<IMG SRC="S_BBALL.GIF" WIDTH=237 HEIGHT=167 ALIGN=LEFT> <IMG SRC="S_PLAX.GIF" WIDTH=237 HEIGHT=167 ALIGN=LEFT><p><hr>The REALWare VR system utilizes "unencumbered" virtual reality. The player interacts with the program by wearing a colored cotton glove. A video camera
focuses on a chromakeyed player standing before a blue wall and inserts the
player's image into the virtual environment, which can appear on everything
from a TV monitor to a projection system to a videowall. As the player moves
in the virtual environment, a computer tracks the colored glove and reacts
to its motion, creating an array of possible activities in the virtual world.
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Watching themselves in the projected virtual environment, players can use
their gloves to grab, throw, catch, move, and block objects. They can
"fly" around the virtual world. They can become smaller or larger.
They can engage in solo experiences or compete against a second player.
When more tracking cameras are added, more players can participate. Their
competition can be at the same location, or they can compete across any
distance.
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<b>The REALWare Platform</b>
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REALWare runs on two 80486-based PCs, one for simulation and video control,
and the other for tracking. The system has been steadily shrinking as better
PC video hardware becomes available; the whole setup currently occupies a
single enclosed system rack. Upcoming improvements will reduce the system to
a single PC.
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The simulation software was developed in-house in C++. As much as possible,
the code shelters the application designer from the hardware. Adding a new
object to the virtual universe entails creating a finite-state machine that
governs the entity's behavior and attaching to it associated graphics and
sounds. The simulation engine runs the state machines concurrently and handle
s the physics of the forces and collisions.
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<b>Optical Tracking</b>
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The optical tracking system, also developed in-house, returns the location of
the centroid of the user's gloved hand 30 times per second. Participants are
scanned at the beginning of a simulation to determine the colors of their
clothing. Then the system selects a glove color that has the least
chroma/luminance overlap with the clothing colors. Color calibration is fine-tuned in a 30-second procedure in which the participant "touches" a series of
virtual objects.
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Tracking is sufficiently accurate to allow gesture interpretation. In Virtual
Hoops, for example, dribbling the ball is accomplished by making a dribbling
motion with the gloved hand, and shooting by making a shooting motion.
The ball is hurled with a force determined by the speed of the hand during
the throw.
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<b>Games</b>
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Virtual Hoops, a one-on-one basketball simulation, showcases the latest
version of the REALWare software. In Virtual Hoops, computer-controlled
opponents are high-resolution, digitized human actors who steal balls,
block shots, and are generally menacing. Virtual Hoops debuted in April 1993
at the Edge Gallery in the Franklin Institute's Science Museum. For three
weeks, visitors lined up to play virtual basketball and lingered for long
periods of time. One interesting discovery during the Franklin run was that
audience members actually applauded when participants did well. In the minds
of the viewers, the game transcended the solitary nature of ordinary video
games. They were experiencing a new kind of spectator sport that transformed
the Virtual Hoops player into a sports star whose success was met with fan approval.
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In June 1993, Virtual Hoops moved to the new Liberty Science Center in New
Jersey. Its success there has been so extraordinary that CCG and Liberty
Science have teamed up to take the Virtual Hoops show on the road to
museums around the world. In the past two years, the game has also made
enormously successful appearances at dozens of trade shows and special
events, including the NBA Jam Session, the ACC Tourna-mania, and the NCAA
Hoopla.
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Plax Power is a captivating REALWare experience that allows participants to
battle plaque inside a virtual mouth. The program combines computer-generated
graphics and cel animations to carry the participant into the mouth to fight
pesky plaque, anthropomorphized as small, hairy varmints. They become the
enemy in a virtual battle to maintain oral health.
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Computerized images of the Plax Control Center created the context and setup
for the game. Players are scanned into the environment and reduced in size so
that they can finally enter the mouth, which appears on cue. Once inside the
virtual mouth, players can move around simply by pointing a hand. As the
plaque creatures attack, players can dowse them with sprays of Plax
mouth rinse, which loosens the creatures. Then, switching to the brush mode,
they brush the loosened plaque creatures off the teeth. Players receive a
score that reflects how many plaque creatures they killed within the allotted
