Fostering Networked Collaboration in Virtual

Environments using Open Source

John Kelso*, Lance Arsenault*, and Ronald Kriz**

University Visualization and Animation Group**Department of Computer Science and

**Department of Engineering Science and MechanicsVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, Virginia

November 6, 2002 AOL / CIT Finding Common Research Ground Dayhttp://www.jwave.vt.edu/~rkriz/Presentations/aol-cit/

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Thesis Statement:• Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR), e.g. CAVEs, IWBs, and HMDs,

provides users insight by viewing their data as 3D objects.

• Insight will be enhanced by creation of tools that allow multiple users (“avatars”) to be networked together where they can manipulate 3D objects in a common “shared” IVR.

• Making same networked tools available on desktop computers will allow many new users access to IVR technology.

• Collaboration will be enhanced, if these collaborative desktop tools become as ubiquitous as the Web browser.

• Open-source licensing, e.g. GPL/MPL, fosters distribution, collaboration, innovation and domain specific customizations: – managing large construction site projects (e-commerce), – analysis and interpretation of HPC nanostructures (e-research),– 2007 Jamestown project (e-education “distance learning”)

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Research in a NutshellWe propose to implement a suite of open-source collaborative

tools, and applications based on those tools, which will:

• allow multiple users to share the same IVRs, that works across a wide range of IVR systems, from desktop computers to Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) to fully immersive systems such as CAVEs.

• create awareness tools, that allow users to glean information about other users (“avatars”) or 3D objects in a common IVR -- some tools may be domain specific.

• create interaction tools, that allow users to modify IVR and its content

• create collaborative navigational tools, that allow users to share views, be tethered to other users, jump next to another user, etc.

• Use HCI methods to create tools that are intuitive and useful

• Explore the utility of nontraditional IVR data, such as sound, voice recognition, and real-time video

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Research in a Nutshell (continued)

• create these tools using open-source packages such as DIVERSE(www.diverse.vt.edu) a GPL-API for the creation of Device Independent Virtual Environments: Reconfigurable, Scalable, and Extensible

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Research Details• IVR systems used for insight in scientific research

NIST’s RAVE: SAVGBose-Einstein Condensate

Examples of physics based simulations and IVRs at:• VT’s University Visualization and Animation Group (UVAG)• NIST: Scientific Applications and Visualization Group (SAVG)

DIVERSE used in the CAVE at Virginia Tech (VT) and the RAVE at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)

VT’s CAVE: UVAGfourth-order stiffness tensor

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Research Details• Collaborative IVRs that scale from the desktop to the CAVE

D_Atomview: a DIVERSE application developed at VT that visually analyzes and interprets nanostructures predicted by High Performance Computer (HPC) models. Used both in the CAVE and a laptop computer using a CAVE simulator. D_Atomview: http://www.sv.vt.edu/future/cave/software/D_atomview/D_atomview.html

D_Collab_Tools: http://anray2.campus.vt.edu:1800/user/CollabWebPage/Desktop CAVE-simulator embedded in a nanostructure -- avatars not shown.

Collaborative CAVE-to-CAVE-to-desktop demonstration October 2002.

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Research Details• Current DIVERSE API and applications run only on SGI-Irix and Linux operating

systems (OS)

• Future development will include MS-Windows, Mac-OSX, and SUN-Solaris

• Dynamic Shared Objects (DSOs) facilitate interactive IVR system configuration and collaboration.

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Benefit to AOL

• increased use of networking resources:– in terms number and length of

connections,– in some cases need for increased data

transfer rates to support modalities such as voice and video.

• enhance collaborative design environment that works independent of discipline content.

• As new I/O desktop devices emerge the DIVERSE API can be used to include these devices as collaborative tools.

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Contact Information

Name: John Kelso, Lance Arsenault, and Ron KrizAffiliation: Virginia Tech’s University Visualization

and Animation GroupPhone: 540- 231 - 2054 / 2641 / 2062Email: kelso@vt.edu / lanceman@vt.edu /

rkriz@vt.edu