in the virtual extension
DOI: 10.1145/1897816.1897821
in the Virtual extension
To ensure the timely publication of articles, Communications created the Virtual Extension (VE)
to expand the page limitations of the print edition by bringing readers the same high-quality
articles in an online-only format. VE articles undergo the same rigorous review process as those
in the print edition and are accepted for publication on merit. The following synopses are from
articles now available in their entirety to ACM members via the Digital Library.

viewpoint

DOI: 10.1145/1897816.1897846

the need for a new Graduation Rite of Passage

John K. Estell and Ken Christensen

The use of computers is pervasive throughout our society. Given the ever-increasing reliance placed upon software, graduates from computing-related degree programs must be more aware than ever of their responsibilities toward ensuring that society is well served through their creative works. The authors propose a new organization establishing a rite-of-passage ceremony for students graduating in the computing sciences that is similar in nature and scope to the Ring Ceremony employed by the Order of the Engineer for students graduating from engineering programs. This new organization is solely intended to promote and recognize the ethical and moral behavior in graduates of computing-related degree programs as they transition to careers of service to society.

The proposal is not a call for accreditation, licensure, or certification at any level. It is also not a call for the formation of a new professional society such as ACM. The proposed new organization would not be a membership organization; there would be no meetings, no conferences, and no annual dues.

Its sole purpose would be to facilitate and promote a rite-of-passage ceremony where students take a pledge to affirm and uphold the ethical tenets of the profession they are about to enter.

Two institutions—Ohio Northern University and the University of South Florida—have already experimented with this concept. The authors seek to start a larger conversation on this concept by soliciting input from the community on what they believe is a significant need for an organization that can benefit both graduates and the computing profession.

contributed;article

DOI: 10.1145/1897816.1897847

10 scientific Problems in Virtual Reality

Qinping Zhao

Virtual reality was one of the 14 Grand Challenges identified as awaiting engineering solutions announced in 2008 by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. In this article, the authors explore 10 related open VR challenges, with hoped-for potential breakthroughs promising to advance VR techniques and applications.

VR today is being applied in multiple contexts, including training, exercise, engineering design, and entertainment, while also serving as a research tool in such fields as neuroscience and psychology, as explored in Michael Heim’s pioneering 1993 book Metaphysics of Virtual Reality. More recently, scholars have described the Internet itself as representing a virtual world modeling its real-world counterpart. The relationship between VR and its application fields is, in terms of expression and validation, like the relationship between mathematics and physics, while VR is attracting attention from a growing number of governments and science/ engineering communities. Along with the NAE Committee on Engineering 14 Grand Challenges, the Chinese government’s 2006 report Development Plan Outline for Medium- and Long-Term Science and Technology Development (2006–2020) and the Japanese government’s 2007 long-term strategic report Innovation 2025 both included VR as a priority technology worthy of development.

VR has also emerged as an important research area for many Chinese universities and research institutes. For example, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou and Tsinghua University in Beijing are known for realistic modeling and rendering; Peking University in Beijing focuses on computer vision and human-machine interaction; the Beijing Institute of Technology in Beijing emphasizes head-mounted displays; and the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing has made significant progress in crowd simulation.

review;article

DOI: 10.1145/1897816.1897848

Are the oecD Guidelines at 30 showing their Age?

David Wright, Paul De Hert, and Serge Gutwirth

Three decades have passed since the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) promulgated
Guidelines on the Transborder Flows
of Personal Data, and still the issue of
transborder flows of data continues
to plague policymakers, industry,
and individuals who have no idea
what happens to their data once it is
transmitted beyond their national
jurisdictions. This article briefly reviews
what happened in the 1970s, the factors
that led to production of the guidelines,
and some of their key points. The authors
highlight the success of the guidelines,
but also the shortcomings, and what
is happening now to bridge the gap.
They ask the defining question: “Is an
international binding convention or
standard still needed?”
In the 1970s, the decade before the
OECD Guidelines were promulgated,
some countries had already begun to
enact privacy laws applicable to the public
and private sectors, including Germany,
France, Sweden, and the U.S. In the seven-
year stint between 1973 and 1980, one-
third of the OECD’s 30 member countries
enacted legislation intended to protect
individuals against abuse of data related
to them and to give individuals the right
of access to data with a view to checking
their accuracy and appropriateness.
Some countries were enacting statutes
that dealt exclusively with computers
and computer-supported activities.
Other countries preferred a more general
approach irrespective of the particular
data processing technology involved.
The OECD became concerned that these
disparities in legislation might “create
obstacles to the free flow of information
between countries.”