There are two Multimedia Virtual Laboratory's (MVL) that use CABINS (Computer Augmented Booth for Image Navigation), one in Gifu near Nagoya and the other at the University of Tokyo. They share the same virtual environment and the same visual, auditory and enhanced sensations. These two lab's are connected via a broadband network by two expensive versions of virtual reality environments called CABINS. What makes this MVL different, though, is that a user in the Gifu lab can be present in and interact with the environment at the Tokyo lab thanks to telepresence technology.

This kind of teleportation is possible because each CABIN has about a dozen video cameras embedded around the room. The cameras capture the image of the user in the Gifu CABIN, while a computer extracts the user's figure from the background visual information. This image is transmitted in real time through a broadband connection to the CABIN in Tokyo, which displays a virtual environment identical to the one in Gifu. The video avatar of the Gifu user is then projected into the Tokyo CABIN. The user in Gifu appears as if he is physically present in the Tokyo environment. What's more, they can see and interact with each other via their video avatars.

Mark Bower

Director, NextWave.IT Ltd

www.nextwaveit.biz

enquiry@nextwaveit.biz