A virtual prototype is a major interim step towards the creation of a virtual environment. This book explores the simulation, interaction, concepts and tools of virtual prototypes and environments. It provides a mixture of state-of-the-art, advanced research and industrial papers.

Introduction - J Rix, Germany. Part One: Perspectives for virtual prototyping. About Plato's cave - J Teixeira, Portugal, and Murtinho. Information technology, a catalyst for process optimization - Jain and K Fliess, USA. Rapid prototyping - An approach beyond manufacturing technology - W Steger, Germany, and Wagner. Cooperative working on virtual prototypes - S Haas, USA, and U Jasnoch, Germany. Integration of virtual prototyping applications with a distributed conferencing system - N Schiffner, Germany. Part Two: Advanced product modeling techniques. Product and shape representation for virtual prototyping - S Bloor, UK, et al. Virtual prototyping through feature processing - J Ovtcharova, Germany. Dynamic and semantic modeling - A new approach to model products - K-P Greipel, Germany. Solid modeling as a framework in virtual environments - M Figueiredo, Portugal, and J Teixeira, Portugal. Virtual prototypes and product models in mechanical engineering - M Pratt, USA.A feature-based framework for transforming and representing multiple format CAD for virtual prototyping - Ganesan, and V Devarajan, USA. A reference model for product information sharing in concurrent engineering environment - De Martino et al. Part Three: Architectures for distributed systems (Architectures for virtual prototyping environments). Supporting multidisciplinary team in concurrent engineering - J Maxfield, UK, Fernando and Dew. Towards a virtual prototyping environment - U Jasnoch, Germany, H Kress, Germany, and J Rix, Germany. Network requirments for large distributed virtual environments - R B Araujo, Brasil, and Kirner. Part Four: Advances in virtual reality technologies. Interacting with virtual reality - M Wloka, USA. Building simulations for virtual environments - Cremer, and G Vanecek, USA. Task performance using 3D displays - T Bardsley, UK, and Sexton. Virtual reality for enhanced computer vision - W Burger, USA, and Barth. Part Five: Industrialapplications. Physical models for solving off-road vehicle motion planning - M Cherif, France. Integrating applications into a virtual prototyping enviroment - U Jasnoch, Germany, H Kress, Germany, and J Rix, Germany. Virtual prototyping - Design and realistic presentation of industrial products - Gausemeier, Lewe, and A Sabin, Germany. Virtual prototyping using graphical simulation and advanced programming techniques - Thoben et al. Prototype validation in virtual environments - Vision and first implementation - K Bohm, Germany, et al. Applying virtual reality to electronic prototyping: Concepts and first results - Dai, Felger, and M Gobel, Germany. Workshop summaries. IFIP workshop on virtual environments - J Teixeira, Portugal. IFIP workshop on virtual prototyping: Virtual protyping - Expectations and realizations of a new working paradigm - S Haas, USA. Index of contributors. Keyword index.