From: tuite@ix.netcom.com (Don Tuite ) Subject: ANNOUNCE: Lowest-Price CRT-Based 3D VR Display with Integral Tracking Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 14:51:04 -0700 Message-Id: <199508082151.OAA28303@ix8.ix.netcom.com> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Information Contacts: David Eggleston Matthew Schmidt, Wendy Lewis Fakespace, Inc. FS Communications 415/688-1940 415/691-1488 DESKTOP DISPLAY FROM FAKESPACE SETS STANDARD FOR VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT APPLICATIONS Pivot (tm) Brings Workstation Graphics Quality, Immersive 3D To Desktop at Lowest Price Point Ever For CRT-based, Full-Color Display With Integral Tracking Menlo Park, Calif. and Siggraph '95, Los Angeles -- August 7, 1995 -- Fakespace, Inc. today announced the formal market release of Pivot (tm), a six-degree of freedom, desktop mounted viewing system. Sold only to applications developers since its preview showing 60 days ago, Pivot is now generally available at a single unit price of $45,000. Fakespace believes this is the lowest price ever for a CRT-based, six-degree of freedom color display with built-in motion tracking. Pivot is based on a patented design approach, which Fakespace calls PUSH(tm) technology, that makes the system remarkably easy to use for navigation and work within 3D computer simulations. The intuitive nature of the display eliminates the learning curve required to navigate and work within 3D computer simulations, allowing users to concentrate on their work, instead of learning how to manipulate the virtual environment. With Pivot, users can navigate within large virtual spaces or inspect individual virtual objects from different viewpoints while seated at a desk, without donning bulky headgear or any other viewing device. Movement is controlled by exerting gentle pressure on the display system's handles and turning the viewer to look at a desired viewpoint. Optomechanical sensors in the desktop base and viewer module track these movements and synchronize them with the application software. This physical motion detection is supplemented by programmable switches on the handles that provide complete, flexible interactive control of the virtual environment. "Pivot has generated an enormously positive response from applications developers and users of virtual environment technologies working in industry," said David Eggleston, vice president of marketing and sales for Fakespace. "While we initially believed that it would take up to six months for the market to utilize the new display technology in applications, customer demand convinced us to accelerate our timetable and bring Pivot to market immediately." Commercial applications, such as virtual prototyping and engineering design visualization, are principal market areas for Pivot. Customers in these markets are moving 3D immersive visualization from their research labs into engineering departments, and the availability of cost- effective display systems is accelerating this transition. In many cases, Pivot displays are being chosen to complement existing installations of Fakespace BOOM (R) displays, which are used for large group presentations and design reviews. Industry reaction to Pivot has confirmed initial tests of the technology's ease-of-use. With little or no coaching, users are able to immediately navigate through simulations; easily starting and stopping movement, turning from side-to-side, and rotating around objects while seated at a desk. Fakespace believes this is due to the intuitive nature of movement based on the principle of axial muscle control. Axial control harnesses the natural movements of the muscle groups associated with the vertebral column, including the neck and torso muscles that move as people turn their head or upper body to change viewpoints. Another advantage involving these muscle groups to control a display is that use of the muscles sends perceptual cues that the brain uses to orient itself. This appears to help reduce the disorientation commonly experienced when flying rapidly through a 3D scene using other types of immersive displays. The full-color Pivot display provides up to 1280 X 1024 interlaced pixels per eye resolution using two CRTs and high-quality optics in a binocular-like casing that stands about 18-in. high on a sturdy, desktop-mounted base. Fakespace VLIB (tm) software, a toolkit for quickly adding stereoscopic, immersive capability to software supporting 3D image generation, is included with each display. Like other Fakespace viewing systems, Pivot displays are available with a variety of interchangeable optics configurations, including 45 degree, 60 degree or 140 degree (wrap-around) fields-of- view. The computer graphics interface directly supports the RGB sequential output generated by Silicon Graphics Reality Engine systems, and indirectly supports VGA systems. Fakespace is the leading supplier of three-dimensional (3D) immersive visualization systems used for interacting with virtual environments created for applications in scientific and commercial research, product design and engineering, and location-based entertainment. The company's products include BOOM (Binocular Omni- Orientation Monitor)high-resolution, high-performance immersive displays; PINCH (tm) hand gesture interface systems; hardware and software for integrating applications into 3D visualization systems; and consulting services for applications development. Headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., the privately-held company has been profitable since its founding in 1988. # # # R - BOOM and Fakespace are registered trademarks of Fakespace, Inc. tm - Pivot, PUSH, VLIB and Pinch are trademarks of Fakespace, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. [MODERATOR'S NOTE: Commercial postings are offered on this newsgroup as a public service. Their appearance here does not indicate endorsement by the moderators or by the USENET or its administrators.]