From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Subject: Re: TECH: soft-edge-blending Date: 10 Nov 1995 07:58:30 GMT Organization: University of Washington, Seattle From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) In article <47oo1p$nem@newsserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de>, Hartwig Distler wrote: >We're in the process of setting up a VR environment using 3 projectors >displaying the scene on a 180 deg projection screen (half >cylinder). In order to make the transitions between the projection >areas invisible we're going to apply a soft-edge-blending system. We >were thinking of purchasing PANORAM's soft-edge-blending >system. However, somebody pointed out that PANORAM has difficulties >with the SYNC of the videosignal of the SGI ONYX RE2. So, now the >question: Does anyone have experience on PANORAM or can give me the >contact addresss of somebody familiar with the PANORAM system? The concept of the 180-degree wraparound screen has an intuitive appeal, but as Hartwig is discovering, it can be a real bear to assemble. Additionally, the "sweet spot" in a half-cylinder is remarkably small given the effort involved in fine-tuning the imagery. Worldesign's Virtual Environment Theater (commonly called a VET) achieves a better result -- more complete immersion -- through the use of three or four screens arranged as a partial or full cube (with a dark ceiling and floor). There are some tricks involved in eliminating seaming and coordinating the images, but far fewer than are required in a half-cylinder -- and we get 270-degree immersion. VET users can move around in the immersion environment without a great deal of difficulty and without losing the effect. The VET, of course, is a proprietary item, but we're glad to share construction details for a modest fee, especially (as in the case of an overseas installation) where local labor is less expensive than our traveling to do the installation. We'll be setting up a VET at the Washington Software Association's "Online Advantage" event in February 1996 that will take audiences on a collective tour of the Web's best 3D and VRML environments. Besides being a neat implementation, we're going to set up and break down in one week. How's that for efficiency? Bob Jacobson Worldesign Inc. Seattle