Virtalis’ “ActiveDesk” personal VR will receive a major boost with the release of Visionary Render version 1.3 this autumn.
Virtalis Visionary Render software allows users to access and experience a real-time, collaborative, and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment created from huge multi-source 3D datasets. Used by major blue chips like Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Raytheon, Visionary Render v1.3, creates a plug-and-play interface that is standard in the software, featuring just one button in the GUI, for the new generation of consumer HMDs, including Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. In addition, other desktop devices, such as the zSpace and stereo displays are supported easily.
Virtalis technical director, Andrew Connell explained: “You don’t need to buy any separate modules to use all these new devices in the VR armoury now, significantly decreasing the cost of desktop immersion. We have striven to pack in all this functionality, so our customers have access to it all without leaving their desks. At Virtalis, we have always developed software to link best-in-class VR hardware with users’ 3D data to create integrated VR systems that both make technology accessible and maximise benefits. Visionary Render v1.3 does just that by making everything so much more convenient.”
Visionary Render v1.3 boasts other useful refinements, including updated data importers with the ability to drag and drop CAD files. “For those operating in corporate data environments, we have taken the hassle out of updating either new versions of CAD importers, or new versions of Visionary Render”, explained Connell. “Version independence allows modules to be mixed-and-matched reducing the QA overhead of software updates.”
For the first time too, eye-tracking data can be harvested from subjects exposed to VR models via the Arrington Eye Tracker. Virtalis has delivered head-mounted display systems with built-in Arrington systems for many years, but this is the first time the data has been integrated into Virtalis software. This advance will be useful to retailers or human behaviour researchers who wish to track which bits of the virtual world are making the greatest impact. Immersion has also been further extended with support for haptic devices, so users can explore VR models both visually and via virtual touch before sharing them with colleagues remotely.