Laboratory for Immersive Virtual Environments (LIVE)

The Scientific Computing and Visualization Group's Laboratory for Immersive Virtual Environments supports research on virtual reality by providing hardware and software for immersive experiences. These systems use stereoscopic displays to create the illusion of three dimensions and provide a variety of input and tracking systems to interact with the scene. Most of these facilities are housed in our Computer Graphics Lab.

The lab has provided a variety of specialized 3d stereo display devices including Crystal Eyes active stereo displays, a Fakespace ImmersaDesk, a Virtual Research V6 head-mounted display, and tiled stereo display walls in several sizes and configurations.

SCV's premier visualization facility is the Deep Vision Display Wall, a tiled, rear projected, passive stereo display system based on commodity components. It users 24 projectors driven by 24 Linux workstations to provide a stereo 4096x2304 pixel image on an 8' x 15' screen, effectively giving a 19 MPixel display. The LCD projectors produce a very bright image, and the image is large enough that more than a dozen people may view it together. This display gives a powerful experience due to its size and large field of view. The physical space in which it is installed provides an environment tailored to the immersive experience.

All of these systems have associated multi-channel audio systems and software which can be used for a variety of purposes, including digital audio playback, sonification (the auditory equivalent of visualization), 3D audio localization for immersive environments, and Internet-based telephony.

Programs for the virtual environment systems use software which includes the CAVE library, Performer, OpenGL, Open Inventor, VTK, OpenDX, WireGL/Chromium, and SCV's in-house DAFFIE system.

Request for access to these systems should be directed to scv@bu.edu.