From: "Bruce Cohen;;50-662;LP=A;" Subject: Re: Report from David Sarnoff Research Center. Date: 8 Mar 91 20:49:28 GMT Organization: Tektronix Inc. The Princeton Engine sounds fascinating. Where can I get more information on the design, and its applications? Have you published any papers? > By positioning camaras (including IR camaras) spatially around the > virtual participant it will be possible to achieve a "whole body" to > virtual world interaction which is not possible with a physical data > glove. To our knowledge, this concept has never been tried in VR > because of the inordinate amount of video processing required - but it > can be done utilizing the Princeton Engines unique video processing > power. There was some discussion of feasibility of tracking body motions with multiple cameras in this newsgroup back in October. The biggest objections were the computional requirements, which will be solved by new and faster hardware as you point out, and the amount of space required for the cameras and the volume they watch, which is a problem for small rooms. The room problem would be most acute in homes, schools, and offices where the VR system is ancillary to the major business of the place, and has to share the volume with other, possibly higher priority uses. > Is the data glove still required? If so, how will it > differ from present designs. By having the "interface" in a sampled > video format, image processi Using a glove with distinctive markings could increase the effective signal-to-noise ratio of the tracking system by making the hand and finger position and orientation easier to distinguish from other features in the room. I think the hands and fingers are the parts of the body which you want most to track well (except perhaps for the eyes, so you can extract gaze information), so giving the system some help with the tracking is probably desirable. Also, you might be able to cut down on the number of cameras and the volume of space taken up by the system. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Speaker-to-managers, aka Bruce Cohen, Computer Research Lab email: brucec@tekcrl.labs.tek.com Tektronix Laboratories, Tektronix, Inc. phone: (503)627-5241 M/S 50-662, P.O. Box 500, Beaverton, OR 97077