There are a number of ongoing research projects dealing with virtual reality and the use of immersive displays. The hardware includes....
Vestibular Input Device
The SPACEBALL is a vestibular input device. It is based on a commercial
arcade device (known as the SPACEBALL) which is used to rotate subjects
in amusement parks. We have augmented the device with
a head mounted display. Various experiments in which visual and vestibular
cues are played off against each other are conducted using this device.
Volunteers are always welcome.
VR Bicycle
Existing inexpensive HMD tracking technology does not permit accurate
tracking of the head position over a large spatial range. Various
technologies are possible to allow a user a broader range of motion.
The Virtual Reality Bicycle shown here has been instrumented so that
the computer can monitor where the bicycle is in space. Coupled with
the head tracker, this provides a straightforward mechanism for long distance
motion within a virtual environment.
VR Trike
The VR bike has been extended to the VR Trike. This permits experiments to
investigate active vs. passive vs. vestibular vs. visual inputs in virtual
environments.
Immersive Displays
The Lab has four different head mounted displays. Two of these are
Liquid Image techology's helmets with Flock of Bird 6 DOF
head trackers (shown here).
This provides a 3-6 foot region within which the 6 DOF pose
of the user can be recovered. The display is a binocular non-stereo
colour display at NTSC video resolution. The other two helmets are VIO
stereo helmets with a 3DOF rotational head tracker.
A number of Immersive Displays have been developed including