Updates

[ 23 Jul 2008 : Added Workbench and Cave videos]

Index

- Projectors based

- HMD, VR Goggles

Projectors Based

The most impressive and immersive is the Cave system (also called SasCube, Move, Cube…). It’s a cube of at least 3×3x3m with at least four faces displaying stereoscopic images. The Cave at Iowa State University has just been upgraded and now has a resolution of 100 million pixels, featuring 96 GPUs and 24 Sony digital projectors.

© Arnaud Muthelet

Multiple users can fit in a Cave, enabling collaboration. Note that as of now, the displayed images have the correct perspective for a maximum of two users, and multiple-user interaction is not yet the norm.

(c) S. Kuntz

Then several systems with digital projectors exist, from the Holobench and Holostage to the Reality Center and a “simple” mono or multi-projectors wall.

Holobench - Photos © PSA Peugeot Citroën Mediatheque.

A Wall © Arnaud Muthelet

A Reality Center © Arnaud Muthelet

An HoloStage © Arnaud Muthelet

Panoscope (c) Laval Virtual

The Matsushita Electronics Hemispheric Dome  is an hemispherical screen of 8.5 meters in inside diameter, 18 projectors, with stereo images projected on the screen having a wide field of view (FOV) of 180 degrees in horizontal and 150 degrees in vertical directions.

Now that the traditional theaters are buying digital projectors that have great chances of being able to display 3D pictures. As 3D movies are coming back, we should consider them as potential VR centers !

That’s why the biggest VR display is in Paris, in the famous La Géode theater that also hosts an Imax projector.

(c) S. Kuntz

(c) Dassault Systèmes

HMD, VR Goggles

There is an impressive number of Head Mounted Displays (HMD) on the market. Some of them are getting more attention :

(c) S. Kuntz

- the eMagin Z800 seems to be the most successful. Priced at1500$, it has very nice displays (OLED, 800×600), but disappointing integrated trackers.

(c) Trimersion

- the Trimersion has the big advantage of being wireless and cheap (600$). Small resolution (640×480) and probably crappy integrated trackers. Note that the gun is not tracked.

(c) Sensics

- the piSight Sensics is a panoramic HMD, with a field of view up to 180°, and up to 4200×2400 pixels per eye ! It is made up of several OLED 800×600 displays (built by eMagin). The main problem is that if it is not perfectly setup on your head, you can see the seams between those displays. And it’s very expensive.

Tags: Active Stereoscopy, cave, DLP, emagin, HMD, Holobench, LCD, Passive, reference, resource, sensics, Stereoscopy, trimersion, Virtual Reality, VR Displays

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