Application Framework for Canvas A Virtual Reality Environment for Museums

Application Framework for Canvas A Virtual Reality Environment for Museums Hank Kaczmarski Camille Goudeseune Benjamin Schaeffer Lance Chong Rose Marshack Lee Hendrickson Jim Crowell

Canvas A Virtual Reality Environment for Museums Beckman Institute Krannert Art Museum University of Illinois, USA http://www.isl.uiuc.edu

The Seedbed Initiative for Transdomain Creativity: Exploring Human Experience Through Art and TechnologyArt is a touchstone of civilization, and as we stand at the dawn of a new age, called by some the era of “cultural computing,” the possibilities for engaging the humanities with the fine and applied arts and with science and technology seem likely to surpass anything yet imagined.

CANVAS PROJECT DRIVEN BY THE DESIRES OF THE ELECTRONIC ARTISTS ON CAMPUS

CANVAS GOALS: USE EXISTING GALLERY SPACE MAKE ENVIRONMENT RECONFIGURABLE MINIMIZE UP-FRONT COSTS MINIMIZE LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE COSTS MAKE SYSTEM ARTIST-FRIENDLY

CANVAS Three walls Six projectors Obtuse-angled walls to allow greater viewing space

CANVAS Three soft-screen walls (easily replaced) Rear projection Obtuse-angled walls to allow greater viewing space

CANVAS DRIVEN BY PC CLUSTER CIRCULAR POLARIZED PASSIVE STEREO PROJECTION

CANVAS DRIVEN BY PC CLUSTER TWO SEPARATE NETWORK SWITCHES ONE FOR GRAPHICS COMMUNICATION ONE FOR DATA

CANVAS DRIVEN BY PC CLUSTER RENDER NODES HAVE TWO-CHANNEL GRAPHICS CARDS

CANVAS GRAPHICS CARD FOR ONE WALL DISPLAYS 2048X768 PIXEL IMAGE ACROSS TWO 1024X768 VIDEO OUTPUTS (ONE FOR EACH EYE)

CANVAS POLARIZING FILTERS CAN PERFORM EITHER LINEAR OR CIRCULAR POLARIZATION LINEAR IF ALL HORIZONTAL VIEWING CIRCULAR IF HEAD-TILT IS DESIRABLE

CANVAS PASSIVE (LINEAR OR CIRCULAR POLARIZED) STEREO PROJECTION MEANS MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE GLASSES (25X LESS EXPENSIVE) ACTIVE STEREO GLASSES GLASSES ACTIVELY AFFECT VISION BY SHUTTERING LIQUID CRYSTAL LENSES UP TO 160 FIELDS PER SECOND - HIGH ON/OFF RATIO LEADS TO EXCELLENT DYNAMIC RANGE TYPICALLY 30% TRANSMITTANCE PASSIVE STEREO GLASSES CONTAIN OPPOSITE POLARIZATION LENSES WORK CONTINUOUSLY HAVE NOTICABLE IMAGE “BLEED” ALSO 30% TRANSMITTANCE

CANVAS DRIVEN BY PC CLUSTER CIRCULAR POLARIZED STEREO PROJECTION

CANVAS AFFORDABILITY: USE COMMODITY COMPUTERS

CANVAS SYZYGY: A GRID-BASED OS FOR PC CLUSTER VIRTUAL REALITY, TELECOLLABORATION AND MULTIMEDIA SUPERCOMPUTING

CANVAS SYZYGY MIDDLEWARE DRIVES 40 PROJECTOR POWER WALLS, Cubes, CAVEs, SINGLE-WALL DISPLAYS AND DESKTOP SYSTEMS IN ACTIVE AND PASSIVE STEREO

CANVAS SYZYGY DOWNLOADS: http://www.isl.uiuc.edu/ szg-0.7: The source code for the Syzygy library plus sample applications and documentation. py-szg-0.7: Python bindings for much of the Syzygy API. pycube: Sample Python applications using Syzygy. Thanks George Francis and students! vmat-0.7: A realtime physics library used in some of the applications in szgdemo. szgdemo-0.7: Additional sample applications. szgdata-0.7: Data for some of the sample applications. Due to space constraints, this cannot be everything. The remaining data is available upon request. szg_app_template: A template project useful for cross-platform C++ projects using Syzygy.

CANVAS ANY INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICE(S) THAT CAN (THROUGH THE USE OF A COMPUTER) SEND NETWORKED SOCKET INFORMATION TO THE SYSTEM WILL WORK

CANVAS ADAPT ACCEPTED INTERACTION DEVICES FOR INTERACTION USE WIRELESS COMMODITY GAMEPAD ALONE OR ATTACH POSITION TRACKING SYSTEM OT IT AND/OR TO EYEWEAR POSITION TRACKING GREATLY INCREASES IMMERSIVE EFFECT BUT PERHAPS MORE GREATLY INCREASES SYSTEM COMPLEXITY, COST AND MAINTENANCE

CANVAS USE EXTREMELY SIMPLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE (ON THE USER SIDE) INTERFACES AT THE EXPENSE OF BEHIND-THE-SCENES COMPLEXITY

CANVAS CREATE DOCENT INTERFACE TO RUN VISUALIZATION APPLICATIONS WIRELESSLY

CANVAS MAKE THE DOCENT INTERFACE AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE WITH WEB-BASED SCRIPTS TO KILL RUNNING PROCESSES AND START ALL NECESSARY PROCESSES FOR A NEW APPLICATION

CANVAS BEHIND-THE-SCENES: GRAPHICS ENGINES HAVE ONE MONITOR FOR EACH IMAGE (2 PER COMPUTER/SCREEN) PLUS NETWORKED CONSOLE TO PROGRAM WHILE ANOTHER AP IS RUNNING

CANVAS OPERATOR CONSOLE MONITORS FOR EACH PROJECTOR PLUS NON-DISPLAY TERMINAL

CANVAS DEVELOP HUMAN INTERFACES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF A NOISY ENVIRONMENT

CANVAS INTEGRATE OPTICAL MOTION TRACKING TECHNOLOGY

CANVAS NO NEED TO BE A PROGRAMMER TO GENERATE 3D IMAGES SHAPECAM DOES IT FOR YOU AND CREATES A .OBJ IMAGE FILE THAT INTEGRATES SEAMLESSLY INTO SYZYGY’S SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE

360 in CANVAS MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF ARTISTS, COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS, ENGINEERS, MUSEUM STAFF

CANVAS VOLUME RENDERING USING HARDWARE ACCELERATION UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AUTHORS WISH TO THANK: Kathleen Harleman, Krannert Art Museum, UIUC Marcello Knorich Zuffo, LSI, Universidade de Sao Paulo Luciano Soares, LSI, Universidade de Sao Paulo

Application Framework for Canvas A Virtual Reality Environment for Museums