IPT/EGVE 2003: 7th International Workshop on Immersive Projection Technology, 9th Eurographics Workshop on Virtual Enviroments

Permanent URI for this collection

https://diglib.eg.org/handle/10.2312/374

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 45

3D input devices and interaction concepts for optical tracking in immersive environments
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Stefani, Oliver; Rauschenbach, Jörg; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
In this poster abstract we present an interaction concept and input devices for optical tracking in virtual immersive environments. Requirements to input devices for immersive environments will be based on a document, outlining major requirements for VR-systems. A preliminary testing of the usability will be discussed. We conclude this abstract by presenting our interim findings.
An Affordable Optical Head Tracking System for Desktop VR/AR Systems
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Mulder, Jurriaan D.; Jansen, Jack; Rhijn, Arjen van; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
We present an affordable optical head tracking system for desktop-like VR/AR environments. The generic and specific head tracking requirements for these type of environments are defined, as well as the relaxations such environments put on head tracking systems. The presented head tracker is based on two low-cost, commodity FireWire cameras that track a simple 3D dot pattern. It is shown that the tracker provides high accuracy, an update rate of 30 updates per second, a low computational load, and a moderate delay of 66 ms. It is competitive to commercially available, moderate-cost head tracking systems yet for substantially lower costs.
CAD/CAE visualization in virtual environment for automotive industry
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Paillot, D.; Merienne, F.; Thivent, S.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
In this paper we propose a method to link CAD models to an immersive environment. Since CAD models can not be directly viewed in a real-time visualization environment, we present here a complete chain of adapta-tion steps to view adapted CAD models in an immersive environment with high quality rendering. Our method allows high quality visualization of complex scenes in an immersive environment such as design reviewing for example.
Search Space Reduction in Optical Tracking
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Liere, Robert van; Rhijn, Arjen van; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
In this paper we present a practical method for reducing the space when searching for point patterns in optically tracked virtual reality applications. The method uses a predictor to estimate the future position of a point. The key idea is to define a metric that determines the quality of the predictor, and use this metric to construct a 3D region around the predicted position of each point. The size and shape of the 3D region is based on the kinematic properties of the predicted point. The 3D region is projected into 2D to obtain the required search window. The contribution of the paper is that the search space can be reduced substantially by making use of adaptive window shapes and sizes.
ViSTA FlowLib - A Framework for Interactive Visualization and Exploration of Unsteady Flows in Virtual Environments
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Schirski, M.; Gerndt, A.; Reimersdahl, T. van; Kuhlen, T.; Adomeit, P.; Lang, O.; Pischinger, S.; Bischof, C.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
In the past a lot of work has been invested in various aspects of an interactive visualization of CFD simulation data. This includes e.g. increasing the rendering speed and responsiveness of complex visualizations, using and enhancing multimodal user interfaces, and incorporating parallel approaches for an efficient extraction of flow properties and their respective visual representation. Still, only few projects combine the significant advances in these areas. In this paper, we describe our software framework ViSTA FlowLib, which facilitates merging current research results of various related areas. This is done by connecting dedicated sub-modules with clearly defined responsibilities through appropriate interfaces, whilst implementing sensible default behavior. ViSTA FlowLib combines efficient rendering techniques and a parallel computation of the visualization with intuitive multimodal user interfaces to allow for an interactive exploration of unsteady fluid flows in a virtual environment. Special care has been taken to achieve a high scalability in respect to computing power, projection technology, and input-output device availability.
The Virtual Showcase as a new Platform for Augmented Reality Digital Storytelling ve
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Bimber, Oliver; Encarnação, L. Miguel; Schmalstieg, Dieter; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
In this paper we discuss a case study for which we applied a customized augmented reality display - the Virtual Showcase - as a new platform for digital storytelling. Different storytelling components are identified and examples for their specific realization are explained. Our case study focuses on communicating scientific information to a novice audience in a museum context. Addressing first user feedback, we describe our current efforts of improvement.
An Innovative Design Approach to Build Virtual Environment Systems
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Oliveira, M.; Crowcroft, J.; Slater, M.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
A Virtual Environment (VE) presents a complex problem with interesting non-trivial challenges for software development. The majority of existing systems supporting VE are based on monolithic architectures, making maintenance and software reuse difficult at best. When a novel concept or idea requires implementation, it is not possible to extend an existing system by replacing or incrementing the necessary functionality. This leads to a proliferation of VE systems. This paper identifies some of the major problems in the current development trend of VE systems that result in incremental innovation with little overall progress. However, component methodology and other software engineering principles are not widely employed in system design. We present the Java Adaptive Dynamic Environment (JADE) as an innovative design approach to building VE systems. The paper discusses some of the major elements of the JADE component framework, such as the kernel, the namespace, the event model and how to configuration takes place. In addition, a simple maze dungeon game is discussed demonstrating the runtime reconfiguration of the supporting VE system.
Open ActiveWrl - A Middleware Based Software Development Toolkit for Immersive VE Systems
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Winkelholz, C.; Alexander, T.; Weiß, M.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
A Virtual Environment (VE) is not an application in itself. It should further be seen as a complex, multi modal human-computer interface. Immersive VE systems must be able to couple resources, most likely distributed in a cluster, into a parallel, real-time simulation. The shortcoming of most VE software libraries is the inability to provide an environment that satisfies the three main requirements in the implementation of a VE system, namely the design of the VE interface, the implementation of the actual application and the distribution of parallel tasks to appropriate resources within a cluster system. This paper presents Open ActiveWrl, an open source software project that tackles these problems by a generic software development approach. It is tailored for heterogenous cluster systems. Open ActiveWrl uses a general-purpose middleware that interprets VRML/X3D as an interface definition language.
Interactive Augmented Reality Techniques for Construction at a Distance of 3D Geometry
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Piekarski, Wayne; Thomas, Bruce H.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
This paper presents a series of new augmented reality user interaction techniques to support the capture and creation of 3D geometry of large outdoor structures, part of an overall concept we have named construction at a distance. We use information about the user s physical presence, along with hand and head gestures, to allow the user to capture and create the geometry of objects that are orders of magnitude larger than themselves, with no prior information or assistance. Using augmented reality and these new techniques, users can enter geometry and verify its accuracy in real time. This paper includes a number of examples showing objects that have been modelled in the physical world, demonstrating the usefulness of the techniques.
A Comprehensive Calibration and Registration Procedure for the Visual HapticWorkbench
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Ikits, Milan; Hansen, Charles D.; Johnson, Christopher R.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
We present a simple yet efficient calibration and registration procedure for improving the overall static display accuracy of the Visual Haptic Workbench. The procedure is used for precisely colocating the visual and haptic workspaces of the system and is divided into three stages. First, we calibrate and register the PHANToM to the display surface of the workbench. Second, we calibrate the tracking system by attaching a rigid extension between the tracker sensor and the PHANToM stylus. Third, we interactively find the remaining unknown display parameters including eye and hotspot offsets as well as a local reference frame. Initial evaluation of the approach indicates that it is possible to improve static display accuracy by at least an order of magnitude for this system.
A Survey and Performance Analysis of Software Platforms for Interactive Cluster-Based Multi-Screen Rendering
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Staadt, Oliver G.; Walker, Justin; Nuber, Christof; Hamann, Bernd; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
We present a survey of different software architectures designed to render on a tiled display. We provide an in-depth analysis of three selected systems, including their implementation of data distribution, sort-first rendering, and overall usability. We use various test cases to analyze the performance of these three systems.
Automated Testing of Virtual Reality Application Interfaces
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Bierbaum, Allen; Hartling, Patrick; Cruz-Neira, Carolina; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
We describe a technique for supporting testing of the interaction aspect of virtual reality (VR) applications. Testing is a fundamental development practice that forms the basis of many software engineering methodologies. It is used to ensure the correct behavior of applications. Currently, there is no common pattern for automated testing of VR application interaction. We review current software engineering practices used in testing and explore how they may be applied to the specific realm of VR applications. We then discuss the ways in which current practices are insufficient to test VR application interaction and propose a testing architecture for addressing the problems. We present an implementation of the design written on top of the VR Juggler platform. This system allows VR developers to employ standard software engineering techniques that require automated testing methods.
Interacting with real time simulations - virtual reality in industry applications
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Jönsson, A.; Bathelt, J.; Broman, G.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
Modern manufacturing machines are highly multidisciplinary, and with demands on short time-to-market, product development based on traditional prototype testing has become impractical. By using virtual models, it is possible to test large numbers of variants and optimise the product with the aid of a minimum of physical prototypes. Due to the immense development of software and hardware for simulation and visualisation it should today be possible also for small and medium sized enterprises to use methods that just few years ago were too expensive and complicated. There is however still a great need for building knowledge and competence. This work is an early step in a project aiming at a virtual water jet cutting machine to be used by the industrial partner for optimisation during the development process. The possibility of performing real-time simulations of this machine in a virtual environment, using a normal PC and commercial software, will be investigated. Initially strongly simplified models of the system components are used and the focus is on the overall system model and the interaction between the operator and the virtual machine. It is shown that realtime interaction is possible with this system and with the obtained flexibility of the overall virtual model it should be easy to include more realistic component models for improved accuracy in future work. Preliminary results indicate however that to include, for example, flexibility within the mechanic structure, component modelling will be delicate. These models must describe relevant characteristics accurately enough while still being computationally effective enough for real-time interaction and systems optimisation to be possible. This will probably be a challenge in the continuation of the project, even with an expected continued strong development of computer capacity.
Seamless Multi-Projector Display on Curved Screens
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Baar, Jeroen van; Willwacher, Thomas; Rao, Srinivas; Raskar, Ramesh; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
We describe a new technique to display seamless images using overlapping projectors on curved surfaces. Our method addresses issues such as automatic registration, smooth intensity blending and efficient render-ing. Previous techniques for automatically registered seamless displays have focused mainly on planar dis-plays. Techniques for curved screens currently involve cumbersome manual alignment to make the installation conform to the intended design.
Advancements in 3D Interactive Devices for Virtual Environments
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Wormell, D.; Foxlin, E.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
New commercially available interactive 3D tracking devices and systems for use in virtual environments are discussed. InterSense originally introduced the IS-900 scalable-area hybrid tracking system for virtual environments in 1999. In response to customer requests, we have almost completely revamped the system over the past two years. The major changes include a drastic 3-fold reduction in the size and weight of the wearable sensor devices, introduction of wireless tracking capability, a standardized I2C interface to allow OEM system integrators to add additional custom controls, and evolution of the system software interfaces, the performance, and the price. This paper will briefly describe the underlying technology changes that have allowed these advances to occur, and will outline some of the configuration possibilities that are now supported. Specific examples of how these devices and systems are being used to improve productivity in oil & gas seismic analysis & well field planning; automotive design & test; and, industrial/military training applications will be used to illustrate. Customization standards and future developments are discussed.
Color Consistency for Digital Multi-Projector Stereo Display Systems : The HEyeWall and The Digital CAVE
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Kresse, W.; Reiners, D.; Knöpfle, C.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
Digital projectors have a significant advantage over CRTs for IPT setups: brightness. But they also have a number of disadvantages, one of which is color consistency. This problem is exacerbated when using the Infitec method for stereo separation, which in itself has some strong advantages for CAVE and tiled wall setups. In this paper we will describe a method for color and brightness correction of multi-projector display systems. The method itself is used in two new projection systems, which are currently under construction at Fraunhofer-IGD: The HEyewall and the Digital CAVE. The HEyeWall is the first stereo capable tiled display worldwide. The Digital CAVE is the first CAVE with digital projectors and stereo separation based on Infitec(tm). In this paper we present these new IPTs in more detail and also present our experience with digital projectors. To calibrate all the involved projectors photometric measurements of the different projectors are used to calculate a common gamut in a linear colorspace. Input colors are mapped into this gamut and from there mapped into the individual projector's colorspace. This method allows to adjust the rendering output of two or more projectors with different color gamuts in such a way that the projected images are photometrically calibrated. Since the correction has to be done for each pixel, a straightforward implementation would be very slow and far away from realtime. Consequently we will outline a method how to improve performance and overcome this limitation.
A Virtual Environment for Conceptual Design in Architecture
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Anderson, Lee; Esser, James; Interrante, Victoria; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
We present a virtual environment application that has been developed for conceptual design in architecture and seeks to emulate aspects of a typical designer's work area. The environment provides a means of creating and manipulating basic geometry using a kiosk toolbox. More importantly, the environment provides simple means for using imagery and videos developed outside of the environment for use within the environment for both information and design. A DesignStation is provided within the environment to create a work area for the designer, concentrating imagery and information associated with the design as well as an area for reflecting upon, presenting and critiquing the design process. A unique aspect of the environment is the ability to work in more than one scale simultaneously.
Virtual Reality in Web-Based Training Programs
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Leibl, P.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
This paper illustrates the use of a virtual environment (VE) in universities and private industry educational programs and training. The principles are demonstrated in the field of the design of plastic moulded parts under special consideration of product manufacturability and cost. The main focus of this paper is to illustrate how those in education can understand the concepts associated with such projects more easily.
The blue-c Distributed Scene Graph
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Naef, Martin; Lamboray, Edouard; Staadt, Oliver; Gross, Markus; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
In this paper we present a distributed scene graph architecture for use in the blue-c, a novel collaborative immersive virtual environment. We extend the widely used OpenGL Performer toolkit to provide a distributed scene graph maintaining full synchronization down to vertex and texel level. We propose a synchronization scheme including customizable, relaxed locking mechanisms. Our distributed scene graph includes both locally stored nodes for static scene data as well as nodes shared across multiple sites, thus minimizing synchronization overhead. We discuss the performance and demonstrate the functionality of our toolkit with two prototype applications in our high-performance virtual reality and visual simulation environment.
The Metaverse - A networked collection of inexpensive, self-configuring, immersive environments
(The Eurographics Association, 2003) Jaynes, C.; Seales, W. B.; Calvert, K.; Fei, Z.; Griffioen, J.; Andreas Kunz and Joachim Deisinger
Immersive projection-based display environments have been growing steadily in popularity. However, these systems have, for the most part, been confined to laboratories or other special-purpose uses and have had relatively little impact on human-computer interaction or user-to-user communication/collaboration models. Before large-scale deployment and adoption of these technologies can occur, some key technical issues must be resolved. We address these issues in the design of the Metaverse. In particular, the Metaverse system supports automatic self-calibration of an arbitrary number of projectors, thereby simplifying system's setup and maintenance. The Metaverse also supports novel communication models that enhance the scalability of the system and facilitate collaboration between Metaverse portals. Finally, we describe a prototype implementation of the Metaverse.

Browse

Browsing IPT/EGVE 2003: 7th International Workshop on Immersive Projection Technology, 9th Eurographics Workshop on Virtual Enviroments by Issue Date

Results Per Page

Sort Options