Jay Tomlinson, Assistant Dean for Research, Extension and Engagement, College of Design

The Design Research and Services Laboratory is an interdisciplinary unit of the College of Design with facilities oriented toward research and teaching of advanced computer-based imaging, modeling, and simulation. The Laboratory draws on the strength and experience of the various design disciplines for visualization and problem-solving by involving students and faculty from the College of Design and the University in its research and extension projects. The Design Research and Services Laboratory has five research areas: virtual environments, environmental visualization and simulation, and community design.
One of the new resources available at the Design Research Laboratory is a state of the art Vision Dome. The VisionDome allows up to 15 people to experience an interactive model or visualization at full scale. The 180 degree concave screen provides of an experience similar to that of an OnmiMax theater. This immersive visualization experience provides a new level of information critical to the evaluation of design ideas.

The Vision Dome is defined as an immersive, multi-user, single projection Virtual reality environment. By combining computer generated 3-D models with advanced projection equipment, Vision Dome users are immersed in a 360 degree by 180 degree virtual environment. The vision Dome allows designers and clients to interact in real time with a 3D model of a proposed design. This immersive experience is critical to the visualization and evaluation of design solutions. Additionally the Vision Dome is ideal for multi-user, multi-sensory display of environmental simulations, training, design, engineering, product display, energy exploration and production, education, medical services and entertainment.

Three dimensional immersive environments (3D models)) are developed in modeling applications such as AutoCAD, 3D studio Max or Alias Waterfront. Models are exported in VRML or Inventor format. These interactive file types are commonly displayed over the web by using a VRML plug-in with the browser. The Vision Dome uses advanced optics to display these files in the 180 degree immersive dome screen. The Vision Dome uses a unique distortion correction OpenGL library, designed to work with viewer applications that are OpenGL compliant.

The Vision Dome plays a key role in the demonstration of three-dimensional thinking and communication skills. While designers are trained in visual thinking, they too tend to under emphasize three-dimensional perception. Resources such as the Vision Dome, which bring imagined environments to life, help nurture an intuitive understanding of qualitative issues of design not seen through traditional methods.

Users of the Vision Dome are not required to wear goggles, glasses, helmets, or other restrictive devices. Upon entering the Vision Dome, user views are into its hemispherical structure, which forms a fully immersive 180-degree hemispheric screen. Users see vivid images which take on depth and reality inside the Vision Dome. The Vision Dome creates a virtual reality-based environment that enhances the professional worker's quality and productivity.

The Design Research Laboratory is currently using the Vision Dome for research initiative and projects in the fields of:

· Architecture
· Landscape Architecture
· Industrial Design
· Urban Planning
· Engineering
· GIS Modeling and Simulation

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Last Site Revision:
May 5, 2004