Head Mounted Displays have long held the promise of providing richly immersive experiences in synthetic enviornments. Until now, this promise has largely been unmet due to narrow visual fields, bulky designs, and improperly authored content.
The INIT lab is nearing completion of an extremely wide field of view stereoscopic display that is robust and lightweight enough to be used for fast action simulation applications in which the user must feel as if they are immersed with over 120 degrees of imagery.The lab is also working to understand the issues associated with authoring content for such devices. Specific projects and collaborations include:
Fast Action Head Mounted Display for CQB training:
The principle objective of this project is to to create a lower-cost head mounted display which is ideally suited to CQB training. Such a head mounted display will provide for extended immersive training missions without eye or neck fatigue. Imagery presented will appear natural and engaging, with wide field-of-view (FOV), high resolution and vibrant imagery, so the training task is life-like and the scenario compelling. The work is supported thorough a STTR Grant from the Office of Naval Research in partnership with Fakespace Labs, Inc.
Sensory Environments Evaluation (SEE):
ICT’s See project is creating rich, multi-sensory virtual environments in order to investigate how environments themselves can evoke a range of emotional responses and enhance memory formation in participants who experience them. The SEE project is looking at a number of multi-modal sensory ques including sight, sound and smell to evoke emotional responses. The INIT lab is collaborating with the SEE project to determine user’s sensitivity to changes in visual field of view.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Assement and Treatment System:
The virtual reality Post Traumatic Stress Disorder assessment and treatment system developed by Skip Rizzo and Jarrell Pair’s group at ICT has adapted assets from virtual scenarios originally developed for the game Full Spectrum Warrior (Xbox), in combination with newly created next generation graphic content developed at the ICT for use with returning Iraq War veterans. The INIT lab is integrating its prototype head mounted display with the ICT Flatworld project in order to provide a more immersive visual environment. The PTSD system can put a patient in a simulation that resembles the original traumatic environment and deliver trigger stimuli in a controlled fashion, allowing patients to confront traumas with more than just their memories and imaginations.