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North Carolina State University
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Media Contacts: James D. Tomlinson, 919/515-7337 or [email protected]
Tim Lucas, News Services, 919/515-3470 or [email protected]
Dec.3, 1998
NC State Installs New Virtual Reality Dome to Aid Designers, Scientists
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The best architects, designers and scientists have always immersed themselves in their work. But now, thanks to a new virtual reality theater at North Carolina State University, they can take it to a whole new level.
The VisionDome at NC State's School of Design allows up to 15 people at a time to immerse themselves in an interactive, lifesize virtual environment. Architects can "walk through" a new building with contractors and clients before its foundation is even dug; veterinary students can hone their skills in virtual surgeries; scientists can explore virtual ecosystems to assess the possible future impact of development.
"There are almost limitless research and training possibilities for this technology," says Jay Tomlinson, director of NC State's Design Research Laboratory, where the VisionDome is housed. "It's not just a design tool. It has practical uses in a huge number of scholarly fields and in public-service outreach."
NC State is the first university to have a VisionDome on its campus. Only about a dozen of the theaters exist worldwide. The technology was developed by Alternative Realities Corp. (ARC) of Research Triangle Park, which underwrote most of the estimated $500,000 price tag to install the theater at the School of Design.
The theater, which looks like a miniature planetarium from the outside, measures about five meters in diameter. Its interior walls form a fully immersive, 180-degree hemispheric screen, onto which precisely detailed, computer-generated virtual images can be projected. Because the screen extends beyond viewers' peripheral vision, it totally immerses them in the environment without the use of restrictive and uncomfortable head-mounted displays or goggles. When movement is added to the image, a lifelike 3-D effect is achieved.
"You get a much more immersive experience with VisionDome than with flat-screen virtual reality or flat-screen 3-D computer modeling," Tomlinson says. "It's like the difference between stereo sound and Dolby surround sound."
One of the most practical benefits of VisionDome is that it allows a group virtual-reality experience, he says. Developers, city officials and business owners could together tour a proposed downtown revitalization project to spot mistakes or tweak design elements while the project is still in the conceptual stage. Teachers could lead groups of students on a "fantastic voyage" into a DNA molecule, or on a walking tour through a museum located half a world away. Landscapers could show clients how a garden will grow and evolve over time.
"Designers are very much in need of this technology," Tomlinson says. "Seeing a room or a garden in your mind's eye or on a computer screen is one thing. But being able to enter the space, feel it, and move through it in likelife scale -- that gives designers a new perspective, and it also gives design instructors a better way to teach students about movement through space and time."
Another advantage of the technology, he says, is it eliminates or greatly reduces virtual-reality sickness, a queasy, stomach-churning sensation similar to car sickness that can occur when a virtual-reality headset's tracking lags behind a user's head movements.
Currently, the VisionDome in Tomlinson's lab is capable of immersing an audience in an interactive virtual environment but soon, he says, it will be capable of much more. "With upgraded software, we'll be able to do real-time modifications to the designs. That's truly the next generation of design modeling."
Although it is housed in the School of Design, the theater already is being used by faculty members campuswide for research, outreach and teaching, and Tomlinson says it also is available for use by area businesses, government agencies and other off-campus users. Fees may be charged to cover operating costs. Several times a year -- most likely at university or School of Design open houses -- the VisionDome will be open to the public.
Additional funding for the acquisition and operation of the VisionDome was provided to Tomlinson's lab by NC State, and IBM has loaned computer hardware for it.
-- lucas --
NOTE TO EDITORS: A photo of Jay Tomlinson experiencing a virtual environment inside NC State's VisionDome is available in black-and-white or color prints as well as electronically. Call News Services at (919) 515-3470. Television news crews who would like to film the VisionDome should also contact News Services for assistance.
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