The Interactive Surrogate Travel system

The Interactive Surrogate Travel (IST) system is based on the super-miniatu rized system of virtual technology, Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAV E). Using bilateral virtual reality (VR-to-VR) communications, IST enables the testing of subjects via interactive communications. It appears that IST will find practical applications in the near future. We examined the utili ty of IST in medical treatment and psychiatric tests. Psychiatric symptoms reflect human pathos, which in turn are greatly influenced by culture. If t hese culture-bound symptoms can be adequately communicated between provider s and clients of different cultures, we can develop effective telepsychiatr ic services across different societies and cultures. IST requires high-spee d transmission and gigabyte circuits. A pilot project tested the utility of IST (through the use of optical fiber communications on earth) as a basis for experiments via the Gigabit satellite, to be launched in the year 2002.