Posted on 05/10/2006 3:51:54 PM PDT by Yossarian
EE Times: Latest News
Iowa State claims highest resolution VR room
R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
(05/10/2006 4:47 PM EDT)
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A virtual reality installation sporting 100 million pixels is being touted as offering the world's highest resolution, and could aid medical and military research.
The $4 million upgrade to Iowa State University's "C6" VR room will employ 24 Sony digital projectors to back-illuminate all four walls, floor and celling of the installation.
Operators of the C6 room claimed it was the highest resolution VR installation when it was first unveiled in 2000. Since then, other VR rooms have been built with higher resolution, including a five-sided room recently installed by Fakespace Systems Inc. (Marshalltown, Iowa) and at the at Los Alamos National Laboratories' Strategic Computing Complex. Fakespace worked with Iowa State to upgrade its current C6 installation to regain the highest resolution: 100 million pixels compared to 43 million pixels at Los Alamos.
The six-sided VR room delivers 16 times more pixels than the 2000 version, all housed within a the 10- by 10- by 10-foot room that back-projects 3D computer- generated scenes on walls, floor and ceiling. The images will be generated by a Hewlett-Packard computer with 96 parallel graphics processing units feeding the 24 digital projectors, plus an eight-channel 3D audio system and an ultrasonic motion-tracking system that changes the scene as a user turns his head.
The C6 room will be shared among researchers at Iowa State, including mechanical engineers and architects developing 3D walk-throughs of proposed buildings. Other engineers are working with biologists to create visualization databases for as many as 22,000 genes, enabling researchers to simulate and observe photosynthesis and cell metabolism "from the inside." Iowa State researchers will also use the VR technology to develop realistic battlefield scenes aimed at improving remote control of unmanned aerial vehicles. The system will provide a birds-eye view of terrain and other aircraft as live data is fed from sensors.
Funding for the C6 upgrade was provide by the Defense Department and the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
How would you use the C6 VR room if you could program it? For good? For evil?
As for myself, I'd create a Tahiti beach at the end of an amazing powder ski run, where half-naked beautiful Freeperettes serve me zero-carb Czech Budvar while fanning me with palm leaves. And that's the evil use scenario!
SA - can you add this thread to your Tech Ping list? I think it may be of interest, or at least cause interesting speculation and/or tech daydreams....
Just make sure it's not a Sherlock Holmes simulation-those things cause nothing but trouble... : )
'Data' I ain't. I'm more of a 'Lore'.
Racing games for me.
There's something funny in here somewhere.
I would hook my Wii up too it.
on second thought I would probobly pass out from the heat of the projectors.
If it's in the room they describe you damn well should be able to see it. Take a look in the corner, I think I see something funny over there....
Ah, that sounds like something way more intimate than I really want to know about.... And I'm sure the Iowa State janitors assigned to the C6 VR room wouldn't appreciate it.... :-0
Now we need a spherical room.
Well, with that fine of resolution, it might find a use in the /08 Iowa Caucuses to show:
Does that work for you?
That would be a perfect place to watch a Nascar Race at a track like Bristol Tenn...
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