INDUSTRY

LITE's 3D Immersive Visualization Total Immersion System (TIS) Features IS-900 Technology for Precise Tracking and Realistic Interaction With Virtual Images for Industry and University Research: InterSense, Inc., a market leader in precision motion tracking technology, today announced its custom-configured, IS-900 wireless motion tracking system has been installed in the 3D Immersive Visualization Total Immersion System (TIS) at the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE). This marks the third installation of an IS-900 system within LITE. Founded through a partnership between the State of Louisiana, the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the $27 million, 70,000-square-foot LITE Center is the first autonomous data visualization and supercomputing facility in the country, serving industry, government and universities. Working with Christie Digital Systems' stereoscopic display technology, the IS-900 wireless system enables real-time tracking of users' movements as they interact with the virtual images enveloping them within the 3D Immersive Visualization TIS. The system features the InterSense wireless head tracker, which updates the TIS' visualization software with precise, smooth measurements, as well as a wireless wand input device, which enables the user to navigate through the environment while intuitively interacting with the scene. Christie Digital Systems is one of InterSense's key value-added display technology partners and led the integration of the TIS visual solution. In order to provide superior performance throughout TIS, the IS-900 ultrasonic emitters are embedded in the display so that they are virtually invisible to the user. This custom configuration of the system provides complete coverage throughout the space, while also ensuring seamless integration of the components into the display. While alternate technologies often yield tracking "dead zones," the IS-900 maintains consistent performance throughout the entire environment. "The InterSense technology is a tried and proven solution in this industry, and we are delighted the IS-900 wireless system is now part of the TIS. LITE has other immersive visualization venues that also use the IS-900 technology, so this is an exciting addition to our capabilities," stated Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, executive director and chief scientist at LITE and a widely regarded pioneer in virtual reality. "The precise real-time tracking offered by InterSense's inertial acoustic system allows us to have one of the most accurate and stable immersive visualization systems available to industry and research today." "LITE is a one-of-a-kind facility and we are proud to provide an advanced tracking solution to support the data visualization research and development of new business solutions taking place there," stated Mike Donfrancesco, vice president of sales at InterSense. "Dr. Cruz-Neira is a leader in virtual reality technologies and in applying them to solve real-world business problems. We look forward to further supporting her and the LITE team in their cutting-edge research." As in the LITE, InterSense technology is used in a majority of the world's six-sided immersive display solutions. The company has also installed motion tracking systems within immersive visualization environments at Duke University (The Visroom's "C"), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Beckman Institute Cube) and Iowa State University's Virtual Reality Applications Center (C6). Introduced in 1999, InterSense's IS-900 motion tracking product family is an enabling technology used in flight simulation, mission training, oil and gas exploration, 3D visualization and other immersive display applications.