Virtual Reality News: 21 April 2002Virtual Reality News: 21 April 2002
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Users, Applications
& Projects
01 Curved-Screen VR for US Army
02 Interactive Walkthrough
Products &
Services
03 Home Improvement
04 Fireplace in 3D
05 Stitcher 3.5 Available in May
06 EDS Works with Microsoft on E-vis
Companies &
Markets
07 Adobe Licenses VET
08 Open Text Selects AutoVue
09 GL Studio to Complement Vega Prime
10 Reseller for Government & Defense
Opportunities
11 Marie Curie Fellowships
Events & Calls
for Papers
12 3D Insiders' Summit 2002 & Second OpenHSF Meeting
13 2002 European Simulation Interoperability Workshop
14 VR World Congress V
15 More Events
About VREfresh
Mechdyne has unveiled a curved-screen VR (MD CSVR) system for the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Maryland, USA. This visualization system will be a key component of the ARL/MSRC Supercomputing facility. Department of Defense researchers will use the system for applications including conducting lifelike military simulations, command and control, debriefings, and terrain visualization. ARL's Scientific Visualization Team also plans to use the system to promote the use of scientific visualization within the Department of Defense and to prepare video presentations in support of Department of Defense projects. The system utilizes a curved-screen configuration with a three-pipe SGI Onyx supercomputer to generate the system's 3D images, which are then projected onto the screen by three edge-blended and geometry-corrected CRT projectors. A fourth LCD projector is installed into the system to deliver extra brightness. A Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound audio system will enhance combat and other simulation applications. Additional features include DVD and VCR playback capabilities, an AMX control system, a Lecturn with PC connections, and several wireless microphones for presentations and audience interaction.
The UNC Walkthru Research Group has announced GigaWalk, an interactive Walkthrough system for complex CAD and geometric environments. GigaWalk can handle complex, gigabyte-sized environments. It combines occlusion culling and levels-of-detail and uses two graphics pipelines with one or more processors. It has been used to render CAD environments composed of tens of millions of polygons at interactive rates on an SGI Onyx system with two Infinite Reality rendering pipelines. A distributed version of the system, running on two or three PCs, has also been developed.
You can visualize home improvement and garden projects this spring with the help of Total 3D Home Deluxe and Total 3D Landscape Deluxe, Version 4.0, published by Individual Software Inc through a licensing agreement with Scene7. The Total 3D products create 3D renderings for a variety of building, gardening and decorating ideas, which enable homeowners to create plans before committing to and spending money on a project. Total 3D Home Deluxe and Total 3D Landscape Deluxe are available at $39.95 each. Both Total 3D products feature a budget manager so that users can plan and stay within their financial capacity. Each also includes a separate CD-ROM that contains the Black & Decker Home Improvement Library, which provides the answers on how to complete common outside projects.
Step-by-step videos demonstrate how to install a gate, lay a brick patio, build a concrete block wall, and other outdoor projects to help homeowners create the dream yard or home. Americans spend an estimated $8 billion per annum on landscaping services and the National Association of Home Builders reports that the first 12 months after purchasing a newly built home, owners spend an average of $8,900 to furnish, decorate and improve that home.
DDD Group and Hearth Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of HON Industries have been demonstrating a 3D sales presentation tool for fireplace distributors. DDD's TriDef technologies enable content to be converted from 2D to 3D. Hearth Technologies Inc is the largest fireplace manufacturer and distributor in the world. It manufactures and sells fireplaces, inserts, stoves, and gas log sets under the Heatilator, Heat-N-Glo, QuadraFire and Dovre brand names.
URL: http://www.ddd.com
REALVIZ will make available Stitcher 3.5 in May to build high-quality panoramas for film, print, 3D and the Web. Catering to photographers, web designers, architects, 3D artists and post-production professionals, REALVIZ Stitcher is a professional application for building high-resolution panoramas. Overlapping photos are uploaded into Stitcher to produce wide-angle, high-quality images for creating web pages, definition mattes, environment maps, image sequences and 3D models. The most requested features (Lens Distortion Correction, Forced Stitching) have been implemented, along with the Artifact Removal tool and several other improvements.
Luc Robert, Chief Technology Officer of REALVIZ, is to speak at VR World Congress V in Paris, France in September.
EDS has launched E-vis 4.0, designed to enable enhanced product innovation and efficient supplier participation in new product development. Developed in conjunction with Microsoft on the .NET platform, E-vis 4.0 is collaboration, conferencing, and visualization software that can integrate with XML Web services based on industry standards. It allows for a community of users, including both technical and non-technical participants in product development as well as supply-chain partners, to collaborate globally and in real time.
Ford Motor Company and General Motors played integral roles in the definition of visualization technologies required for the automotive industry, with particular emphasis on addressing the needs of supply chain collaboration. The integration of Microsoft technologies with the EDS visualization and collaboration tools provides an approach that reflects Ford's and GM's needs, expanding the potential for closer involvement of suppliers in the design process. E-vis 4.0 builds on the de facto industry standard for sharing and visualizing lightweight product data based on the JT format. This standard is used by companies such as Ford, General Motors, Daimler/Chrysler, Renault, Hyundai, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Siemens and over 1,000 other companies worldwide.
E-vis enables the visualization of JT data on platforms ranging from PC desktops to immersive virtual reality environments, all from a common data and technology base. According to Sanjay Parthasarathy, president of the Platform Strategy Group at Microsoft: "Manufacturing enterprises need an integrated, secure and scalable platform for collaboration throughout the product lifecycle. The Microsoft .NET Platform, in conjunction with advanced collaboration, conferencing, and visualization solutions from EDS, connects the 3D-design and manufacturing communities in a whole new way."
URL: http://www.eds.com
Adobe has extended its agreement with Viewpoint Corp and has paid a license fee to bundle the Viewpoint Broadcast License with Adobe Atmosphere. This licensing agreement allows content developers and providers to display Viewpoint Experience Technology (VET) content in Atmosphere worlds at no additional cost to the user. Viewpoint's VET content includes ZoomView (a server-less "pixels on demand" image transmission technology), Viewpoint hyper-realistic 3D and support for Macromedia Flash (.SWF) files. VREfresh has reported that Caligari wil customize trueSpace5 for Adobe Atmosphere.
URL: http://www.adobe.com
Open Text Corporation has selected Cimmetry's AutoVue as its recommended viewing and markup package to offer the Livelink customer base. Open Text now offers AutoVue to the Livelink user community, allowing users to view and markup over 200 CAD, engineering and office document formats. AutoVue integrates seamlessly with the Livelink repository, allowing users to not only view their documents, but to annotate them and automatically check the markups back in as controlled documents. Formats supported include 3D assemblies and parts (Pro/E, CATIA, SolidWorks, Unigraphics...), EDA formats (Gerber, ODB++...) and office documents (MS Office, PDF, TIFF...).
MultiGen-Paradigm has signed a distribution agreement with Distributed Simulation Technology Inc. MultiGen-Paradigm will distribute DiSTI's GL Studio software as a complementary module for Vega Prime, MultiGen-Paradigm's visual simulation development and deployment environment. GL Studio is a rapid prototyping, design and deployment tool for creating realtime 3D photo realistic graphical displays, such as instrumentation and text overlays, for simulation and training applications. GL Studio generates portable C++ and OpenGL source code and can be integrated with the customizable and extensible architecture of Vega Prime.
Visual Simulation Technologies has been appointed as an Alias|Wavefront reseller within the government and defence arenas. Visual Simulation Technologies (VST) was founded in January 2002 to provide 3D visual solutions for a range of military and defence applications.
Two fellowships a year are available in the application of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies to real-world domains, in particular Virtual Prototyping for manufacturing, medical and surgical applications, urban regeneration and the creation of intelligent virtual agents or synthetic characters. Active fields include the modelling of soft tissue and deformable surfaces, virtual prototyping, virtual agent architectures including emotional systems, interactive narrative, and synthetic characters for training and education.
Research training will be supplied in supporting technologies such as physically-based modelling, constraint propagation, and the integration of AI technologies, from agents and planning to neural nets and ALife. Prospective fellows should have a first degree in computer science, IT or engineering, with good programming abilities. Fellows with a background in graphic arts or practical experience in computer games may also be considered. This is an EU funded Marie Curie Fellowship and guidelines apply.
URL: http://www.cordis.lu/improving/fellowships
Email CVs by May 13, 2002 to s.a.richardson@salford.ac.uk
The 3D Insiders' Summit 2002, sponsored by AMD and Simmetrix, will be held May 13-15, 2000 in Colorado, USA. The second OpenHSF meeting will be taking place at the 3D Insiders' Event, and product overviews of upcoming Spatial releases as well as announcements and demonstrations will take place.
URL: http://www.spatial.com
URL: http://www.openhsf.org
The 2002 European Simulation Interoperability Workshop (Euro SIW) is sponsored by the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) in cooperation with The Society for Computer Simulation - Europe International Training Equipment Conference (ITEC, Ltd.). The 2002 Euro SIW will be held June 24-26, 2002 at the University of Westminster, UK.
VR World Congress V will be held in Paris, France on September 9th and 10th, 2002 and offers an exceptional opportunity to identify project partners to make proposals to the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme (the budget for the 5th was $3.5bn). A copy of the current working draft agenda is available. The delegate fee for this not-for-profit event is just $150 and, as numbers are limited, early registration will be essential.
For extensive information about events relevant to the European VR/i3D community, see the events pages on El.pub: for Europe: base05.htm, for the rest of the world: connone.htm
| About VREfresh news Each edition of virtual reality news is now published on a separate page, ensuring that links (particularly from VREfresh) continue to remain current. To view news from previous issues, please use the navigation buttons below. |
VREfresh Email alerter of news items and associated URLs, send an email with your name, organisation, country (and for the US a zip code) to the Editor via the link above. |
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