|
Home
> News
> Press Releases
Ascension and BARCO
Deliver Immersive Visualization
System to the University of
Calgary for New Engineering
Research Center
Burlington, Vermont
USA: August 26, 2003:
Ascension Technology’s advanced
magnetic tracking technology
and BARCO’s visualization
solution were selected for
the Calgary Center for Innovative
Technology (CCIT) at the University
of Calgary. CCIT’s selection
of Ascension’s Flock of Birds
is noteworthy in that it performs
so well in a highly metallic
environment.
Ascension Technology’s Flock
of Birds® and Wanda®
3D Navigation Device were
successfully integrated into
BARCO’s Modular Virtual Environment
(MoVE®). The facility
is part of CCIT’s recently
opened visualization lab.
Flock of Birds, a versatile
tracker for visualization
environments, is providing
tracking data for each of
the MoVE environment’s three
configurations.
CCIT chose Ascension and
BARCO for the fully immersive
experience which will facilitate
collaborative workflows and
the analysis of complex oil
exploration data. Ascension’s
Flock of Birds motion tracking
device provides unrestricted
head, hand, instrument or
body tracking in real time.
Wanda is an ergonomically
designed navigation device
used to manipulate 3D objects
in a virtual environment.
In CCIT’s MoVE system, the
Flock tracks the entire central
floor of the environment in
all of the system’s multiple
configurations.
According to Mick Howden,
Associate Director of CCIT,
the metallic interference
which is frequently a problem
in tracking devices relying
on AC magnetic field technology
is not a problem with the
Flock.
“The Ascension Flock extended
range transmitter rests only
about eight inches from the
BARCO overhead Galaxy DLP™
projector and aluminum supports.
However, this does not cause
any interference with the
tracker and we are getting
suitable tracking for all
environment configurations,
no matter where the aluminum
screen frames are located,”
explained Mr. Howden.
BARCO’s MoVE systems are
designed to reconfigure between
a flat CADWall, a cubic immersive
I-Space environment and any
position in between. The unit
installed in the CCIT offers
motorized positioning for
flat, L-shaped, 45 degree
and cubic immersive space
configurations allowing for
20 persons (flat, L, and 45
degree position) to up to
3 persons (cubic immersive
configuration) to interact
with the data. The active
stereo BARCO Galaxy DLP projectors
deliver high brightness, high
resolution active stereoscopic
images on the three screen
modules. Motion tracking is
fully integrated in all configurations
for real-time, six degrees-of-freedom
motion data acquisition.
“The installation further
proves the flexibility of
DC magnetic technology in
multiple environments where
metal is present. Our new
environmental analyzing tools
helped optimize installation
and create a perfect tracking
environment,” explained Gregory
Erdmann, Ascension’s Global
Accounts Manager.
Visualization and virtual
reality software systems give
oil exploration design teams
greater understanding of the
complex structures inside
geological models. Collaborative
oil well planning, real-time
geosteering and geophysical
analysis are expedited through
the use of motion tracking
in immersive simulations where
geophysicists and geologists
can “walk” through formation
for the first time.
BARCO Simulation, with headquarters
in the US (Xenia, OH), and
in Belgium, has gained an
international reputation for
its customer-driven application
engineering and projection
system optimization know-how.
BARCO’s Virtual Reality systems
are used for a wide range
of application areas, such
as medical training and scientific
research, virtual prototyping,
edutainment, manufacturing
(robotics), oil and gas, and
architecture. BARCO’s website
address is http://www.barco.com.
The University of Calgary’s
new Calgary Center for Innovative
Technology is a world-class
engineering research facility
focused on strategic outcomes
using flexible, multidisciplinary
teams. These teams break traditional
barriers between academic
disciplines, industry and
government through synergistic
interaction and the sharing
of sophisticated research
infrastructure. The university’s
website address is http://ucalgary.ca.
Ascension Technology Corporation,
based in Vermont, USA, develops
motion tracking solutions
for 3D computer-graphics applications
in real-time visualization,
animation, military targeting
systems, simulation, biomechanics
and medical imaging. Ascension’s
website address is http://www.ascension-tech.com.
-- end --
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jack Scully (802)
893-6657 or e-mail: jscully@ascension-tech.com
Back to Top
|
