Back from CeBIT '97

[P3D Joerg Meyer Inf.] <jmeyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yesterday I returned from CeBIT '97 in Hannover,
the world's largest computer fair. There was a
lot of 3-D stuff, and some companies obviously
are really going to start using 3-D for scientific
applications (but also for entertainment purposes).

We had a small presentation of our medical imaging
project in conjunction with our computer graphics
group. Many people were interested in our visualization
techniques, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time
to prepare a presentation in 3-D.

On Sunday afternoon I've met Alex Klein (Hi Alex!) -
for the first time as a real person (I only knew his
image from the web). It's always nice to meet people
in real life. :-)  Alex pointed me to several 'must-see'
3-D items/companies, which saved me a lot of time
selecting from 6855 exhibitors. One of the most striking
things to see was the "CAVE" (right next to our booth),
presented by GMD (Gesellschaft fuer Mathematik und
Datenverarbeitung, St. Augustin), a virtual environment
with 4 video walls and stereoscopic projection on each
wall (left, right, front and bottom). I had to register
first, because each time they would let in 6..8 people
only. But it was worth waiting: it was absolutely
fantastic! When you're inside, your field of vision is
completely surrounded by a virtual environment! We were
guided along a long pathway, always tending to compensate
for the movement (sudden changes of direction or height).
A multi-channel sound system and vibrations of the floor
completed this perfect impression.

This is really close to Star Trek's 'holo suite'! Amazing!

Joerg

P.S.: I guess Alex will have some reviews in the
      upcoming issues of '3D-Magazin'.  :-)

    _V_     | Joerg Meyer ----- University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
   /   \    | Department of Computer Science, Computer Graphics Group
   |O O|    | mailto:jmeyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------------------
ooO--U--Ooo | http://davinci.informatik.uni-kl.de/~jmeyer -----------


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