We also had to do a 5-10 minute presentation on our topic. For this I have posted up the slides that I showed with corresponding text that represents what I spoke about with each slide. Look at this to get a quicker impression and understanding of my topic.
Presentation:
I looked at Virtual Reality for my project. First, a little bit of history:
Morton Heligs 'Sensorama' was a mechanical device that included a stereoscopic display, fans, odour emitters, stereo speakers and a moving chair. It embraced all senses.
The Philco Corporation developed Headsight. This was a headset connected to a camera - when the users head moved, so did the camera. It allowed Helicopter pilots to fly at night using headsets that were connected (via magnetic tracking) to infrared cameras positioned below the helicopter.
Ivan Sutherland was the first to connect the Headsight to a computer and established some principles of Virtual Reality which are still in use today: The Virtual Reality comes across as a real environment. It is generated by a computer in real time. It allows users to manipulate virtual objects.
Antonio Medina was a NASA scientist who found a way of controlling Mars Rovers and experiencing Mars from Earth.
So, what kind of environment is required for Virtual Reality to work?
Here is an example:
This is a 4-sided stereoscopic head-tracked immersive display. It uses the same technology as 3D films. Oppositely polarised light is projected in at 4 angles allowing the virtual world to be fed in via computer and interpreted by the user in 3D space.
The main experiment I looked at used this same structure:
Do check out the video link! It is quite remarkable.
Effectively its like being inside Maya. It incorporates a bi-manual interface and allows the user to interact with virtual objects using 2 hands. The head and less dominant hand is tracked using ultrasonic technology. Input comes from both hands (one of which controlling a wand - the equivalent of a mouse.)
There are 3 different modes. Immersive, Table and Mixed. Immersive is 1 : 1 allowing the user to get up close and inspect their work. Table is table sized (!) and allows for quicker and easier editing. Mixed (like the above picture) is a combination.
The software was developed using C++ and Open GL. It is based on an earlier program by Cabral et al. This program allows the user to put together models using model pieces. The models update in real time as the user manipulates them.
Here's another experiment I have looked at. This one involves tactile feedback and allows the user to feel the holograms. So here, the user can feel virtual raindrops splashing on their hands. Again, it is worth checking out the video found at the link above.
So what are the future applications? Well...
We would be more like virtual builders with a greater degree of natural interactivity and control. One possible application demonstrated in my picture above is in Scene Planning and Pre - Visualisation. You would be able to work collaboratively around a 3D scene. You would physically be able to move the virtual cameras, lights and characters. You would be able to check what the virtual cameras are viewing in the 2D viewports and adjust the composition to suit your needs.
Other areas of future application are in modelling and animation. With modelling the standard could be what is achieved with Maya today. With tactile feedback you may be able to literally feel the models, so effectively it could be like working with clay. Painting and Texture applications could also be created. In animation, actors would be motion captured much like they are now, only they would be able to act within a virtual environment. This may may lead to more convincing acting.
To sum up my presentation:
On an ethical note: If Virtual Reality becomes more prominent as a means of entertainment and media we should be careful not to get addicted to such entertainment and keep a sense of our physical real world identities and realities.
On a positive note: A more immersive and interactive virtual process would heighten our physical and mental engagement and reduce RSI. A greater natural interface between the user and the software would enhance our enjoyment of the work involved.
Essay:
Animation Technologies Assignment
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