as they provide useful exercises for stretch and balance.. both are important when living in space. But on the Belts they are performed with a twist… “Gravity Ray Yoga” and “Situated Ballet”. . But there is much more… “Zero-G Air Wave Surfing” and “Resonance-Hexad” – a challenging Six-a-Side Team Game. But if swimming is your thing, try the wild “Infinity Pool”.

Gravity Ray Yoga

Yoga can be practised by people of all ages and abilities. It provides very good stretch and balance exercises. Gravity Ray Yoga uses the Gravity Rays we use on the space stations and on our spaceships to give a protective envelope and gravity. But in the yoga setting they can be adjusted to lighten or add to the physical resistance of movement. Settings allow for lower gravity to 60% of normal Satellite Belt gravity or to be increased to 1.4 times normal Satellite Belt gravity to push against your yoga poses.

Situated Ballet

Ballet exercises, both done individually and as part of a dance troop, can be set in any environment the participants can recall or imagine. Holographic projection into the dance studio, or use of VR sets the dancers in an immersive environment. Voice control lets the dancers or choreographers set up and modify the environment. Haptics in the dance costumes and ballet shoes or ballet boots allow for feedback on the environment. Imagine the ballerina performing on the stage at the famous Covent garden Opera House in London back on Earth. Or you can dance en pointe along the ice crystals in Saturn’s rings. Outside of the Satellite Belt’s Gravity Ray protective envelope though you must have on a costume which acts as a complete spacesuit.

Zero-G Air Wave Surfing

Zero-G sports are always popular in space… especially with visitor from Earth who find it a novel and exciting thing to do on their visits. Currents of air flow are generated in the Surfing Dome by enormous fans at the periphery of the arena and the surfers ride the air waves while in Zero-G environment. The movements can be gentle or strong and can be made relatively stable or vary a lot. Surfers must “feel” the air waves, much like a glider pilot flying in Earth’s atmosphere can. The air waves can be made to flow out in one direction or made to circle round. Haptics in the Air Flow Surfing costumes allow for audio-sensory feedback on the air flow strength and direction and from the environment. Experienced Air Flow Surfers who “catch a wave” when its circulating in the dome can ride round and round performing flip tricks on the air wave “front”. A pool of water at the base of the arena can be excited by the air wave patters and even form actual water standing waves which the surfers can interact with. Good surfers get enthusiastic applause form the crowds that can gather for some events.

Resonance-Hexad – a Six-a-Side Team Game

The Resonance-Hexad Arena is a popular venue and large crowds gather for tournaments. The game js often referred to just as “Resonance”. The rules at first may seem quite complicated, but actually so long as you understand that coordinated activity and patterns in the arena and between participants is the key, and ways to disrupt the opponents similar actions, it begins to make sense. The rules appeal to the engineering types that inhabit the Belts, som its become very popular. Some games between top teams are even videocast to other Belts and to Earth.

Infinity Pool

The Satellite Belts all have a special kind of swimming pool. The ring shaped pool is around 10 metres wide and 25 metres in diameter. The water is on the inner rim and is about 3 metres deep. Gravity Rays project around the rim of the pool to provide an even gravity outwards so swimmers can continue to swim forwards all the way round the pool and come back to where they started.

Game: Resonance-Hexad (often referred to just as “Resonance”)
Premise and Rules (assisted by Google Gemini)

Premise

Resonance-Hexad is a Six-a-Side team-based sport played within a dynamic, virtual-physical arena. It blends strategic puzzle-solving, real-time cooperative decision-making, and synchronized physical movement. The game is popular because it requires a combination of cognitive agility, team cohesion, and fluid adaptability, appealing to a society that values intellectual and collaborative skills as much as physical prowess. It is designed to be accessible to people of various physical abilities, with the core challenge being mental and social rather than purely athletic.

Equipment & Arena:

• The Sphere: A large, multi-level geodesic dome, approximately 25 meters in diameter, with a floor, walls, and ceiling that are fully interactive and responsive to player input.
• Holographic Projections: The arena’s surfaces display real-time holographic puzzles, pathways, and obstacles. These are not just visual; they can be “solidified” by the players’ actions, becoming traversable platforms, walls, or even objects.
• Player Suits: Teams wear lightweight, form-fitting suits integrated with a neuro-interface. The suits track the players’ movements and neural activity, allowing them to interact with the holographic environment.
• The Core: At the centre of the Sphere is a floating, crystalline object that is the target of the game.
The Rules of Play:
• Teams: Two teams of six players compete.
• Objective: The goal is for a team to “attune” the Nexus-Core to their unique “frequency” before the opposing team can. This is achieved by solving a series of complex, multi-layered puzzles and performing synchronized physical manoeuvrers.
• The Puzzles (The “Attunement Sequence”): Each puzzle in the sequence is a dynamic, holographic challenge that appears on the surfaces of the Sphere. They are not simple riddles; they require the combined effort of the entire team. For example:
• Logic Gates: Players must physically align themselves in a specific pattern on the floor to complete a circuit, which then unlocks the next puzzle segment.
• Geometric Flux: One player may need to hold a specific pose (e.g., a “V” shape with their body) while another player navigates a maze that is projected onto their teammate’s body, all while a third player “stabilizes” the holographic projection with their hands.
• Synaptic Relay: Players must “pass” a beam of light from one to another by touching their suits at precise moments and locations, a task that relies on perfect timing and nonverbal communication.
• The “De-tuning” Mechanic: The opposing team’s primary role is to disrupt the attunement sequence. They do this by projecting “static” or “feedback loops” into the arena, which can scramble a puzzle, change a holographic platform, or temporarily block a player’s suit from interacting with the environment. This is a non-contact defensive strategy, relying on foresight and timing rather than physical interception.
• Synchronicity & Flow: The game rewards “flow states.” When a team operates in perfect harmony—moving, thinking, and acting in a coordinated manner—their suits boost their abilities, allowing them to solve puzzles faster and project stronger attunement signals. This is the core skill of the game: achieving a state of collective cognitive and physical synergy.

Why It’s Different from Today’s Games:

• Focus on Collective Intelligence: Unlike team sports in earlier centurues that often rely on individual star players, Resonance-Hexad is designed to fail if even one player is not fully integrated. The game’s challenges are unsolvable by a single person and require a deep, intuitive understanding of each teammate’s role and capabilities.
• Non-Physical Conflict: The “conflict” is not about scoring a goal or tackling an opponent. It’s about mental and strategic disruption. It’s a game of wits, communication, and environmental manipulation.
• Accessibility: The game’s primary skill is cognitive and collaborative, making it accessible to a wider range of people regardless of their age, size, or physical strength. The physical movements are more akin to synchronized dance or martial arts forms than they are to running and jumping.
• Integration of Tech and Humanism: It is a game that is impossible without advanced technology, but the technology is not the player; it is an extension of the players’ collective will. The suits and the Sphere are simply tools to facilitate human connection and cooperation in a

See also:

Kemlo & Krillie – Century 21 Cosplay

2025, September 21 - 21:06

We got invited recently to a SciFi Cosplay event over in Belt M, one of our neighbouring Satellite Belts. We thought we would wear costumes that related to the mid 21st Century as envisaged a hundred years earlier by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson with their SciFi themed TV show – Supercar (actually set in the mid 20th Century), Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds which were set in “Century 21”.

Here I am dressed as Fireball XL5’s Venus, Doctor of Space Medicine, with Kemlo as Steve Zodiac. And as “Aqua” Marina in Stingray. I used blonde wigs to complete the looks.

Steve, I mean Kemlo, had the great idea of going across to Unity City where they have an expo of older space and experimental craft. He got me to sit on an original Century 21 Fireball XL5 Jetmobile for a selfie…

Once he got going there was no stopping Steve, I mean Kemlo, or should I say Mike Mercury! As once he saw the mid 20th Century experimental multimode test vehicle “Supercar” he had to dress up for that…

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Kemlo & Krillie – Character Sheets

2025, September 21 - 11:01

Generated via Google Gemini Prompt with the template image: Character sheet with Three-view, full figure, Close-up of face, white background. Front view pose to be directly from the front, not angled, and arms down by sides. Side view pose to be facing right, and arms down by sides. Back view pose to be directly from the back, not angled, and arms down by sides.

Krillie Tries it On

2025, September 20 - 13:57

Our Belt K uniforms and some other clothing is described at https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2025/09/09/kemlo-krillie-fashion/

My Belt K Fashion Diary Entry is available at: https://g.co/gemini/share/aed957af671c [ PDF Format ] [ Separate Images ] .

But once I got started with trying on outfits, especially as its so easy to use VR to “virtually wear” them, its tempting to “try it on” more.

Here are some gowns…

In the “Fancy Dress” theme, I tried on an “Elsa” dress from the “Frozen” films, which now are at their 18th iteration. I also took inspiration from the Art3mis character in the “Ready Player One” movie for a shiny red dress…

Now a couple of outfits with Kemlo. For the second outfit I asked Google Gemini to “Generate outfits for the two 18 year old characters that you thinks will best represent fashion as it could appear in the mid 22nd Century”.

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Belt K Technical Manual

2025, September 19 - 14:00

Belt K – An Earth orbit space habit spread over 20km including habitation, living spaces, educational areas, recreation, physical conditioning areas, manufacturing, solar power generation and storage, space agriculture and hydroponics in large domes (automatically positioned to maximise crop growing quality and time). Robotics and droids are used throughout the Belt. Children born on Belt K are given names starting with “K”. “Gravity Rays” are projected around space stations and spacecraft to protect them from meteor damage, provide an area within them with gravity and to stabilize their positions. They provide an envelope within which the occupants can breath normally when close to their space station areas or spacecraft. But away from the protective area of the Gravity Rays helmets and full space suits must be worn.

Spacecraft – Space Scooters (SS) for intra-habitat local transport and exploration, Space Runabouts (SR) for in orbit travel, Space Transports (ST) managed by the Space Transport Authority (STA) are the workhorses for orbital and Earth-Orbit operations for cargo and passengers, and Experimental Spacecraft (SX).

Space Scooters (SS) – small two to four seat personal spacecraft for travel within a Belt. Highly automated with remote supervisory capability for younger travellers.

Space Runabouts (SR) – two seat or larger spacecraft for travel around and between the Satellite Belts. Automation is used for safety. Fully autonomous versions provide a taxi service.

Space e(X)perimental (SX) – a range of craft under development and testing.

Origination: Retro-futuristic space station image generation in Scenario.. Used as a basis for generation of a space station image in Google Gemini. 3D model created in Tripo3D.

Space Scooters typically provide short distance local transport within belts. They are mostly are fully autonomous. Modular engines make replacement and maintenance easier.

Origination: Original artwork from “Kemlo and the Star Men” paperback. Tidied up in Leonardo. Used as a basis for generation of a spacecraft image in Google Gemini.

For use in no atmosphere settings.

Origination: Original artwork from “Kemlo and the Space Lanes” paperback. Simple 3D model generated in OpenSimulator. Image of that used to generate a detailed image in Google Gemini. 3D model created in Tripo3D.

Adds atmospheric use and Earth landings as well as in orbit uses.

Origination: Google Gemini image generation and manipulation.

Space Personal Investigation Training and Research Craft Number XK240.

Origination: Original artwork by “Cornwel” from “Kemlo and the End of Time” hardback. Scenario.com was used to enhance a scan of this illustration. That was used to generate a detailed image in Google Gemini. Further manipulation in Google Gemini.

The Belt K Technical Manual uses background created previously using AI tools based on the Kemlo Spaceworld series of books by E.C. Eliott published in 1954 to 1963. It uses images and PDF of the contents of this blog post: https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2025/09/10/kemlo-and-krillie-briefing/. The images for the figurines was created by the Google Gemini AI App.

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