Virtalis Day Discusses VR Simulation Applications
The keynote speaker was Andrew Connell, Virtalis' technical director, who gave a talk on how visualisation technology is transforming the workplace. Delegates heard about technological breakthroughs, such as how iPads, iPods and iPhones are now capable of becoming controllers in VR. Andrew Connell used a new iPad throughout to control all three of Northampton's systems. Vicon's Andy Ray told the audience about a camera called Revue that takes unobtrusive photographs every 30sec to create virtual memories. He also introduced a low-cost, optical motion-capture system, called Bonita, which links to many visualisation packages.
His video of MIT's autonomous robot test bed featured 60 autonomous robots and 120 helicopters, all fully tracked in a single room in real time. Rab Scott of AMRC stressed that VR brings context to visualisation of parts and assemblies - something that is lost in CAD. He said: 'We bring this all together in our Virtalis Activewall and this combined data source is used for design reviews, scenario planning and training. David Clark of Intersense announced the launch of the Bluetooth wireless Inertiacube, which will be held next month. Intersense expects to launch the Navchip real-time tracking and navigation system next year.
Christie's presentation focused on the advantages of LED technology in the world of projectors. New software from Christie includes the Twist, which enables the projection of images of surfaces of any shape, and True Image, its new auto-calibration system, which works with Twist. The theme of Dassault Systemes' talk was 'Create once, publish everywhere'. Sandrine Dos Santos said: 'We believe in fast development and deployment within VR to simulate how humans interact with a product. She showed an animation of how EDF nuclear workers are trained within a virtual world, ready to drive cranes in hazardous environments.
Margaret Horne, from Northumbria University's School for the Built Environment, argued for the use of VR in bringing people together from different backgrounds. Using student projects to emphasise her points, she showed how spheres as diverse as psychologists, sports scientists and architects can use advanced visualisation to come together to analyse the usability of special environments. Other examples demonstrated how planners, developers and conservation bodies can work together in VR. Nvis announced the launch of its Nvisor ST50, a see-through head-mounted display that is expected to be launched at the end of this year, as well an entry-level HMD and an improved version of its virtual binoculars.
David Hendon of Virtalis said: 'Nvis is hinting that they might have a wireless HMD ready soon. SGI's presentation encompassed servers, supercomputers and storage solutions. Martin Howell explained that latest research has shown that the majority of problems arise with cabling, so all SGI's latest designs feature minimal cabling and industry-standard components. SGI has recently launched what is said to be the world's largest supercomputer, the Altix UV. Nvidia discussed its Quadro range - particularly its Quadro Plex, which has been designed for high-end visualisation.
All of the BBC's Election coverage was powered by data-parallel processing Quadro Plexs. The newest addition to the Nvidia range is the Tesla, which includes three billion transistors and was described as having 'the soul of a supercomputer within the body of a GPU'. BGS showcased the Geovisionary software it has collaborated with Virtalis in developing. Luke Bateman demonstrated how the software can be used by geologists to do things that can't be done in the field, such as exaggerate the terrain to make the geology easier to determine. Luke showed a series of animations of geological surveys in Tajikistan and Mars.
Virtalis has completed the installation of several Activeworks systems at the University of Northampton, including a five-sided Activecube and two Activewalls. The facility has matched funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with further financial support from East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) and Northamptonshire Enterprise. For bigger groups, the 6 x 3m four-channel tracked Activewall, powered by Virtalis immersive display software, generates a 3D stereo experience for up to 75 people at a time. The smaller Activewall in the basement was designed for sensitive research, product design, marketing and small-scale customer presentations.
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