Virtual Reality
Program Information
Series: Destination TomorrowProgram: Episode 5
Segment Number: 5 (Watch entire program)
Duration: 00:04:47
Year Produced: 2002
Description:
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment explaining how NASA uses virtual reality environments to simulate NASA missions.
NASA's Destination Tomorrow™ is a series of 30-minute programs that focus on NASA research. Each exciting program gives the audience an inside look at NASA and demonstrates how research and technology relate to our everyday lives.
For more information visit: http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/Transcript
THE GREAT POET WALT WHITMAN ONCE SAID, "I ACCEPT REALITY AND DARE NOT QUESTION IT." WELL, IF OLD WALT WAS HERE TO SEE THIS, HE JUST MIGHT QUESTION IT. TODAY NASA RESEARCHERS ARE WORKING IN HIGH-TECH VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATION LABS USING NUMBERS, GRAPHICS, MATHEMATICAL MODELS TO CREATE THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF OBJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTS. MAN, IT'S LIKE WORKING INSIDE A REAL HOLODECK. NOW, I SPOKE WITH DOCTOR CHRIS SANDRIDGE AT NASA LANGLEY'S IMMERSIVE DESIGN AND SIMULATION LAB, BETTER KNOWN AS "THE CAVE," TO FIND OUT HOW IT WORKS. WHAT WE'RE STANDING IN RIGHT NOW IS CALLED A "CAVE." IT STANDS FOR CAVE AUTOMATIC VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT. BASICALLY, IT'S A MULTISCREEN THEATER WHERE WE CAN GENERATE 3-D IMAGES, 3-D SOUNDS AND SIMULATE VARIOUS NASA MISSIONS. THE CAVE HAS THREE WALLS MADE OF TEN FOOT BY TEN FOOT REAR PROJECTION SCREENS AND A FLOOR THAT IS PROJECTED FROM ABOVE, GIVING THE USERS A NEAR-COMPLETE IMMERSION IN COMPUTER-GENERATED GRAPHICS. THE SIMULATION LOOKS LIKE DOUBLE IMAGES UNTIL YOU PUT ON THE GOGGLES THAT GIVES EVERYTHING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL QUALITY. THE HARDWARE AND GRAPHICS EQUIPMENT USED TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM WERE FIRST DEVELOPED FOR USE IN COMPUTERS GAMES AND IN THE THEME PARK INDUSTRY. SO HOW DOES THIS VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT WORK? WE NEED THE GLASSES TO DESCRIBE THAT. BASICALLY, WHAT WE HAVE HERE ARE SHUTTER GLASSES, AND WHAT THEY DO IS, THEY KIND OF DECODE THE STEREO IMAGE SO THAT WE SEE THE DEPTH. BASICALLY, THE COMPUTER IS GENERATING TWO IMAGES: ONE FOR YOUR LEFT EYE; ONE FOR YOUR RIGHT EYE. AND THEN THERE'S A LITTLE SENSOR HERE ON THE GLASSES. THAT IT'S DETECTING AN INFRARED SIGNAL FROM BEHIND THE SCREEN THAT SYNCHRONIZES THE GLASSES SO YOU SEE A 3-D IMAGE. IN ADDITION, THE PERSON WHO'S ACTUALLY RUNNING THE CAVE IS ALSO BEING HEAD TRACKED. THERE'S A BLACK BOX ABOVE US THAT IS PUTTING OUT AN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD THAT'S BEING PICKED UP BY THIS ANTENNA. AND THEN THAT RELAYS INFORMATION BACK TO THE COMPUTER AND TELLS THE COMPUTER WHERE THE PERSON IS LOOKING AND WHAT HIS HEAD ORIENTATION IS. AND THEN IT UPDATES THE VISUALS, AND IT UPDATES THE SOUND BASED ON THIS PERSON'S POSITION. AND THEN FINALLY, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A MOUSE AND A KEYBOARD AVAILABLE TO US, WE NEED SOME TYPE OF AN INPUT DEVICE. SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE WAND THAT WE USE TO CONTROL THE APPLICATION. IT HAS JOYSTICKS ON IT. IT HAS SOME BUTTONS. AND THEN ALSO, IT IS TRACKED AS WELL. SO THE COMPUTER KNOWS WHERE THE POSITION OF THIS IS. SO WE CAN INTERACT WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. THAT'S BASICALLY HOW IT WORKS. AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE'S-- KIND OF A SUPERCOMPUTER IN THE BACK ROOM THAT'S KIND OF DRIVING IT ALL. SO CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW THIS APPLICATION WORKS? SURE, PUT YOUR GLASSES ON, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO TOWN. YOU GOT IT, MAN. TEST-DRIVE THIS THING. THIS IS A FULL-UP CONFIGURATION OF THE STATION, AND WE'RE USING THIS APPLICATION, BASICALLY, FOR TWO DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS, THE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT AND THE SOUND ENVIRONMENT. CURRENTLY, NASA LANGLEY RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING TOOLS TO HELP DESIGN AND IMPROVE RADIATION SHIELDING AND REDUCE NOISE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. THEY'RE ABLE TO MOVE EQUIPMENT OR INSTALL SHIELDING IN THE VIRTUAL REALITY IMAGE AND THEN OBSERVE AND STORE CALCULATIONS OF WHAT EFFECTS THE CHANGE HAS MADE. THE SIMULATIONS CAN BE SHARED WITH OTHER RESEARCHERS AT DISTANT LOCATIONS VIA COMPUTER NETWORK CONNECTIONS. SO, JOHNNY, YOU WANT TO TRY TO GIVE IT A SHOT? ABSOLUTELY, LET ME SEE THIS. TAKE THE WAND. OKAY. YOU NEED TO PUT ON THESE GLASSES, 'CAUSE THESE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE TRACKED. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. AND THE WAY IT WORKS IS THAT YOU POINT THE WAND IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO, AND THEN PUSH THE JOYSTICK FORWARD. FORWARD. TO GO FORWARD. AND YOU PULL BACKWARD TO GO BACKWARDS. AND THEN ROTATING IS PULLING THE JOYSTICK LEFT AND RIGHT. CHECK THIS OUT. YOU MIGHT WANT TO BACK OUT SO YOU CAN SEE-- FLY AROUND THE STATION. YEAH, I'M GOING TO THROW UP. ALL RIGHT, HERE WE GO. ROOKIE DRIVERS. YEAH. HERE, TAKE THE WHEEL. HERE ARE YOUR GLASSES BACK. I'LL TAKE THESE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER USES FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY? ANOTHER USE THAT WE'RE JUST STARTING TO WORK ON IS TO DEVELOP A SIMULATION TO EVALUATE COMMUNITY NOISE OF JETS AND AIRCRAFT FLYING NEAR AIRPORTS TO LOOK AT HOW WE CAN QUIET THE AIRCRAFT AND BE LESS INTRUSIVE TO THE NEIGHBORS AROUND THE AIRPORT. AND FINALLY, I GUESS, THESE TYPES OF CAVE ENVIRONMENTS ARE USED BY THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY TO LAY OUT THE INTERIOR COCKPIT OF THE CAR. SO THEY'LL-- IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT, THEY'LL LOOK AT, LIKE, WHERE THE MIRROR IS, WHERE THE CONSOLE IS. ANYTHING WHERE HUMAN FACTORS ARE INVOLVED, THEN YOU CAN PUT IT IN ACTUAL SIZE AND LOOK AT IT IN THE CORRECT PERSPECTIVE BEFORE YOU BUILD HARDWARE PROTOTYPES, WHICH ARE FAIRLY EXPENSIVE. WELL, THIS IS A LOT OF FUN. THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE. THANKS A LOT FOR EVERYTHING. NO PROBLEM. ONE MORE QUESTION? SURE. CAN I KEEP THE GLASSES? EVERYBODY WANTS THE GLASSES. THEY ARE VERY STYLISH. CHECK THESE OUT, MAN.