Lögberg-Heimskringla - 14.04.1995, Qupperneq 1

Inside this week:
Heimskringla
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
Obituary................................ 2
"lceland: Coastal Wings" to be reviewed....3
Grímkell's Story, twenty-fifth installment..4
Einar's Anecdotes...........................5
Children's Corner...........................6
109. Árgangur Föstudagur 14. apríl 1995
109th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 14 April 1995
Númer 14
Number 14
lcelandic
News
Charitable Organization:
■ The Charitable Organization of the
lcelandic Lutheran Church recently com-
pleted its annual drive.. This year
$280,000 Cdn. were brought into its
coffers. This is comparable to the
amount brought in during last year's
drive. This year the lcelandic Radio
Association assisted the organization by
running short informational programs
between scheduled fares. A news show
and a 50 minute television program,
produced by the staff of Channel #2
were also shown. The organization's
25th anniversary vyill be celebrated on
April 29 this year with a special confer-
ence. On the agenda are discussions of
human rights on a broad scale and
whether charitable organizations run by
a church should connect human rights
to the financial support given. Also for
discussion will be problems involved
with emergency help, and whether all
lcelanders enjoy human rights. This con-
ference. is a further step in the educa-
tional package which the Church will
present to the nation.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:
■ The British drug company Shire
Pharmaceutical .has made a contract
with Dr. Ernir Kr. Snorrason, psychiatrist,
to use his theories (results from his
research) regarding "chronic fatigue
syndrome" in the production of the
drug "galanthamine". The company
recently got a patent on production of
the drug which is scheduled to be on
the market in the year 2000 and Dr.
Snorrason then stands to profit from its
sale. Shire Pharmaceutical has paid the
expenses of Dr. Snorrason's research
into the causes and nature of "chronic
fatigue syndrome" for the last few years.
Dr. Snorrason has also received job
offers from respected institutions in sev-
eral countries and offers to direct
research in the USA, England, Japan
and other countries.
V GUNNUR ISFELD J
Real Success in Virtual Reaiity
By Kevin Jón
Johnson
Combining cre-
ativity, skill
and integrity,
Liquid Image Corp-
oration of Winnipeg is
gaining an interna-
tional reputation for
the manufacture of
head-mounted dis-
plays and integrated
Virtual Reality systems; tailored first
to entertainment uses, they are now
developing wider markets. The early
successes of this young company,
which began in the winter of 1992, are
remarkable in their extent and variety.
Being one of only a handful of
Canadian companies in this niche, it
has already been the first of these to
win a Virtual Reality award, and is
also the first recipient of the Meckler
Market Impact Award, which is given
to an organization whose superior
business or technical and professional
competence are driving the industry’s
growth.
Virtual Reality envelopes an indi-
vidual in an artificial world that
“feels” real and responds to body
movements similar to the way the real
world does. Liquid Image Corporation
intends to lead the field in the making
of head-mounted displays (HMD),
which integrate state-of-the-art imag-
ing and audio technologies that are
housed in a sturdy plastic-based
shell. The company name was
derived from the liquid crystal dis-
play used in the HMDs. Allowing
for a remarkable degree of periph-
eral and vertical vision, the head
mounted displays mediate
between the computer generated
Virtual Reality world and the indi
vidual who becomes immersed in it
and creates the verisimilitude of reality
through the suspension of disbelief,
which is a part of the imagination we
use when reading literature or watch-
ing a movie. Essentially, the HMD
covers your sensory organs, as it is
your sensory organs that connect you
with the outside world. When you
cover these with a head mounted dis-
play, it provides the stimulation that
the sensory organs would receive if
you were in a “real” world.
This technology arose from the mil-
itary and NASA, but is now finding its
way into entertainment, movies, tele-
vision, rock videos, advertising, archi-
tecture, interior decorating, medicine,
science teaching and promotion, and
in use at highly competitive trade
shows to help seduce, beguile and
instruct prospective customers.
Ninety-five percent of the company’s
, sales occur outside of Canada, which
Dave Collette and Tony Havelka ofLiquid Image were
chosen among the fíve fínalist nominees for
Manitoba’s Defínitive Entrepreneur ofthe Year
Award for 1995.
is why a Certificate of Appreciation
from the Manitoba Export Market-
place adoms the battleship-grey walls
of their board room.
President Tony Havelka brings to
the company business sawy, universi-
ty training in Applied Economics, and
computer knowledge; whereas Vice
President Dave Collette applies his
entrepreneurial gifts, Air Force train-
ing, engineering degree, and experi-
ence in the amusement ride industry
to make Liquid Image Corporation a
vigorous success. Many readers may
know of David’s grandfather, Johann
Sigurdson, who owned a mink ranch
in the Interlake for more than 50
years, and are, of course, acquainted
with his lovely and talented mother,
Linda, a frequent contributor to these
pages. Both of these accomplished
young gentlemen are the motivating
force behind this
exciting and sophisticated company;
neither of them has yet seen thirty
years in this world.
Dave Collette is following in the
footsteps of great Icelandic Canadian
scientists such as Vilhjálmur
Stefánsson or Baldur Stefanson, and is
defined by qualities greát and sound
enough to bring him to their stature
and renown, having so auspiciously
begun to make his mark in the techno-
logical and business world.
I wish to thank Dave for letting me
intmde in his busy life, to learn about
his remarkable achievements, allowing
me to share them with you. We wish
him and his capable colleagues the
greatest success that their industry and
early victories point so glowingly
towards.