From Digital Equipment Corporation’s SIGGRAPH exhibit in August 1993:
Digital’s Information Design and Consulting group can help you bring your data visualizations into the virtual world. Using Digital’s AVS Virtual Reality software with the AVS Application Visualization System, you can fly through and interact with data using either desktop or immersive virtual reality technology.
The AVS Virtual Reality software includes over 30 modules supporting:
- 6-D sensors from Polhemus, Ascension, and Logitech, plus the VPL Research DataGlove and EyePhone
- DataGlove calibration and gesture editing using ASCII tables
- Integrated sensing/rendering loops for greater responsiveness
- Collision detection for geometry objects in AVS scenes
- Flexible mapping of data values to musical scales for MIDI instruments
- Cone tree generation of hierarchical data
- 3D probing of volume data
AVS Virtual Reality modules currently include:
| Data Input | Filters | Mappers | Data Output |
| poll bird | poll to 4×4 | virtual body | play midic |
| poll dataglove | bird to 4×4 | grab object | play d5 midic |
| poll eyephone | isotrak to 4×4 | fly through | feel tactors |
| poll flock master | logitech 3d to 4×4 | move object | |
| poll flock slave | glove gesture | move camera | |
| poll isotrak | float to midi pitch | solid hand | |
| poll logitech 3d | float to midi param | orientation plane | |
| fly bird | float difference | probe 3d | |
| fly vpl | rotate around bond | ||
| create 6d 4×4 | bird 1d field | ||
| create finger flex | |||
| vibrate 4×4 | |||
| cone tree |
AVS Virtual Reality software currently runs on Alpha AXP OSF/1 and DECstation 5000 ULTRIX systems. Requiring no AVS kernel changes and built with minimal operating systems dependencies, it can easily be ported to other AVS UNIX platforms.
Using contextual inquiry, Digital’s information designers can work with you to choose the appropriate virtual reality and multisensory technology suitable for use with AVS. Support for new hardware devices can usually be added in a few days. Custom module and network development services are available.
For further information, contact:
Michael Good
Digital Equipment Corporation
The Digital logo, AXP, DECstation, and ULTRIX are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. AVS is a trademark of Advanced Visual Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.