HoloSketch: a virtual reality sketching/animation tool

This article describes HoloSketch, a virtual reality-based 3D geometry creation and manipulation tool. HoloSketch is aimed at providing nonprogrammers with an easy-to-use 3D "What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get" environment. Using head-tracked stereo shutter glasses and a desktop CRT display configuration, virtual objects can be created with a 3D wand manipulator directly in front of the user, at very high accuracy and much more rapidly than with traditional 3D drawing systems. HoloSketch also supports simple animation and audio control for virtual objects. This article describes the functions of the HoloSketch system, as well as our experience so far with more-general issues of head-tracked stereo 3D user interface design.