What's New in VRSG Version 5

Version 5.4 of VRSG contains these new features, enhancements, and 3D content:

• Ability to create and play back VRSG scenarios. Using First Person Simulator (FPS), you can now record scenarios of character movements, which can then be played back in VRSG on a network or as a standalone scenario.
  
• Additions to the military vehicle 3D model library. MetaVR’s 3D content library of military entities now includes a set of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, which were created for simulating improvised explosive device attacks or route clearance operations by explosive ordinance disposal teams. Other additions to the military entity library include a set of new models of Future Combat System (FCS) vehicles.
  
• VRSG MPEG recording enhancement. The VRSG MPEG recording feature now includes UAV KLV metadata multiplexed into an MPEG2 transport stream. The MPEG stream can be transmitted live over UDP, or streamed to a file for later playback. The MPEG encoding and metadata multiplexing runs as a plugin for VRSG on the same computer. The plugin requires no extra hardware, software, or cost beyond a VRSG 5 license.
  
• Common Image Generator Interface (CIGI) version 3.2 support. VRSG Metadesic now implements a subset of CIGI to support the most commonly used features.
  
• Integration with Mersive technology for edge-blended, distortion-corrected, multiple projector displays on arbitrary-shaped surfaces.
  
• Enhancement to VRSG Radar for Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) simulation.
  
• Additional atmospheric effects, such as independent ground fog and haze layers, independent haze color and intensity for in-sun and out-of-sun viewing directions.
  
• Improved sensor post-processing effects, such as optical focus and simulated noise.

• Compatibility with MUSE VIDD V2.2, to support the new auto tracking features of the MUSE protocol.
  
• New mechanism for user-defined and controlled volumetric clouds.
  
• Introduction of new model format, HPY. HPY files are compressed binary files that store all data associated with a given model. In particular, an HPY model file contains all of the textures referenced by that model, which eliminates the burden of maintaining a separate set of associated texture files along with each model. The newest models in MetaVR's 3D content library are provided in HPY format only. HPY formatted models can be used in exactly the same manner as the older HPX format models. You must have VRSG V5.4 or later to use these models. VRSG and MetaVR’s terrain building applications continue to support the HPX model format in addition to this new format.

VRSG version 5 contains the following new features, enhancements, and 3D content:

• Built-in support for dynamic 3D character entities. This feature is supplemented by a library of unique character models and weapon models. VRSG can handle thousands of active human characters with hundreds being displayed in the immediate field-of-view. (Note that for customers who currently use Boston Dynamics’ Di-Guy with VRSG, version 5 will continue to support Di-Guy. You can use both MetaVR’s new characters and Di-Guy characters together in VRSG.) Animations library includes animations for driver, passenger, and gunner positions for characters with a subset of vehicles.
• New sky models representing a variety of time-of-day and weather conditions.
• Several enhancements to support simulation in the geographic shore line region (littoral) to include the sea floor, water and coast line: wave animation, sky model reflection, realistic underwater visibility, and sea floor terrain compiled with bathymetric data.
• Dynamic shadows for ground vehicles, character entities, and cultural features.
• New VRSG demo of our Baghdad database. This new demo replaces the demos that previously shipped with VRSG.
• Real time MPEG encoding; direct digital video stream recording from frame buffer to MPEG video stream (no extra hardware or intermediate analog conversions required).
• The addition of sound support to VRSG Metadesic (a feature that was already in VRSG MDX).
• First Person Simulator (FPS) enhancements to support forward area controller (FAC)-type actions in Close Air Support (CAS) simulations.
• Enhancements to VRSG Radar, which greatly improve performance and flexibility of usage. Radar requests can now be handled concurrent to rendering an out-the-window or sensor scene, reducing the number of channels required in a simulator.
• Updated entity model library to include normal maps, which greatly increases the visual quality of a significant number of the VRSG military vehicle models.
• Full MetaVR 3D content libraries of vehicles, cultural features, and aforementioned characters. For version 5 many new 3D models have been added to the 3D content libraries, including additional vehicles, human characters, weapons, animals, and cultural features including over 100 new tree models to the tree library. You can rapidly build up a database’s 3D content directly in VRSG by placing models directly on the terrain in the VRSG visualization window.
• Support for 3Dconnexion's new 6 DOF controllers: SpacePilot, SpaceExplorer, and SpaceTraveler.
  
• Inclusion of the following terrain databases:
  - Baghdad, Iraq with Green Zone
  - Ft. Wainwright urban training site
  - Ft. Lewis with Leschi Town MOUT site
  - Ft. Irwin (NTC) with Bicycle Lake and Tiefort City urban training site
  - Ft. Campbell with Cassidy MOUT site
  - Ft. Benning with McKenna MOUT site

	Character, vehicle, and weapon entities from the version 5 3D content library. Click Zoom to view an enlargement.

The following features, formerly add-on products, are now included with core VRSG:

• First Person Simulator, which provides first-person control of your characters so you can view a networked scenario from their point of view.
  
• VRSG Radar, which enables the simulation of a radar system to be built upon the VRSG rendering engine, using VRSG visual databases and moving models.
  
• IR server, which is distributed upon request with source code based on the TSC library. IRserver enables computer image generators (CIGs) to render a physics-based simulated infra-red (IR) real-time scene. The IRserver is an open-architecture, CIG-independent, network-based IR simulation that uses extensions to the DIS protocol to communicate with the image generators it services. The IRserver runs on a dedicated computer on the simulation network and can service multiple channels rendering IR scenes.

VRSG Version 5 also contains the following changes:

• MetaVR’s product maintenance plan now covers 1 year of technical support.
  
• The international release of VRSG does not include IRserver, VRSG Radar, or support for the MUSE protocol.

You can order VRSG version 5 directly from MetaVR.