By Heather Herzog and Raul Torres
Computer& Information Systems
Students
and faculty at University Park are fully "immersing" themselves in 3-D simulations
-- in some cases "flying" without a plane and even traveling through walls.
A new, state-of-the-art virtual reality tool called the ImmersaDesk is allowing this unique opportunity. Commonly called Idesk, this computer projection system is increasingly being used by students and faculty at Penn State to simulate environments that can only be "virtually experienced" in central Pennsylvania.
Recently installed in the Computer Building, the Idesk is the centerpiece of a testbed created by the Center for Academic Computing (CAC). Researchers wear special shuttered glasses to use the Idesk to view high-resolution, stereoscopic images of computer generated worlds. In these environments participants are able to walk, "fly" and explore objects. Users can work on and walk through design models for structures, manipulate scientific data and even create imaginative artistic worlds.
Currently, Penn State is one of only a limited number of universities to employ the Idesk in research and education, according to Russell Vaught, senior director of the Center for Academic Computing.
"Many other universities limit access to virtual reality technology to a few faculty members and graduate students, however, Penn State has taken the opposite approach, opening its doors to a wide-range of faculty interests and giving undergraduates full access," Vaught said.
Yet, despite the open doors policy, the Idesk is still one of Penn State's best kept secrets.
"Faculty are just beginning to become aware of the tremendous potential immersive technology offers," said Ray Masters, affiliate associate professor of architecture and a member of the CAC graduate education and research support staff. Masters and associate architecture professors Loukas Kalisperis and Katsuhiko Muramoto are coordinating a joint project between Penn State and Ohio State that enables architecture students from each university to work cooperatively with the Idesk's network capabilities. In the first phase of the project, Penn State students in Architecture 332 last spring designed computer models of a proposed park in Philadelphia that they were able to critique and experience collaboratively by using the Idesk. Later this fall, the instructors plan to select students in the class to "tele-immersively" explore and evaluate their final projects with students and faculty from Ohio State. Then, in spring semester 2000, Architecture 481 ("Digital Design Media") will incorporate immersive technology as a regularly scheduled course offering.
"The Idesk allows us to put someone in a building without having to actually construct it," said Corrie Messinger, an architecture senior who used the tool in his pre-visualization class exercises. "Examining 3-D models, by moving around and through them, makes it possible for architecture students to note spatial and depth relationships that are not obvious in 2-D drawings or blueprints. It also enables students and professors to view a model from many different angles."
Immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies have significant instructional value, Masters said, but perhaps even more effective is their ability to facilitate cooperation with other universities.
"Before the Idesk, if architecture students from Penn State wanted to show their models to students or a professor in Illinois they would have to either go there or invite their colleagues here for the weekend. Now they can just ask to meet them online for a while," he said.
Scholars are also intrigued by the high-performance potential of immersive technologies. Penn State's Department of Geography GeoVISTA Center and the Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography at Old Dominion University recently used the Idesk's data analysis capabilities to perform a collaborative study involving pollution control. Researchers from each university simultaneously accessed and explored a 3-D model of the Susquehanna River Basin that demonstrated dynamic relationships among temperature, precipitation and topography. Working with networked Idesks at each location, participants were able to use voice communication and synchronized 3-D graphical representations to converse with each other and point out objects of interest in the shared virtual space.
Dan Haug, a GeoVISTA research staff member, explained that the Idesk's ability to construct immersive 3-D models provides a way to translate large data sets into meaningful patterns. Relationships among study variables are revealed more quickly, Haug said, because the Idesk enables abstract data to be represented in ways that are intuitive and readily grasped.
Student's VR experiences at Penn State have also led to "real world" research applications. Andrew Schlosser, a junior in mechanical engineering, said his work with the Idesk at the CAC was crucial to landing a job with Ford Motor Co. this year. According to Schlosser, his understanding of immersive technologies impressed interviewers because Ford, like many other big name companies, is using VR tools to aid in the engineering and production process.
"Companies are using large 3-D screens to run stress tests and view proposed parts, so engineers can get a much more thorough idea of what is being discussed and proposed," said Schlosser. "They're also using VR for training, which helps protect equipment and ensure the safety of new personnel."
"Virtual reality," said George Otto, manager of the CAC Visualization Group that created the testbed for Idesk, "is an emerging field of study that holds the promise of facilitating understanding of complex data and relationships for a wide range of disciplines. It also provides unique opportunities for the study of human-computer interaction."
For more information about CAC resources, see http://cac.psu.edu/viz/ on the Web or contact Otto at george-otto@psu.edu.