Virtual Reality - History

ECE 8990 Spring 2009

Outline

    Review Course Schedule Virtual Reality – terms and definitions VR History Ivan Sutherland – “Ultimate Display”

Variety of Phrases

     Synthetic Environments Cyberspace Artificial Reality Simulator Technology Does it require computers?

   Conventional books Movies Imagination Virtual Reality - oxymoron?

Virtual Reality

  Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. On a computer, virtual reality is primarily experienced through two of the five senses: sight and sound. The simplest form of virtual reality is a 3-D image that can be explored interactively at a personal computer, usually by manipulating keys or the mouse so that the content of the image moves in some direction or zooms in or out. More sophisticated efforts involve such approaches as wrap-around display screens, actual rooms augmented with wearable computers, and haptics devices that let you feel the display images. Virtual reality can be divided into:   The simulation of a real environment for training and education. The development of an imagined environment for a game or interactive story. http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci213303,00.html

Virtual Reality

 "Virtual Reality is a way for humans to visualize, manipulate and interact with computers and extremely complex data"

Organization

   Three-Dimensional Display Virtual Reality Systems Important Events 6

3D Display

     1838-1948 - Early Systems 1967 - Traub’s Varifocal Mirror 1979 - LEEP Optics 1970s - Computer based stereo displays 1985 - Commercial LC shutter displays 7

Early 3D Display

1838 - Wheatstone Stereoscope 1849 - Brewster Stereoscope 1903 - Parallax Barrier 1915 – First 3D movie 1948 - Holography 8

Volumetric Displays

   1967 - Traub’s Varifocal Mirror 1981 – Larry Sher at BB&N SpaceGraph 1986 - Patent Number 4,607,255 to UNC Chapel Hill (Fuchs and Pizer) RGB outputs interpreted as X,Y and intensity Vibrating mirror reflects the CRT display Speaker used to cause the mirror to vibrate Synchronize vibration and display 9

Commercial Shutter Glasses for CRT based Stereoscopic Display

   Time-multiplexed stereoscopic display 1970s – PLZT Ceramic Shutters 1985 - Commercial LC shutter displays 10

LEEP Optics

     Eric Howlett, Pop-Optix Labs 1979 Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) Originally for stereoscopic still photo viewing Lenses correct for intentional camera distortion Later used in HMDs 11

LEEP Optics

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Virtual Reality Systems

        1929 – Link Flight Simulator 1946 – First computer (ENIAC) 1956 – Sensorama 1960 – Heileg’s HMD 1965-68 – The Ultimate Display 1972 – Pong 1973 – Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.

1976 – Videoplace          1977 – Apple, Commodore, and Radio Shack PCs 1979 – First Data Glove [Sayre] (powerglove -89) 1981 – SGI founded 1985 – NASA AMES 1986-89 – Super Cockpit Program 1990s – Boom Displays 1992 – CAVE (at Siggraph) 1995 – Workbench 1998 – Walking Experiment 13

Link Flight Simulator

    1929 - Edward Link develops a mechanical flight simulator Train in a synthetic environment Used mechanical linkages Instrument (blind) flying  http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museu m/early_years/ey19a.htm

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Sensorama

Morton Heilig, 1956 Motorcycle simulator - all senses • visual (city scenes) • sound (engine, city sounds) • vibration (engine) • smell (exhaust, food) Extend the notion of a ‘movie’ 15

Heilig’s HMD (1960)

Simulation Mask from Heilig’s 1960 patent     3D photographic slides WFOV optics with focus control Stereo sound Smell 16

Ivan Sutherland

 The Ultimate Display – more later 17

Molecular Docking Simulator

    Incorporated force feedback Visualize an abstract simulation Used the Argonne Remote Manipulator (ARM) Fred Brooks - UNC Chapel Hill 18

Data Gloves

   Light, electrical or metal detectors compute “bend” Electrical sensors detect pinches.

Force feedback mechanical linkages 19

1983 - Artificial Reality

Responsive Environment

 Is an environment where human behavior is perceived by a computer which interprets what it observes and responds through intelligent visual and auditory displays   Contained many of the ideas that define:   VR Context Aware Computing Video Place 20

1985 - Nasa Ames HMD

  McGreevy and Humphries  Wearable immersive HMDs   LCD “Watchman” displays LEEP Optics Led to VIVID, led by Scott Fisher 21

Super Cockpit - Tom Furness

     Wright Patterson Air Force Base Visual, auditory, tactile Head, eye, speech, and hand input Designed to deal with problem of pilot information overload  Flight controls and tasks too complicated Research only  Big system, not safe for ejecting VCASS - visually coupled airborne simulation system Tom Furness, Dean Kocian, and Mike Haas at AFRL 22

FakeSpace Boom Display early 1990s

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CAVE - 1992

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Virtual Workbench-1995

(Responsive Workbench, Immersidesk, etc.) 25

Effectiveness of VE

    UNC Pit Experiment Fear of Heights a Strong Response Thousands of visitors Compelling Experience    Haptics Low Latency High Visual Quality 26

VR Events

        1985 - VPL Founded 1987 - VR in Scientific American 1990 – SIGGRAPH Panel Session 1991 - ICAT (International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence) in Japan 1995 – IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (VRAIS 95).

1995 – Beginning of Clinical VR 1998 – DisneyQuest opens 1999 – VRAIS replaced by IEEE VR Conference 27

VR Comes to the Public’s Attention

1987 Article by Jim Foley that features the VPL Data Glove 28

Siggraph 1990

Special Session: Hip, Hype and Hope – The Three Faces of Virtual Worlds Chair: Bob Jacobson, University of Washington Panelists: John Barlow, Author and Songwritter Nolan Bushnell, Aaps, Inc.

Esther Dyson, Editor, Release 1.0, Analyst Tom Furness, Human Interface Technology Lab Timothy Leary, University of Pittsburgh Warren Robinette, University of North Carolina Randall Walser, Autodesk 29

1995 - First IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (now IEEE VR)    VRAIS 93 in Seattle Research Frontiers in VR workshop at Visualization 93 “Timothy Leary Wasn’t Invited” http://www.cs.uncc.edu/~lfhodges/UNCCVR/Fall03/VRAIS95.gif

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1995 - Effectiveness of computer-generated (VR) graded exposure in the treatment of acrophobia in American Journal of Psychiatry 31

Ivan E. Sutherland

ACM Turing Award Winner 1988 

Biographical Information

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

General Background Education Early Work and Teaching Sun Microsystems Summary of Accomplishments Summary of Publications Summary of Patents

Ivan E. Sutherland

ACM Turing Award Winner 1988    Turing Award Lecture: MICROPIPELINES ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Clocked-Logic Conceptual Framework Transition-Signaling Conceptual Framework Micropipelines without Processing Micropipelines with Processing

Impact on Computer Science Bibliography

General Information:

     Born: 1938, Hastings, Nebraska Parents: Mom – Teacher, Dad – Ph.D. Civil Engineering [2] High School: In the 1950s, he was one of a very few high school students who had written a computer program Hobbies: Motorcycles, Ballroom and Square dancing Proudest Accomplishment: Four Grandchildren

Education:

   1959 B.S. EE Carnegie Institute of Technology (Carnegie Mellon University) 1960 M.S. EE California Institute of Technology 1963 Ph.D. EE Massachusetts Institute of Technology » Studied under Minsky [6] » Ph.D. Thesis: “Sketchpad: A Man machine Graphical Communications System” [2]

Education:



Sketchpad

         First major Interactive Graphics System, first GUI Used coding techniques similar to OOP Memory structures to store objects Zoom in and out [2] using clipping algorithms Rubber-banding of lines Perfect lines, corners, and joints[4] Display file for screen refresh Recursive methods for geometric transformations Later additions included    Polygon clipping Hidden surface removal Elegant algorithms for registering digitized views [9]

Education:



Sketchpad

 The concept of the constraint as a method of specifying details of the geometry of the picture      The ability to display and manipulate iconic representations of constraints The ability to copy as well as instance both pictures and constraints Some elegant techniques for picture construction using a light pen The separation of the coordinate system in which a picture is defined from that on which it is displayed Implications of some of these innovations are still being explored by Computer Science researchers today [4]

Early Work and Teaching

   1963-64 Army and NSA 1964–1966 D.O.D. Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)  Director of Information Processing Techniques 1966-1968 Harvard  Associate Professor [2] Quint Foster wearing the Head-Mounted Display circa 1967

Sutherland and Sproull

1965 - The Ultimate Display paper by Ivan Sutherland 1968 - Ivan Sutherland’s HMD - consisted of two cathode ray tubes (CRTs) mounted along the user’s ears - heavy, so needed support

Early Work and Teaching

 1968-1974 Utah  Co-founder Evans and Sutherland Computer Corporation  Part-time Computer Science Professor at University of Utah [2]

Early Work and Teaching

 1974-1980 California ¤ RAND Corporation ¤ California Institute of Technology » Chairman of Computer Science [2]

Sun Microsystems   1980-1991 Sutherland, Sproull and Associates  Vice President and Technical Director 1991-Present  Sun Microsystems  Vice President [2]

Summary of Accomplishments 

Honors & Professional Societies (partial list):

       

IEEE John von Neumann Medal, 1998

Smithsonian Computer World Award, 1996 ACM Turing Award, Association for Computing Machinery, 1988 First Zworykin Award, National Academy of Engineering, 1972 Member, National Academy of Sciences (NAS), since 1978 Member, National Academy of Engineering (NAE), since 1973 Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Fellow, Association for Computing Machinery

Summary of Publications       "Sketchpad--A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System," Sutherland, I.E., Proceedings of the Spring Joint Computer Conference, Detroit, Michigan, May 1963, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report #296, January 1963.

"Ten Unsolved Problems in Computer Graphics," Sutherland, I.E., Datamation, May 1966, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 22-27.

"On the Design of Display Processors," Myer, T.H., and Sutherland, I.E., Communications of the ACM, June 1968, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 410-414.

"A Clipping Divider," Sproull, R.F., and Sutherland, I.E., AFIPS Conference Proceedings, Vol. 33, Part I, 1968, p. 765-776. "A Head-Mounted Three-Dimensional Display," Sutherland, I.E., AFIPS Conference Proceedings, Vol. 33, Part I, 1968, pp. 757-764. "Computer Displays," Sutherland, I.E., Scientific American, Vol. 222, No. 6, June 1970, pp. 56-81.

Backups

Major Reinvigoration: Hardware Evolution

    High expense PC performance surpasses Graphics supercomputers  SGI RealityEngine (300k tris – 1993)   XBOX (150 mil tri/sec - 2001) XBOX360 (500 mil tri/sec - 2005) Large Volume Displays VR Estimated $3.4 billion industry in 2005 46

First IEEE VR in 1999

    Announced at VRAIS 98 in Atlanta First IEEE VR held in Houston in 1999 http://www.cs.uncc.edu/~lfhodges/UNCCVR/Fall03/VR99.pdf

2003 – Los Angelos, CA 2004 - Chicago 47

VPL Founded - 1985

  First VR Company VPL Research by Jaron Lanier and Thomas Zimmerman   Data Glove Term: Virtual Reality 48

3D Display

1838 - Wheatstone Stereoscope 1849 - Brewster Stereoscope 1939 World’s Fair –Viewmaster

Sensorama – Morton Heilig, 1956

• 3D video (side by side 35mm cameras), motion, color, stereo sound, aromas, wind effects (using small fans), and a seat that vibrated • example: simulate a motorcycle ride through NYC (feel wind, bumpy road and potholes, smell food, …) • Heilig also designed a head mounted display (HMD) in 1960

Sutherland and Sproull

1965 - The Ultimate Display paper by Ivan Sutherland 1968 - Ivan Sutherland’s HMD - consisted of two cathode ray tubes (CRTs) mounted along the user’s ears - heavy, so needed support

Ivan Sutherland

 The Ultimate Display (FIPS 1965)   Data Visualization: “A display connected to a digital computer…is a looking glass into a mathematical wonderland.” Body Tracking: “The computer can easily sense the positions of almost any of our body muscles.”

Ultimate Display

  Virtual Environments that mimic real environments: “A chair display in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal.” VEs that go beyond reality: “There is no reason why the objects displayed by a computer have to follow ordinary rules of physical reality with which we are familiar.”

Major VR Companies

Computing Power Display Interaction 80s 90s Curren t Future Evans & Sutherland Silicon Graphics Inc.

PC Tablet, PDA, PC HMD HMD, CAVE HMD, CAVE HMD, CAVE Projectors Gloves, Joysticks, Custom Built Gloves, Joysticks, Force Feedback Real Objects Force Feedback Real Objects Natural interaction Locomotion Electromagnetic (4’ radius) Electromagnetic Optical (room sized) Electromagnetic Optical (room sized) Anywhere, Outdoors

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1985 - Nasa Ames VIVED

Virtual Visual Environment Display

• LCD-based HMD (from Sony Watchman TVs) • DEC PDP 11, Picture System2 graphics computer (from Evan & Sutherland), and a Polhemus noncontact tracker (used to measure head motion) • Scott Fisher integrated data gloves into the system

By 1988, four 3D virtual sound sources were added. VIVED evolved into VIEW (Virtual Interface Environment Workstation)

FakeSpace Boom Display early 1990s

CAVE - 1992

Virtual Workbench-1995

(Responsive Workbench, Immersadesk, etc.)

VPL Founded - 1985

  First VR Company VPL Research by Jaron Lanier and Thomas Zimmerman   Data Glove Term: Virtual Reality

VR Comes to the Public’s Attention

1987 Article by Jim Foley that features the VPL Data Glove