Location Watergraafsmeer - CAVE
About CAVE
CAVE
The CAVE is a 3m 3m 3m room, with three walls
and a floor. Projectors, situated behind the walls,
project computer-generated imagery onto the walls
and floor. Two perspective-corrected images are
drawn for each frame, one for the right eye and one
for the left. Special glasses are worn that ensured
that each eye sees only the image drawn for it.
This creates a stereoscopic effect where the depth
information encoded in the virtual scene is
restored and conveyed to the eyes of those using
it.
The CAVE works by reproducing many of the visual
cues that the human brain uses to decipher the
world around you. Information such as the differing
perspectives presented by the eyes, depth
occlusion, and parallax (to name a few) are all
combined into the single composite image that you
are conscious of, while the rest is decoded by
one's brain to provide you with depth cues. The
CAVE must reproduce all of this information in
real-time, as you move about in the CAVE.
The CAVE provides true stereoscopic imagery
through the use of four rear-projected screens
using an active stereo system. Electrohome CRT
projectors are used for the imagery and are bounced
off of mylar mirrors so that the CAVE will fit
within the constrained space of the room.. Infrared
Crystal Eyes active stereo LCD shutter glasses are
used in conjunction with the projectors to provide
true stereo at an ideal rate of sixty frames per
second (thirty frames per second for each eye). An
eight-processor Silicon Graphics Onyx 2 Reality
Monster powers the CAVE through four graphics
boards (one for each wall). Wired tracking is
provided through either Ascension Technology's
Flock of Birds electromagnetic tracking.
The small distance between one's eyes means that
each eye sees the world from a slightly different
angle. The brain assembles these two images into a
single composite image and uses the differences in
perspective, along with other cues, to determine
the depth of the scene. The CAVE recreates this
effect by providing the right and left eyes with
slightly different perspectives of the scene that
mirror what they would see in real life. This
provides the critical depth information that makes
everything seem to "come alive" in the CAVE.
The special glasses weared in the CAVE are
actually shutter glasses that make the right lens
become opaque when the image for the left eye is
being displayed and vice-versa, so that each eye
only sees the image designed for it. The special
tracked glasses and CAVE wand are both attached to
electromagnetic sensors that allow the computer
system to know where within the CAVE each is
located and what its orientation is. The computer
can use this information to general the proper
viewpoint within the scene (so that you can peer
around the corner of a building by physically
moving your head). Occlusion and parallax, are
calculated based on the location of the tracked
glasses and the current eye being drawn for,
providing unparalleled realism.
In the area of Virtual Reality SARA offers:
- Consultancy
- Assistance
- Software development
- Workshops/Projects
-
For further information please contact: SARA,
Marketing and Sales Department, P.O. Box 94613,
1090 GP Amsterdam. Email: marketing@sara.nl.
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