Communications of the ACM
The pc Builds a New High-Performance Cave Automatic Virtual Environment That Functions With Gesture Recognition
The Polytechnic University of Catalonia has unveiled a new immersive virtual reality system using 40 low-cost commercial projectors controlled by 12 PCs.
Credit: Polytechnic University of Catalonia
Polytechnic University of Catalonia's (UPC) Virtual Modeling, Visualization, Interaction, and Virtual Reality Research Group has developed a multi-projector cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). UPC's CAVE has four three-by-three-meter walls that function as the screens and 40 commercial, low-cost projectors controlled by 12 PCs. The final image is created using self-calibration software, which adapts each of the 40 projections and guarantees the continuity of the system.
The self-calibration algorithm is based on the projection of patterns and on the capture of the patterns by four digital cameras that are controlled by a PC.
In the CAVE, users interact wirelessly with objects and the virtual environment through their gestures. The new interaction system is intended to be transparent and ergonomic. The system relies on two Kinect sensors placed at 90 degrees to each other that work in unison, detecting the movements and positions of the main joints of the user. The system adapts the image perspective to the user's head position in real time, enabling users to select and modify the characteristics of the virtual objects with gestures in order to inspect and see specific areas of the objects more clearly.
From Polytechnic University of Catalonia
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2013 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found