Inertial
Motion-Tracking Technology for Virtual 3-D
Consumer/Home/Recreation
Originating Technology/ NASA Contribution
I n the 1990s, NASA pioneered virtual reality research.
The concept was present long before, but, prior
to this, the technology did not exist to make a
viable virtual reality system. Scientists had theories
and ideas—they knew that the concept had potential—but
the computers of the 1970s and 1980s were not fast
enough, sensors were heavy and cumbersome, and
people had difficulty blending fluidly with the
machines. Scientists at Ames Research Center built
upon the research of previous decades and put the
necessary technology behind them, making the theories
of virtual reality a reality.
Virtual reality systems depend on complex motiontracking
sensors to convey information between the user and
the computer to give the user the feeling that he
is operating in the real world. These motion-tracking
sensors measure and report an object’s position and
orientation as it changes. A simple example of motion
tracking would be the cursor on a computer screen
moving in correspondence to the shifting of the mouse.
Tracking in 3-D, necessary to create virtual reality,
however, is much more complex. To be successful,
the perspective of the virtual image seen on the
computer must be an accurate representation of what
is seen in the real world. As the user’s head or
camera moves, turns, or tilts, the computer-generated
environment must change accordingly with
no noticeable lag, jitter, or distortion. Historically,
the lack of smooth and rapid tracking of the user’s
motion has thwarted the widespread use of immersive
3-D computer graphics.
NASA uses virtual reality technology for a variety
of purposes, mostly training of astronauts. The actual
missions are costly and dangerous, so any opportunity
the crews have to practice their maneuvering in accurate
situations before the mission is valuable and instructive.
For that purpose, NASA has funded a great deal of
virtual reality research, and benefited from the
results.
Partnership
Scientists at Ames, led by Elizabeth
Wenzel, were looking for a better way to track head
motion for use with 3-D audio systems. Dr. Wenzel’s
group was conducting research experiments on binaural
localization with subjects wearing tracked 3-D audio
headsets. Traditional headsets were either too slow,
had high latency, or were too bulky. They were looking
for a better headset.
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Virtual reality
systems depend on motion-tracking sensors to
relay information between the user and the
computer. Pictured here is the InterSense IS-900
MiniTrax 6-DOF Hand Tracker for immersive environment
interaction. |
A graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Eric Foxlin was conducting research
in virtual reality systems when he came up with the
idea to develop a miniature tracking device based
on the same technology found in large, ship-borne
navigation tracking devices. The Inertial Measurement
Unit (IMU) uses large precision gyroscopes, accelerometers,
and compasses to estimate, with great accuracy, the
position and orientation of ships and aircraft. Foxlin
used this concept to build a miniature IMU using
low power, low cost microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) components with support from an Ames seed
grant. The first miniature, body wearable, sourceless
tracker was developed and used as a technology seed
to attract venture capital and start InterSense,
Inc., in 1996.
Bedford, Massachusetts-based InterSense now develops
precision, miniaturized inertial motion-tracking
technology extensively deployed in simulation and
training, entertainment applications, clinical and
medical settings, for oil and gas discovery, virtual
design and testing, and in a variety of research
applications. A cutting-edge virtual reality company,
one of its frequent customers is NASA.
InterSense’s IS-900 Virtual Environment Tracking
system was recently installed at Glenn Research Center
for use in a 3-D virtual immersive display wall.
Combined with 3-D fluid flow analysis software, the
stereo display wall is used to gain better understanding
of 3-D flow modeling of jets, turbines, and Space
Shuttle aerodynamics. Simulated failure analysis
is also performed, such as
what happens when a jet turbine blade is impacted
by a foreign object.
Product Outcome
|
InterSense’s
immersive headsets, like this NVIS Head Mounted
Display, bring 3-D to life when integrated
with IS-900 MiniTrax 6-DOF Inertial-Acoustic
Tracking Technology. |
InterSense’s unique technology tracks motion with
an unmatched combination of size, cost, and precision.
Its users create products and applications that allow
anyone—from product designers, computer and Internet
game developers and players, to scientists, teachers
and students, assembly line workers, and video and
film production companies—to interact with virtual
3-D images just as they do physical objects.
The InterSense products have the added bonus of allowing
the users unlimited range, negligible jitter, high
update rates, and low latency. The units have no
discernable interference or line-of-sight problems
and offer superior motion prediction.
InterSense offers standard products which provide
orientation-tracking and location-tracking systems.
Each product offering has a unique combination of
inertial technology which is sensor-fused with complementary
tracking technologies. The InertiaCube product family
combines MEMS gyros and accelerometers with magnetometers
to offer an accurate, sourceless tracking
sensor. The IS-900 product family fuses the MEMS
inertial components with an ultrasonic positioning
system to offer an accurate tracking solution for
wide-area tracking with wireless tracking devices.
The IS-1200 product family fuses MEMS inertial components
with passive or active optical position references,
providing an autonomous tracking solution for mobile
or moving vehicle applications.
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Virtual
Design Review in University of Central London’s
Immersive Display Room, using the InterSense
IS-900 Wand and Head Trackers. |
With its extensive product line, InterSense is the
leading provider of head and helmet tracking systems
to major government contactors like the Boeing Company,
Lockheed Martin Corporation, and L3 Communications,
Inc.’s Link Simulation and Training division (Link).
One of the projects it worked on with Link is the
Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT)
now employed by the U.S. Army for training helicopter
pilots. It allows multiple users, so pilots can practice
simulated flights as a fleet, as opposed to individually.
The AVCATT is the Army’s newest aviation training
simulator which includes a series of networked simulators
offering a dynamic, reconfigurable system used for
collective training and mission rehearsal. The AVCATT
provides up to five functional cockpits, and even
allows pilots to choose between different models
currently employed by both the Army and the National
Guard.
Link and InterSense have also teamed together to
create the F/A-18C Distributed Mission Training System,
a project similar to the helicopter simulator. This,
however, is used to model jet aircraft, and, like
the AVCATT, it allows pilots to train simultaneously
in real-time, 3-D missions in simulated cockpits.
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The
immersive virtual reality systems that InterSense
works on can be found virtually everywhere. |
Another project using InterSense’s NASA-funded technology
is the Stinger Missile Trainer, a 40-foot dome with
projected terrain and aircraft images. The dome allows
the trainees a full 360-degree surround scene and
70-degree vertical field of view. The system trains
up to three
gunners, individually or simultaneously, to identify,
acquire, and track airborne targets, and then launch
a Stinger missile. An upgraded version of this program
was recently developed for domed simulators to improve
the overall training efficiency and realism. As part
of the upgrade, InterSense worked with several other
cutting-edge simulation companies to free the trainees
from tethers and cables that were connected to training
weapons.
Another InterSense partner, Fakespace Systems, Inc.,
of Marshalltown, Iowa, constructed a reconfigurable
visualization system as part of an immersive environment
simulator used to study how soldiers use equipment
in combat zones at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
The RAVE II visualization system consists of three
detachable, large-scale stereoscopic display units
that ARL uses to project realistic imagery of simulated
hostile environments. The immersive environment simulator
integrates the RAVE II with InterSense’s motion-tracking
device and an omni-directional display system consisting
of three self-contained, rear-projected modules that
can be arranged to form a flat wall display or an
immersive
theater environment. The immersive environment simulator
also integrates motion-tracking with an omni-directional
treadmill allowing soldiers to run and move in any
direction within the virtual hostile terrain in order
to simulate live combat conditions.
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Virtual
Design Review of Automotive Interior in Peugeot’s
Immersive Display Room, where designers use
the InterSense IS-900 Wand and Head Trackers. |
It is not just the military that is benefiting from
InterSense’s work. The company worked to integrate
its inertial head tracker into the Microsoft games,
Flight Simulator 2002 and Flight Simulator 2004:
A Century of Flight. Touted by Microsoft as “the
world’s most popular game,” Flight Simulator sold
over 21 million copies. In the game’s “Virtual Cockpit”
mode, the user becomes fully immersed in the cockpit
and views the world as a real pilot does with a full
360-degree view. Along with the consumer market,
numerous military departments and pilot training
schools utilize this program as a cost-
efficient training simulator for beginning pilots.
InterSense’s inertial motion-tracking technology
can also be found in hospitals, where it is used
to supplement ultrasound imagery; in oil fields,
where it helps workers locate new locations for wells;
at General Motors vehicle design facilities; television
and film studios; and in university research. Its
motion-sensing work, funded by NASA, can be found
virtually everywhere.
RAVE II™ is a trademark of Fakespace Systems, Inc.
Microsoft® is a registered trademark of the Microsoft
Corporation.
Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight® is a
registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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