Wright State University, located in Dayton, Ohio, has selected Virtalis to provide its next generation connected immersive visualization ActiveCube (VR Cave). Virtalis US operations is a Kettering, Ohio-based company. Virtalis is a world-leading virtual reality and advanced visualization solution provider.
Paul Ewing, Virtalis Vice President of North American Operations, commented:
“We are excited to have been selected to provide Wright State with two of our flagship products, ActiveCube and our Visionary Render connected immersive visualization software platform. The ActiveCube system is a multi-sided VR cave with floor projection enabled. This technology is the best-priced performance solution available. In addition, our Visionary Render VR software will be used to support job training and drive future technologies at Wright State. Dr. Thomas Wischgoll and his team have been great to work with, and we are looking forward to supporting and serving Wright State for many years to come”.
The new state-of-the-art virtual reality system will help teach students everything from anatomy to science and engineering at Wright State, thanks to a workforce development award from the state.
“It tracks where you are and recreates your perspective, so it feels like you are really walking through the virtual world.”
The Ohio Department of Higher Education provided Wright State with funding that enabled the university to purchase the VR system, in order to immerse students in virtual worlds through computer-generated 3D images.
“With this money, we have purchased from Virtalis one of those full-scale, walkable display caves,” said Thomas Wischgoll, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, and Director of the Advanced Visual Data Analysis (AViDA) group. Wischgoll continued: “It tracks where you are and recreates your perspective, so it feels like you are really walking through the virtual world.”
The new technology will expose students, among others, to a virtual environment where they can clearly see things they otherwise would not – for instance, the inner workings of an automobile or the human body (without having to disassemble a vehicle or operate on a patient!). It will also turn large amounts of data into images, to enhance learning comprehension.
AViDA is dedicated to research and support of the community in scientific and information visualization, medical imaging and virtual environments. The group runs and supports the Appenzeller Visualization Laboratory in the university’s Joshi Research Center. The $2 million Visualization Lab enables local businesses to outsource virtual reality work to the university.
The new virtual reality equipment at Wright State will be available early next year to every college on campus. Students and faculty from Psychology and Human Factors have already lined up to use the equipment, which will become available in the Appenzeller Visualization Laboratory for research projects and education.