This is the sit-down version of the
Virtuality VR game system.

A first take on W-Industries
By Myron W. Krueger

This article originally appeared in CyberEdge Journal #3, May/June © 1991

I saw the W-Industries Virtuality system at the Imagina Conference in Monte Carlo in early February. While waiting in line to try it, my first impression was established. This is a manufactured product. The Visette (their term for the goggles), the power pack, the cabling and the gloves are all stylishly designed and extremely rugged.

Initially, the Visette appears quite massive. However, it is much lighter than expected. It is made of foam and magnesium, and clamps to the head to provide optimum tracking. The injection-molded polymer glove fits around the back of your hand and attaches to your fingers through rings. Your palm is exposed, making the glove more comfortable and more hygienic in situations where many users must share the same equipment. The glove has a single bend sensor per finger, less than other products, but enough for the point and grasp functions that are typically employed. Finally, an instrument pack, attached by a steel-reinforced cable, is worn around the participant's waist.

When I tried the equipment, I was represented by a graphic robot and could move around in a simple graphic scene containing a single dwelling and one other participant. Since our actual body movements were not measured in any way, the movements of the graphic body were fabricated. Your graphic representation shuffled around in the direction you were pointing. In theory, you could talk to the other participant through the microphone in your Visette and hear them in quadrophonic sound. Unfortunately, I was unable to make audio contact with my robot companion, even though I walked through its body.

Perhaps because the graphics world was simply rendered, its responses to my movements were noticeably rapid compared to comparable goggle and glove systems. When I turned my head, there was not a long lag before the graphic world caught up with me. When I moved my hand, the graphic hand did not hang suspended for a noticeable fraction of a second before it moved in response. The system was quick enough that I was aware of a new problem - a little jitter in the world as I moved my head.

The system is faster than other systems because it is designed from the ground up. It contains several closely-coupled processors and a special, dual-channel graphics board. It also properly abbreviates the graphics experience in favor of real-time response.

In addition to this early product designed for standing participants, a new arcade system for seated participant has been introduced. At what is, for the moment, the low end, this US$40,000 product may be a smash, because it is currently unopposed. Whether it threatens high-end research systems remains to be seen. (The new $17,000 tactile feedback glove using pneumatic pressure bladders should definitely be of interest to researchers.) What is certain is that customers now have an alternative that will force them to think more clearly about their needs.

Myron Krueger, Ph.D., is President of Artificial Reality Corporation, inventor of the famous VideoPlace installation, researcher in scientific visualization, and responsible for the term "artificial reality". He is an artist and scientist who has been working on artificial reality since 1969. His book, Artificial Reality II has just been released by Addition Wesley Publishing.

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