MetaVR News Volume I, Issue 3 November 25, 1997 MetaVR can help you uncover the meaning of your virtual worlds (tm). In This Issue: 3.A -- MetaVR Technology at I/ITSEC 97 3.B -- I/ITSEC ChannelSurfer Sale 3.C -- MetaVR at I/ITSEC 97 Booth 1005 3.D -- DirectX 5 MetaVR Technology Demo *********************** 3.A -- MetaVR Attends I/ITSEC 97 Be sure to drop by our booth #1005 at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) December 1-4, Marriot World Center Orlando, FL, USA . Here are examples of how some of our customers will be displaying their use of MetaVR technology at I/ITSEC: -> InterSense booth 1213 InterSense will be displaying a Microsoft Windows Intel (WinTel) PII 300 MHz Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) with the IS-300 orientation tracker as part of a joint technology demonstration (see section 3.C). With the IS-300 and IS-300 Pro, the world's fastest and smoothest head and/or hand orientation trackers, simulator performance and realism are greatly enhanced. Gone are the lag, jerks and jitters common to traditional motion trackers. About the size and weight of an ice cube, these trackers are the smallest available drift-corrected inertial orientation sensors. With the 150 MHz update rate, the IS-300 negates any perceptible tracker latency. Having eliminated this latency source, InterSense was in search of a visualization application that would provide sustained high frame rates to match its system's performance. Upon seeing a VRSG real-time demonstration for the first time, senior InterSense engineer Yury Altshuler asked, "Is this demo pre-rendered?" With this endorsement, InterSense has adopted the VRSG as the low-cost platform to display its revolutionary tracking technology. MetaVR has in turn adopted the IS-300 as the recommended tracker for VRSG with the ImmerSim option . -> TASC booth 1236 The TASC San Antonio group will be displaying a three-channel rotary wing aircraft simulator using the ChannelSurfer option with Quantum3D 100SB:4400 graphics accelerators rendering the out-the-window views. The simulation host process runs on a WinTel PII 266 and transmits viewpoint update information to the three visual channels. Viewpoint traffic is isolated on a 100 megabit LAN to avoid simulation network traffic collision. -> U.S. Army Soldier Systems Command (SSCOM) booth P30 SSCOM will be demonstrating the Integrated Unit Simulation System (IUSS) personal computer based simulation in conjunction with VRSG. IUSS is unique when compared to most individual combatant simulations, as mathematical models for behavior are constantly compared to results from instrumented soldiers during field exercises. VRSG will be demonstrated on a WinTel PII 300 MHz with a Quantum3D Voodoo Rush-based graphics accelerator displaying in a sizable window the full 24 x 24 km Ft. Benning terrain database . IUSS Version 3.0 will be running concurrently with VRSG on the same personal computer and the display will be a 27" monitor. The second demonstration will be a WinTel PII 266 MHz VRSG in full-screen mode using the Obsidian 100SB:4400 graphics accelerator displayed on a 27" monitor with the Ft. Benning high-resolution virtual world. -- ECC International Corporation booth 214 ECC will be displaying a WinTel PII 266 VRSG with our latest terrain database technology as part of a joint effort. For some time, MetaVR has provided 3D analogs to the ModSAF CTDB legacy databases by processing the 2D-CTDB to our 3D-MDB format, resulting in absolute terrain correlation between VRSG and ModSAF. MetaVR recently developed the technology to overlay satellite imagery on the resulting 3D analog during the conversion from CTDB to MDB. This technique preserves all of the cultural features of the CTDB but enhances the overall 3D database by overlaying road networks, buildings, etc. over enhanced geospecific terrain imagery. As high-resolution commercial satellite imagery evolves, these CTDB 3D analogs can be readily upgraded with the new imagery. These descriptions show just some of the examples of MetaVR technology at the I/ITSEC 97 trade show. We will describe other applications in a subsequent newsletter. *********************** 3.B - I/ITSEC ChannelSurfer Sale Our three-ChannelSurfer unit on display was built specifically for I/ITSEC and will be available for sale at the show. The one-week QA cycle that we normally perform in our assembly facility will be done on the floor at I/ITSEC. These units retail for U.S. $8,800.00 per channel in volume, but will be offered at the trade show for a special one-time price of U.S. $7,000.00. A purchase order or credit card would be required at the show to take the unit home. Look over the list of components for these systems for sale and you will see a veritable PC Magazine Editors' Choice combined into a single system. Brand-name systems invariably cut corners to achieve cost, a practice that is not readily apparent unless you make a direct comparison with one of our systems: INTEL Pentium II 300 MHz MMX Processor w/ 512K Cache Built-in ASUS P2L97 (440LX) Pentium-II ATX Motherboard 128 MB RAM (1 - 128 Meg DIMM), Expandable to 384 MB PCI Matrox MGA Millennium II Video Card with 4 MB of WRAM (2 - 16550 UART Serial & 1 - ECP/EPP Parallel & USB Port) PCI DUAL EIDE HDD/FDD & I/O Controller Built-in PCI Adaptec 2940UW Ultra Wide SCSI Host Adapter Seagate (Cheetah) 4.5GB Ultra-WIDE SCSI Hard Drive (2 MB Cache) CRU Dataport Ultra-Wide SCSI Removable Hard Drive Kit Teac 1.44M High-Density Floppy Drive Panasonic 24X Internal SCSI CD-ROM Drive Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 GOLD Wavetable ISA Sound Card 3COM 3c905-TX 10/100 PCI Network Adapter Card MAXPOINT 19" ATX Rackmount Chassis SpaceTec SpaceOrb 360 or Logitec Cyberman2 Controller Tripp Lite Surge Protector Licensed Copy of Windows 95 OSR 2.1 CD with Documentation MetaVR VRSG ChannelSurfer 2.0 Client w/ Sound Beast Option Quantum3D Obsidian 1000:4400 (PCI) This system is fully enclosed in a hardened case so it can be used as a ruggedized desktop unit or part of a rack-mount system. Additional complete systems can be reviewed at the MetaVR Web site . *********************** 3.C - MetaVR at I/ITSEC 97 Booth 1005 MetaVR will have a number of products on display that use the core VRSG technology : -> San Antonio TASC, under contract to the U.S. Army, has used the ChannelSurfer to build a low-cost ground vehicle simulator. Based on PC technology, TASC's product takes advantage of a three-channel ChannelSurfer for the out-the-window scene generation. The Versatile Virtual Vehicle (VVV) simulator uses an 18 degree-of-freedom (DOF) mathematical model to simulate the 3D motion of a 4-wheel vehicle subject to terrain, braking, steering, skidding, and throttle inputs. Simulator systems are delivered with complete source code to maximize user control over modifications and enhancements. Please stop by the MetaVR booth for a test drive of the TASC simulator configured as a HUMV. -> MetaVR teamed with Modern Technology Corporation (MTC) to develop a low-cost Forward Observer/ForwardArea Controller (FO/FAC) training system based on VRSG. A single channel VRSG will be demonstrated that is integrated with a Mini Eye-safe Laser Infrared Observation Set (MELIOS). A MELIOS is a hand-held laser range finder containing a single 7X optic. This device is used by Marine FO/FAC units to accurately determine locations of targets for both artillery and close air support missions. Mounted on top of the MELIOS is a compass and inclinometer unit used to measure azimuth and elevation respectively. These two angles coupled with range allow one to determine precise coordinates of the lazed point given the location of the MELIOS are known. Range, azimuth, and elevation are displayed inside the MELIOS optic via a LCD driven reticle. This data is automatically combined with a GPS receiver data by a palmtop computer known as the Grunt. The Grunt software computes lazed point coordinates and allows the FO/FAC to digitally transmit these coordinates to artillery or close air support aircraft (via 9-line message). An actual MELIOS device has been acquired and outfitted with a miniature CRT display where the optics would normally be. The CRT display is driven by a VRSG system providing the "out-the-optic" view. The compass and inclinometer normally mounted on the MELIOS have been replaced with an inertial sensor InterSense IS-300 tracker. The IS-300 feeds orientation data to the VRSG via a serial interface so the visual system driving the miniature CRT can render the simulated view from the correct perspective with virtually no perceivable latency. -> Version 2.0 of Quick Immersion (QI) will be used to demonstrate rapid terrain creation and visualization with VRSG 2.0b. Version 2.0 of QI can create a MetaVR 3D MDB and ModSAF CTDB from the same source data, thus resulting in absolute terrain correlation. Databases can usually be created in a single day. The new image-draping feature of QI provides for high-resolution terrain mission rehearsal . MetaVR VRSG 2.0b features an innovative adaptive least-recently-used (LRU) texture cache enabling the VRSG to support terrain databases with large amounts of geospecific textures. Databases with as much as 38 MB of texture covering areas greater than 1 degree by 1 degree have been tested. VRSG 2.0b is able to maintain a 60 HZ frame rate with DTED level I 90 meter posting and a 7 Km clipping plane using a PentiumPro and a commercial 3Dfx-based video card with 2 MB of texture memory! -> ModSAF 3.0 will generate entities on our LAN running on a triple boot (Linux, Windows NT, Windows 95) PC. MetaVR sells these systems pre-configured and ready to run out of the box . MetaVR's blind drawing give-away will consist of a copy of GLQuake, SpaceOrb360, and a Quantum3D graphics a card . *********************** 3.D - New DirectX 5 MetaVR Technology Demo on 3Dfx Web Site The MetaVR "Warthog Prevails" technology demonstration has been upgraded to support DirectX 5. This demo is now available on the 3Dfx Interactive Web site . The demo shows the signature MetaVR A10's attacking a platoon of 2S6 anti-aircraft artillery that have found their way onto an unprotected airfield. Make sure to press the keyboard "F1" to see some of the new features in VRSG version 2.0. MetaVR is currently the only VisSim company hosted on the 3Dfx Web site with a demo that you can download. Images and a brief story line from the free demo are available on the MetaVR Web site . *********************** 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 1997, MetaVR, Inc. Please let us know if you do not want to receive future mailings by sending email to no_news@metavr.com. Requests for subscription to MetaVR News can be sent to news_request@metavr.com.