CUBE
The Beckman Cube is an immersive, stereo-capable (true 3-D) visualization chamber manufactured by TAN Projektionstechnologie of Dusseldorf, Germany. It is located in a room specially modified to eliminate all ferrous metal within tracking range of the Cube. The six surfaces of the Cube are 3-meter square acrylic panels, coated with a dark rear-projection surface screen material. Wall panels are 10mm thick, the top and bottom surfaces are 35mm thick. The entrance panel is a vertical sliding surface, which when closed leaves no visible gap, ensuring complete immersion in the space.
The Cube can be driven by two separate computer systems, a Silicon Graphics Onyx with three Infinite Reality graphics engines or a cluster of pc's with genlocked 3-D Labs Wildcat 4210 graphics cards. RS-232 enabled video switching allows rapid change between the two computer systems. Traditional CAVE libraries or the ISL-developed Syzygy cluster architecture software are available for researchers to use as toolkits for the visualization/sonification of their data.
The viewer/subject in the Cube enjoys a completely untethered visualization experience. A twenty-four sensor wireless Ascension MotionStar tracking system transmits 6DOF information from the subject. Active stereo is viewed through a Stereographics LCD shutter-glass system. Spatialized sonification is afforded each subject through head-related transfer function-generated sound, based on information from the Motionstar system. Additional data gathering/presenting devices, such as hand-held wireless computers, wireless microphones and wireless cameras can be incorporated in an individual experimenter's research.
Research in LIVE funded in part through National Science Foundation grant
EIA 0079800