Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

Latest revision as of 17:41, 30 August 2024

Welcome to the IQ-Station Wiki for commodity-based low-cost VR

This site is a place where the community of users of midrange-cost virtual reality displays can congregate and share information. In the past, our focus was on systems primarily constructed from Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components for a quality VR experience around the $10,000 to $15,000 price range. But that was during the era of COTS 3D-TVs, and before COTS HMDs.

Now however, the era of 3D-TVs has waned, but by replacing them with not-terribly-expensive short-throw projectors, and by using super-low-cost tracking from consumer HMD technology, we can still build larger fishtank-style VR displays (IQ-stations) for something reasonable — ~$7,000.

The software discussed here (VR libraries and applications) is often useful for both consumer HMDs, and these midrange-cost IQ-stations, as well as full-sized CAVE VR systems, and thus can be useful for VR pracitioners of the full range of system types and costs. (Though primarily oriented to those interested in immersive visualization — scientific visualization in VR.)

Integration Software

Most IQ-station systems presently in operation run VR applications built on one of two VR integration libraries:

Vrui
FreeVR

VR Applications

Immersive ParaView — The general-purpose ParaView sci-vis tool in VR
- ParaView Tips
Toirt Samhlaigh — A 3D volume visualization tool
LidarViewer — A point-cloud visualization tool
VMD — Visual Molecular Dynamics
ML2VR — Matlab to VR
CQ3A — A world exploration application (with game-like worlds)

Commercial Applications

syGlass — volume viewer for SteamVR on MS-Windows

VR Tools

VRPN — Virtual Reality Peripheral Network tool for aggregating data from input devices
ViveLighthouse — Accessing Vive Lighthouse tracking on Linux
- LibSurvive — Building the LibSurvive library for Lighthouse tracking on Linux
Monado — Open-source OpenXR runtime for Linux
OpenXR — Building OpenXR on Linux

Visuallization Applications

BuildingVTK (on MS-Windows)
BuildingParaView (on MS-Windows)
BuildingANARI (on Linux)

Other Applications

Bino — stereoscopic movie player
XVS — John Stone's stereoscopic image viewer

Rendering Libraries

Barney — Cross-GPU Multi-threaded rendering library
Visionaray — Open-source C++ Ray-Tracing template library

NIST Trans-Portable-VR

NIST's Transportable VR System — modern IQ-station w/ short-throw projector
Portable-VR Setup — setup instructions

Hardware (old)

The basic components of an IQ-station are:

3DTV Displays (and 3D glasses)
Tracking Systems
- ART SMARTTRACK
- ViveLighthouse — Linux instructions
Input Devices
Computers
- Virtual Machines

Community

For the past decade (apart from one "COVID year"), there has been a SIGGRAPH BOF with the topic of Immersive Visualization:

BOF: Immersive Visualisation for Science, Research, Art and Metaverse Applications

Part of our community building efforts include bootcamps on Immersive Visualization. Thus far, we have hosted three successful events:

Bootcamp in Indianapolis held March 25-27, 2013
Bootcamp in Laramie held June 12-14, 2013
Bootcamp in Little Rock held October 22-24, 2014
Bootcamp in Idaho Falls held October 20-21, 2016

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+<BIG>'''Welcome to the IQ-Station Wiki for commodity-based low-cost VR'''</BIG>
+This site is a place where the community of users of midrange-cost
+virtual reality displays can congregate and share information.
+In the past, our focus was on systems primarily constructed from
+Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components for a quality VR experience
+around the $10,000 to $15,000 price range.  But that was during the
+era of COTS 3D-TVs, and before COTS HMDs.
+Now however, the era of 3D-TVs has waned, but by replacing them with
+not-terribly-expensive short-throw projectors, and by using super-low-cost
+tracking from consumer HMD technology, we can still build larger fishtank-style
+VR displays (IQ-stations) for something reasonable &mdash; ~$7,000.
+The software discussed here (VR libraries and applications) is often useful for
+both consumer HMDs, and these midrange-cost IQ-stations, as well as full-sized
+CAVE VR systems, and thus can be useful for VR pracitioners of the full range
+of system types and costs.  (Though primarily oriented to those interested
+in immersive visualization &mdash; scientific visualization in VR.)
+== Integration Software ==
+Most IQ-station systems presently in operation run VR applications built
+on one of two VR integration libraries:
+* [[Vrui]]
+* [[FreeVR]]
+== VR Applications ==
+* [[ImmersiveParaView | Immersive ParaView]] &mdash; The general-purpose ParaView sci-vis tool in VR
+** [[ParaView_Tips | ParaView Tips]]
+* [[Toirt Samhlaigh]] &mdash; A 3D volume visualization tool
+* [[LidarViewer]] &mdash; A point-cloud visualization tool
+* [[VMD]] &mdash; Visual Molecular Dynamics
+* [[ML2VR]] &mdash; Matlab to VR
+* [[CQ3A]] &mdash; A world exploration application (with game-like worlds)
+===Commercial Applications===
+* [[syGlass]] &mdash; volume viewer for SteamVR on MS-Windows
+== VR Tools ==
+* [[VRPN]] &mdash; Virtual Reality Peripheral Network tool for aggregating data from input devices
+* [[ViveLighthouse]] &mdash; Accessing Vive Lighthouse tracking on Linux
+** [[LibSurvive]] &mdash; Building the LibSurvive library for Lighthouse tracking on Linux
+* [[Monado]] &mdash; Open-source OpenXR runtime for Linux
+* [[OpenXR]] &mdash; Building OpenXR on Linux
+==Visuallization Applications==
+* [[BuildingVTK]] (on MS-Windows)
+* [[BuildingParaView]] (on MS-Windows)
+* [[BuildingANARI]] (on Linux)
+== Other Applications ==
+* [http://bino3d.org/ Bino] &mdash; stereoscopic movie player
+* [[XVS]] &mdash; John Stone's ''stereoscopic image viewer''
+== Rendering Libraries ==
+* [[Barney]] &mdash; Cross-GPU Multi-threaded rendering library
+* [[Visionaray]] &mdash; Open-source C++ Ray-Tracing template library
+== NIST Trans-Portable-VR ==
+* [[Transportable_VR_NIST | NIST's Transportable VR System]] &mdash; modern IQ-station w/ short-throw projector
+* [[Portable_VR_Setup | Portable-VR Setup]] &mdash; setup instructions
+== Hardware (old) ==
+The basic components of an IQ-station are:
+* [[3D_Displays | 3DTV Displays]] (and [[3D_Glasses | 3D glasses]])
+* [[Tracking_Systems | Tracking Systems]]
+** [[ART SMARTTRACK]]
+** [[ViveLighthouse]] &mdash; Linux instructions
+* [[Input_Devices | Input Devices]]
+* [[Computers]]
+** [[Virtual_Machines | Virtual Machines]]
+<!--* [[Mounting | Mounting & Furniture]]-->
+<!--We also maintain a [[PartsList | Detailed Parts List]] as part of the community shared resource.-->
+== Community ==
+For the past decade (apart from one "COVID year"), there has been a SIGGRAPH BOF
+with the topic of '''Immersive Visualization''':
+* [https://immersive-visualisation-bof.org BOF: Immersive Visualisation for Science, Research, Art and Metaverse Applications]
+Part of our community building efforts include bootcamps on Immersive Visualization.
+Thus far, we have hosted three successful events:
+* [[Bootcamp_IUPUI | Bootcamp in Indianapolis]] held March 25-27, 2013
+* [[Bootcamp_UWyo | Bootcamp in Laramie]] held June 12-14, 2013
+* [[Bootcamp_UALR | Bootcamp in Little Rock]] held October 22-24, 2014
+* [[Bootcamp_INL | Bootcamp in Idaho Falls]] held October 20-21, 2016
+== Related Publications ==
+* [[Publication_Sherman_2010 | '''[Sherman 2010]''' ''IQ-Station: A Low Cost Portable Immersive Environment'']]
+* [[Publication_Sherman_2013 | '''[Sherman 2013]''' ''Immersive Visualization Bootcamps: sharing expertise, building community'']]
+<!--
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