The Effect of Inflation in Ethiopia
Published in Computing and Systems Technology Division Communications, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 18(2), 1995.
Low Cost Virtual Reality and its Application to Chemical Engineering - Part Two
John T. Bell & H. Scott Fogler University of Michigan June 1995
Introduction and Update from Part One This article has been broken up into two parts, the first of which presented an introduction to virtual reality and some discussion of what low-cost hardware and software options are available3. This second part will cover some applications of virtual reality, including areas where VR is being or could be applied to chemical engineering, and in particular the work being done at the University of Michigan’s department of Chemical Engineering to apply low-cost virtual reality to undergraduate education. First of all, however, it is necessary to address a few issues which have changed substantially since part one was written. The fact that so much has changed in just six months is typical of this rapidly developing field. • Sourceless trackers improving and gaining in popularity15: Part one of this article discussed head trackers costing hundreds or thousands of dollars which utilize a transmitter and receiver combination, ( either electromagnetic or ultrasonic ), to track the position and orientation of a users head, and mentioned the existence of sourceless trackers. These latter devices, which incorporate gravimetric tilt sensors, compasses, gyroscopes, and other selfcontained sensors are termed “sourceless” because they are entirely self contained, which eliminates some of the clutter of a VR setup, and avoids the interference problem when multiple sensors are used in close proximity. These sensors are much less expensive to produce, and have become quite popular, particularly as a 3 degree of freedom ( rotation only ) sensor for tracking head movements of a seated user, because the position of the head does not change appreciably in that environment. HMDs
Low Cost Virtual Reality and its Application to Chemical Engineering - Part Two
John T. Bell & H. Scott Fogler University of Michigan June 1995
Introduction and Update from Part One This article has been broken up into two parts, the first of which presented an introduction to virtual reality and some discussion of what low-cost hardware and software options are available3. This second part will cover some applications of virtual reality, including areas where VR is being or could be applied to chemical engineering, and in particular the work being done at the University of Michigan’s department of Chemical Engineering to apply low-cost virtual reality to undergraduate education. First of all, however, it is necessary to address a few issues which have changed substantially since part one was written. The fact that so much has changed in just six months is typical of this rapidly developing field. • Sourceless trackers improving and gaining in popularity15: Part one of this article discussed head trackers costing hundreds or thousands of dollars which utilize a transmitter and receiver combination, ( either electromagnetic or ultrasonic ), to track the position and orientation of a users head, and mentioned the existence of sourceless trackers. These latter devices, which incorporate gravimetric tilt sensors, compasses, gyroscopes, and other selfcontained sensors are termed “sourceless” because they are entirely self contained, which eliminates some of the clutter of a VR setup, and avoids the interference problem when multiple sensors are used in close proximity. These sensors are much less expensive to produce, and have become quite popular, particularly as a 3 degree of freedom ( rotation only ) sensor for tracking head movements of a seated user, because the position of the head does not change appreciably in that environment. HMDs
References: 1. Bajura, Mike, Henry Fuchs, and Ryutarou Ohbuchi, “Merging Virtual Reality with the Real World: Seeing Ultrasound Imagery Within the Patient”, Proceedings of SIGGRAPH ‘92, August, 1992. 2. Bell, John T., and H. Scott Fogler, "Virtual Reality in Chemical Engineering Education", Proceedings of the 1995 Illinois / Indiana ASEE Sectional Conference, March 16-18, 1995, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, http://kind.ecn.purdue.edu:80/asee/sect95/proc95.html. 3. Bell, John T., and H. Scott Fogler, "Low-Cost Virtual Reality and its Application to Chemical Engineering - Part One", Computing and Systems Technology Division Communications, 18(1), American Institute of Chemical Engineers, New York, 1995. 4. Bell, John T., and H. Scott Fogler, "The Investigation and Application of Virtual Reality as an Educational Tool", Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, June 1995. 5. Bethel, Wes, “Chemical Flooding in a Virtual Environment - A Survivors Guide to VR Development”, Proceedings of AVS94, May 1994, http://blondie.lbl.gov/publications/avs94/avs94.html. 6. Brelsford, John W. "Physics Education in a Virtual Environment", Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting, 1993. 7. Bricken, Meredith, "Virtual Reality Learning Environments: Potentials and Challenges", Computer Graphics, Volume 25, Number 3, July 1991. 8. Britton, Benjamin, “Cave of LASCAUX”, DISCOVER, June 1995. 9. Brooks, Frederick P. Jr., Ming Ouh-Young, James J. Batter, and P. Jerome Kilpatrick, “Project GROPE - Haptic Displays for Scientific Visualization”, Computer Graphics: Proceedings of SIGGRAPH ‘90, 24(4), Dallas Texas, 6-10 August 1990, pp177-185. 10. Byron, S. and C. Levit, “The Virtual Windtunnel: An Environment for the Exploration of Three-Dimensional Unsteady Flows”, Proceedings of IEEE Visualization91, pp 17-24, 1991. 11. Byrne, Chris, "Virtual Reality and Education", HITL Technical Report No. R-93-2, Human Interface Technology Laboratory, Seattle, WA, 1993. 12. Fogler, H.S., S.M. Montgomery, and R.P. Zipp, "Interactive Computer Modules for Chemical Engineering Instruction", Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 1(1), 11-24, 1992. 13. Fogler, H. Scott, "Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, Second Edition", Prentice Hall, 1991. 14. Helsel, Sandra, "Virtual Reality and Education", Educational Technology, May, 1992. 15. Hollands, Robin, “Technology Review: Sourceless Trackers”, VR News, 4(3), April 1995. 16. Kolb, D. A., "Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development", Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1984. 17. Pimentel, Ken and Teixeira, Kevin, "Virtual Reality: Through the New Looking Glass", second edition, Windcrest Books, 1995. 18. Staff, "Immersive VR Tests Best", CyberEdge Journal, Issue #24, Vol. 4, No. 6, November / December, 1994. 19. Vacca, John, “NASA VR Projects: Part 1”, VR World, March/April 1995. 20. Zwern, Arthur, “How to Select the Right HMD”, VR World, March/April 1995.