Low Cost Projection Environment for Immersive Gaming

As computer performance and graphics hardware continue to improve, the gamer is increasingly being presented with richer and more realistic visual environments. Viewing these virtual environments is generally still based upon display technology that does not exploit two very important characteristics of our visual system, namely stereoscopic vision that is responsible for the enhanced depth perception we see in the real world and a wide field of view that allows us to sense activity in our far peripheral vision. In what follows it will be argued that for immersive gaming a wide field of view is both functionally more useful and places less stress on the visual system than stereoscopic viewing. In order to support gaming with a wide vertical and horizontal field of view a low cost projection system will be introduced and the implications for game developers discussed.

gaming, immersive environments, image warping, peripheral vision, stereoscopy, virtual reality

jmm.pdf

[2] J.C. Chung, Harris et al. Exploring Virtual Worlds with Head-Mounted Displays. Proc. SPIE, Vol. 1083-05, pp. 42- 52, Feb 1990.

[3] T. Yamazaki, K. Kamijo, S. Fukuzumi. Quantitative evaluation of visual fatigue encountered in viewing stereoscopic 3D displays: Near-point distance and visual evoked potential study. Proc. of the SID, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 245-247, 1990.

[4] Sensis, high resolution head mounted displays.
Web reference: http://www.sensis.com/

[5] C. Cruz-Neira, D.J. Sandin, T.A. DeFanti. Surround-Screen Projection-Based Virtual Reality: The Design and Implementation of the CAVE. ACM SIGGRAPH 93 Proceedings. Anaheim, CA, pp. 135-142, August 1993.

[6] D. Jo, H. Kang, G.A. Lee, W. Son. Xphere: A PC Cluster based Hemispherical Display System., IEEE VR2006 Workshop on Emerging Technologies. March 26, 2006.

[7] Matrox Triplehead2Go, supplier of graphics display extenders.
Web reference: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/offhome/gxm.cfm

[8] Digital Tigers, supplier of external graphics boards and tiled displays.
Web reference: http://www.digitaltigers.com

[9] The Elumenati, Supplier of fisheye lens based projection.
Web reference: http://www.elumenati.com

[10] P.D. Bourke. Using a spherical mirror for projection into immersive environments. Graphite (ACM Siggraph), Dunedin Nov/Dec 2005.

[11] ICinema, Dome for Conversations@the Studio, PowerHouse museum, Sydney, Australia.
Web reference: http://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au

[12] A. Ohte, O. Tsuzuki, K. Mori, A practical spherical mirror omnidirectional camera, International Workshop Robotic Sensors: Robotic and Sensor Environments, 2005.

[13] W. Heidrich and H.P. Seidel. View independent Environment Maps. Graphics Hardware 1998.

[14] M.Bailey, M. Clothier, N. Gebbie. Realtime Dome Imaging and Interaction: Towards Immersive Design Environments. Proceedings of IDETC/CIE 2006 ASME 2006 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference September 10-13, 2006.