Going anywhere anywhere: Creating a low cost portable immersive VE system

In general, the use of VE (Virtual Environment) systems has required users to travel to specialized facilities in which an expensive infrastructure has been pre-installed. Often these facilities allow only one user at a time, and users usually move through virtual worlds by means of an artificial interface device or a movement metaphor. In short, most VR facilities are centralized, specialized, and expensive, and have thus been relatively unavailable to a great majority of the population. This paper reports on the development of an innovative immersive VE system that is completely portable. The proposed system would allow multiple users to be immersed simultaneously and could be used in any large indoor or outdoor area such as a gymnasium or parking lot. Users will move through virtual worlds naturally, and will be able to walk for miles in a virtual world without ever becoming aware of the physical limits of the tracking space or the locations of other users. The portable system will cost far less than current systems. The research hinges on three emerging techniques. The first is redirected walking (RDW). The second is self-contained inertial position tracking (SCIPT). The last is the use of ultrasonic and/or laser ranging systems to simultaneously localize and map (SLAM) within an unfamiliar tracking area. The paper describes the effort that is underway and reports preliminary results which have been obtained in each of these areas over the last few years.