virtually Build It And They Will Interact: Several discreet high-tech elements go into the building of THE LIBRARY, an interactive VRML project by Nancy Paterson. Virtual set technology (including the reference grid chroma-key blue wall, top); IR tracking devices (such as the easily exchanged transmitter mounted on a hard hat, middle); and complex 3D models (based on architectural drawings from Canada's Parliamentary Library, below) are combined to place visitors inside the media-rich environment . It's one thing to see a virtual environment on a computer screen; it's another thing altogether to walk around inside one. For example, did you know hard hats are required? During a recent special unveiling of the interactive virtual reality project known as 6 DOS: THE LIBRARY, guests were instructed to don silly looking head gear, and then walk around in what was basically an empty room. In virtual reality, however, they were interacting with one of the most complex digital media environments available on the Internet today, designed for a future where bandwidth capacity and speed are no longer an issue. The project is the brainchild of Nancy Paterson, Toronto-based interactive media artist and lecturer. Key elements of THE LIBRARY were created by 3D animator/Maya modeling artist Paul Dobson, VRML programmer Peter Robbinson and VRML consultant Dr. Bernie Roehl.
The project has been in active development for more than a year, and its scope has evolved to keep pace with the increasing capacities of high-speed Internet connections and desktop computer processing power. "The current two-dimensional metaphor for the Web is breaking down," observes Paterson. "It is generally agreed that 3D is the future of computing. We're creating for what will be - driving the boundaries of what is possible." Those boundaries are being constantly pushed by the project. "THE LIBRARY refers to the 3D VRML model first done at the Bell Centre; THE LIBRARY 2 refers to the porting of that environment to the ORAD virtual reality system at Seneca@York. THE LIBRARY 3 will be the development of the project with a high throughput Intel upgrade for the ORAD CyberSet M, enabling clickable streaming over the gigabit Ethernet network at Seneca@York," Paterson describes. "I see [it] as a living entity, and a creative work that's always in progress." Online access to THE LIBRARY is best achieved using a T1 connection and the Cosmo Media Player 2.1.1; in-person interaction is facilitated with the use of virtual set technology from Orad Hi-Tec Systems, known as CyberSet. Virtual set technology picks up where chroma-key leaves off. It begins in an all-blue studio, not just up against a blue wall. Each surface in a virtual set studio is painted with a unique pattern comprised of different shades of blue. Combined with IR transmitters and video return signals, the system calculates positions and angles in space (after some powerful computer number crunching). This means nothing needs be 'locked-down'; talent, props and the set itself can be moved while 'on-camera'. The pattern recognition capabilities also allow for a range of camera motion while still keeping an actor and the virtual set in proper perspective. In theory, virtual set technology allows for the seamless integration of live actors and computer-generated imagery. In practice, the system is pushing the boundaries of what is aesthetically and financially acceptable. Nevertheless, virtual technology is finding more and more acceptance in education, entertainment, broadcast news and advertising applications. The CBC uses one for its children's programming; another system went on the air at Hamilton's ONtv, where it is used during the nightly newscast. Other Canadian users include NetStar/TSN/Dome Productions, General Motors and Seneca@York. The Orad system is designed to run on Silicon Graphics Unix/MIPS workstations; an ONYX supercomputing system (Onyx 2, InfiniteReality or Reality Engine 2) can be used for the graphical platform, while a more affordable O2 can be used for the user interface and actor/camera tracking options. The system is
pushing the boundries of what 6DOS: THE LIBRARY follows on the heels of Paterson's recently completed tele-robotic and Internet-interactive project titled STOCK MARKET SKIRT; both projects confront issues of interactivity and bandwidth (for more information, visit www.bccc.com/nancy/about.html). Produced in collaboration with Ann Medina, Beryl Fox, Jeanne Randolph and Al Razutis, 6DOS:THE LIBRARY is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts Millennium Arts Fund, and is a co-production with the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Bell Centre for Creative Communications. Corporate support for the project has come from such companies as Apple Canada, ATI Technologies, Platinum and SGI. October 2000 issue
Nancy Paterson |
Designed along the lines of Canada's national Parliamentary
Library in Ottawa, THE LIBRARY enables viewers to interact with embedded audio, video,
text and graphic files, by accessing special millennial objects, created in collaboration
with a number of select Canadian artists and programmers. These objects are located within
the 3D hyperspace representation of the Library. Navigating throughout this 3D
environment, the viewer finds a world globe, which utilizes a constantly updated satellite
image of the earth as its texture (correctly shaded for the position of the sun, of
course). A gyroscope can be set spinning across an interactive Reference Desktop,
triggering audio file or video movie playback as it goes. A 3D telescope can be used to
scan a star-filled sky, browse through graphic representations of the signs of the zodiac,
or zoom in on a particular galactic feature. 
