MetaVR News Volume II, Issue 2 November 24, 1998 MetaVR can help you uncover the meaning of your virtual worlds[tm]. MetaVR provides high-speed 3D visualization and rapid creation of networked virtual worlds on personal computers. In This Issue: 5.A -- MetaVR ChannelSurfer PC-based Flight Simulators 5.B -- MetaVR Featured In Military Training Technology Magazine 5.C -- Free Java-Based MetaVR Playback Machine[tm] Released 5.D -- VRSG Supports Microsoft DirectX 6 and Windows 98 5.E -- VRSG As A Mission Rehearsal And Planning Tool 5.F -- Reviews In Game Forums 5.G -- MetaVR At I/ITSEC 98, Booth 926 **************************** 5.A -- MetaVR ChannelSurfer PC-based Flight Simulators The US Army Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation Command (STRICOM) has upgraded the Fort Rucker, Alabama, Aviation Testbed (AVTB) networked multiplayer Core DIS Facility (CDF) from proprietary image generators (IG) to a PC-based solution based on the MetaVR ChannelSurfer multi-channel visual system. The AVTB uses the STRICOM rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft simulation models ported from the SimNet GT-111 IG coupled with the MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG[tm]) based ChannelSurfers to field eight flight simulators. The simulators are networked which enables the pilots to train against each other or against artificially intelligent aggressor armies. The MetaVR VRSG real-time scene manager creates the visual representation of the 3D battlefield. The VRSG runs Microsoft Windows on Intel personal computers with 3Dfx Voodoo2-based graphics accelerators in a rack-mounted installation. The MetaVR PC-based simulators provide an upgrade path based on readily available 3D PC graphics card accelerators from the game community. The 3D accelerators in the PC-based ChannelSurfers are the Canopus Pure 3D II Voodoo2 graphics cards, recently voted a PC Editors Choice award. The MetaVR visual systems and the STRICOM simulation models provide terrain correlation with ModSAF and other legacy SimNet devices. Pilots are actively training in this operational facility managed by Lockheed Martin as part of the ADST II program. The Core DIS Facilities provide DoD agencies and their contractors with research, development, test and evaluation to support experimentation in three domains: Advanced Concepts and Requirements (ACR), Training, Exercises and Military Operations (TEMO), and Research, Development and Acquisition (RDA). Visitors to the MetaVR Web site are able to configure and calculate the cost of a multi-channel ChannelSurfer tailored to their specific needs. A paper detailing the technical aspects of the Fort Rucker simulator upgrades is available from the Image Society: "Migrating From Proprietary Networked Image Generators to Windows-Based Personal Computers", IMAGE 98, Scottsdale, Arizona, August, 1998. **************************** 5.B - MetaVR Featured In Military Training Technology (MT2) The December 1998 issue of Military Training Technology features two articles describing the MetaVR PC-based visualization technology currently in use at DoD simulation based training facilities: "Simulation Invasion: New PC-based technology gained a beachhead in Army Simulation - and is moving out to conquer" describes the MetaVR multi-channel ChannelSurfer upgrades of the legacy SimNet IG's at the Fort Rucker Aviation Testbed CDF facility (see 5.A). "Doing What Can Get Done: At a US Army mounted battle lab, simulation experts are exploring the outer limits of desktop simulations" includes MetaVR VRSG desktop PCs in its description of VizSim providers technology in use at Fort Knox, Kentucky. VRSG's at this simulation facility are used as driver views and traditional Stealth virtual world observer platforms. MT2 is published by Kerrigan Media International and will be distributed at this year's I/ITSEC tradeshow. The December issue of MT2 can be ordered by contacting Kerrigan Media at kerriganmedia@erols.com **************************** 5.C Java-Based MetaVR Playback Machine[tm] Released The MetaVR Playback Machine is a free, platform-independent network packet-logging and playback application built with the Sun implementation of Java. Playback Machine is based on MetaVR's Java DIS network toolkit libraries and enables the user to record a simulation exercise from inside an Internet Browser for playback at a later time. It supports the Netscape Navigator browser platform versions 4.07 and later. Netscape was chosen for the browser platform because of its large installed base and its dedication to the Sun Java implementation. Playback Machine runs on the Java Virtual Machine embedded in the Netscape Navigator Browser. Verisign's signing certificate is used to address the Browser Java security model. The Playback Machine can be downloaded from the MetaVR Web site. After an initial stage of testing and feedback from the simulation community, we will release a full set of Java libraries that provide DIS network connectivity. With these free Java libraries, which we expect to release by January of next year, users will be unencumbered by: licensing fees, run-time fees, license managers, and platform-specific compiler dependencies for their DIS network connectivity needs. The DIS network toolkit is the first of MetaVR's planned simulation network connectivity tools, which will culminate in our release of High Level Architecture (HLA) capable software libraries in early 1999. **************************** 5.D VRSG Supports Microsoft DirectX 6 and Windows 98 The latest release of the Microsoft DirectX graphics API provides VRSG with a 60% increase in performance for 3D geometry processing. Current VRSG users can obtain this performance increase by simply downloading and installing DirectX to run with their existing MetaVR software. With this recent release from Microsoft, VRSG now supports hardware accelerated detail textures (microtextures). Detail textures provide an enhanced level of 3D visualization by modulating a high-fidelity, geographically typical image (texture) with geospecific terrain. This feature is critical for low altitude flying and ground vehicle simulations. It enables the user to perceive visual queues synonymous with sub one-meter terrain features, which aids in depth perception. Hardware-accelerated detail textures are supported by 3Dfx Voodoo2 and nVidia TnT chipset-based 3D accelerators. **************************** 5.E VRSG As A Mission Rehearsal And Planning Tool The Naval Health Research Center Detachment at Brooks AFB has developed a prototype mission planning and rehearsal system to address the threat of ground-based highly-portable laser systems. The Laser Threat Analysis and Mission Planning System (LTAMPS) was developed to meet the mission planning side of this requirement. LTAMPS runs on a Windows platform and provides an ADRG map background for an area of interest. The user may interactively place laser threats on the terrain and identify the operational characteristics of the laser system in question. Vulnerability of an aircraft with respect to the threats is indicated on the map by a set of concentric range rings corresponding to the various levels of threat potential. VRSG was chosen as the mission rehearsal provider to the LTAMPS system on the basis of its ability to rapidly generate and load large visual terrain databases and render them at high frame rates on an economical PC platform. To meet the needs of the mission rehearsal community, MetaVR has developed the MDX visual database format. Mission rehearsal applications require the ability to see long distances (i.e., far horizon) and to process gigabytes of geospecific imagery draped upon terrain elevation data. The MDX format and associated VrsgMdx run-time software offer the following features: * Demand-paged terrain geometry like the original MetaVR MDB format * Demand-paged texture - MDX uses a tri-tiered virtual texture memory architecture, which allows asynchronous texture-streaming from disk. Textures are swapped in from disk without a perceptible degradation in frame rate. This allows for databases with gigabytes of geographically-specific imagery to be quickly loaded, rendered in real time (60 Hertz), and traversed at fixed-wing aircraft rates using commercial graphics accelerators. These commercial 3D game accelerators are now available for under $300 US. * Multiple terrain geometry levels of detail (LOD) allowing for DTED level one resolution databases to be visualized at 60HZ with up to a 40-kilometer far clipping plane. * Continuous terrain with vertex-by-vertex non-linear inter-LOD morphing technology. There are no distracting discrete changes in terrain LODs. Terrain geometry morphing is undetectable while traversing the database at speeds of fixed-wing aircraft. * Multiple texture LODs for efficient utilization of texture memory and reduced swapping. * Support for detail textures (microtexture) - Lower resolution geographically specific imagery may be modulated with very high- resolution geographically typical imagery for improved depth perception and sense of motion. MetaVR provides a special version of the VRSG called VrsgMdx that is capable of loading and rendering MDX databases. It is being distributed free to licensed owners of MetaVR Quick Immersion. As a mission planning and rehearsal tool, VRSG provides an alternative to traditional scene visualization workstation systems. **************************** 5.F -- Reviews In Game Forums As the distinction between simulation and game technologies continues to diminish, the VizSim community is seeing traditional game forums review simulation technology and simulation technologies migrate to the game community. Recently, Gamer's Alliance Review published a series of articles on MetaVR technology titled "The Most Advanced PC Flight Simulator." This article is from interviews with Lorien Newman of Gamers Alliance and MetaVR company members. **************************** 5.G -- MetaVR At I/ITSEC 98 Booth 926 Please stop by our booth #926 at the upcoming Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) November 30 to December 4, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA . MetaVR will be displaying the ChannelSurfer technology in use at Fort Rucker and other simulation facilities. We will be demonstrating how MetaVR technology can create multiple 2D and 3D representations of a single geographical area from NIMA source data that is interoperable with applications such as ModSAF. MetaVR products will be used to visualize this virtual world from a number of different perspectives: single desktop display, multiple synchronized out-the-window views for aircraft and ground vehicles with 2D symbology overlays in day/night and sensor modes, and as depictions suitable for situational awareness displays (SAD). VRSG display resolutions up to 1600 X 1200-pixel resolution will be demonstrated. A virtual Katherine's Gorge, Australia created with MetaVR software and on loan from the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) will be on display. The Katherine's Gorge 3D MetaVR MDX terrain database was produced in four hours by the DSTO using the Quick Immersion image-draping feature and has 2.2 million geographically-referenced trees on a 71 X 54 kilometer terrain database with 1.4 gigabytes of terrain database texture imagery. The terrain levels of detail are 30, 60, 120, 240 and 480-meter posts with terrain texture levels of detail at 5, 10, and 20, and 40-meter resolution imagery. The terrain textures were derived from aerial photographs, landsat, and geographically-typical bitmaps. The MetaVR MDX terrain database format supports demand paging of both terrain elevation and textures to achieve real-time performance on a PC. *********************** Previous issues of MetaVR News can be found at . This electronic newsletter may be redistributed without restriction in any format as long as the contents are unaltered. Copyright 1998, MetaVR, Inc. 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