Slashdot Mirror
Virtual Tourists in the Swiss Alps
Roland Piquepaille writes "Farmers in Switzerland receive money from their government for letting their cows eat young trees in the Alps. But why? Because this is improving the mountain views for tourists who might return year after year and spend their cash in the country. As the Swiss government wants to wisely spend its money, it is using a computer model of the mountains populated by virtual tourists -- or software agents -- which tirelessly take the same roads again and again and give their appreciation about the best spots. The Economist reports about these virtual tourists in this very cleverly-titled article, "Computer browsers." What will be the next logical step? Pay more the farmers with the strongest potential to improve the views for real tourists? Wrong. Instead, real hikers will be invited to explore the virtual Alps to give their feedback. Their observations will be then integrated into the software managing the virtual travelers. Read more for pictures and references."
fp!!!
Does this mean Swiss Alps will run on Linux?
Mooo moo treees moo moooo moo tastier mooo than mooo mooo grass mooo moo moo.
I spent many years in Germany, and in my high school years either biked or hitchiked around Europe, including Bavaria and Switzerland.
No virtual reality program can ever replace hiking the trails of Switzerland, camping out under the stars and breathing the cold mountain air.
I may be tempted to change my mind about virtual reality if it came with a very real stein of beer, wurst and a hard roll.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
Who is this Roland Piquepaille guy, and why should I listen to anything he says? Sounds like a fag to me.
Hmm. I haven't read Roland's articles much (except for glancing over one or two of them), but Jon Katz's writings were so terrible they were actually entertaining. They smack you over the head and slap you around a few times. I should know. I am the author of JabberKatz(tm) and I have downloaded every single one of his Slashdot articles for use with the program. Somehow I doubt Roland is Katz, although he (like Katz) may lack journalism skills.