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NAME

       lightspeed - Shows how objects moving at speeds near the speed of light
       look like.

SYNOPSIS

       lightspeed [-hsa] [object]

DESCRIPTION

       Light Speed! is a simulator which can illustrate the effects of special
       relativity  on  the  appearance  of  objects  travelling  at ultra-high
       speeds. Depending on the particular speed, and  one’s  point  of  view,
       relativistic  effects  can  cause the object to appear shorter, longer,
       brighter, darker, deformed and/or off-color.

CONTROLS

       To adjust the velocity, use the slider along the right edge of the main
       window.  You can also type in a value, using the entry at the top right
       (press <Enter> once it is in). To change the  units  shown,  press  the
       button  to  the  right  of the entry, and it will cycle through a small
       list.

       The object travels in the positive-x direction, which can  be  visually
       checked by activating Objects -> Coordinate axes.

       Most interactive control is performed with the mouse. By holding down a
       particular button, and dragging  the  pointer  around,  various  camera
       motions can be obtained:

          Left button:  Revolve camera around view target

          Left button + Shift key:  Revolve view target around camera

          Middle button:  Translate camera left, right, up or down

          Right button:  Dolly in or out

       The  first  and last motions are generally the most useful.  Should the
       camera become difficult  to  control  at  any  point,  it  may  be  re-
       initialized by selecting Camera -> Reset View.

OPTIONS

       -h, --help
              Print this help screen

       -s, --simple
              Use simplified interface

       -a, --advanced
              Use advanced interface (default)

       object 3D file to load on startup (.3DS or .LWO)

                                  April 2000