Orlando, FL — Silicon Graphics, Inc. announced that the company will spearhead the formation of the Silicon Graphics Virtual Reality Initiative, which is chartered to promote the broader adoption of virtual reality (VR) technology. The Initiative will include an international VR Experts Group, which will address critical technical and theoretical issues; a VR partner-funding program through which Silicon Graphics’ virtual reality hardware, software and research partners will be provided with technical and marketing support; educational programs and resources; and Silicon Graphics RealityCenter solutions.
The first meeting of the VR Experts Group will be held in Orlando, Florida at SIGGRAPH ’98, the largest and most comprehensive international conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques. It will include leading researchers, VR hardware and software vendors, analysts, telecommunications companies and VR users in industrial organizations. Boston Dynamics, Inc., ElectroHome, Ltd., Fakespace, Inc., Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira of Iowa State University, NASA Ames Research Center and SensAble Technologies, Inc. will be among the attendees. The VR Experts group will meet three times a year, and the next meeting will take place in November.
“The VR Experts Group will act as a catalyst to bring together the VR community and drive communications and collaboration,” said Mark Bolas, Chairman and CEO of Fakespace, Inc. “This will result in convergence on standards of interaction in virtual environments, demanded by our rapidly growing base of industrial customers.”
Barriers to VR adoption include availability of off-the-shelf software, awareness of business benefits at the executive level and lack of standards of interaction. The lack of interaction standards means that every application currently uses a different method to navigate through the virtual environment. Standardized, robust interface technologies, along with more off-the-shelf applications, are critical to future growth.
“Virtual reality is no longer limited to games and science projects. It is a business tool,” said Jim Foran, director of visualization technology at Silicon Graphics. “Many of ourleading customers use VR to boost productivity, lower costs and improve their own customers’ satisfaction.”
Hundreds of customers around the world in manufacturing, sciences, entertainment and government, use VR technology to meet business needs and gain a competitive edge. “In medicine, VR is changing how doctors learn and how we measure their skills,” said Marc Raibert, president of Boston Dynamics, Inc. and former MIT Professor. “The VR Initiative will strengthen acceptance for these kinds of practical VR applications.”
With a current investment of $15 million in personnel, equipment and facilities dedicated to VR, Silicon Graphics leads the industry in investment in virtual reality for professional applications. For example, Silicon Graphics RealityCenters are available worldwide for marketing and educational activities. As the dominant supplier of computers for virtual reality applications, the company is uniquely positioned to facilitate collaboration between partners, colleagues in the research community and customers.
“It has been our pleasure to work with Silicon Graphics in the area of intense 3D visualization, where they are the world leader. The company’s commitment to attacking the major bottleneck that prevents the industry from realizing the full potential of computers – the user interface – has been most encouraging,” said Bill Aulet, president of SensAble Technologies, Inc. “The WIMP (Windows Icon Mouse Pointer) interface is now 20 years old and running out of steam. Something new is needed and SGI has shown that it intends to be on the forefront of this revolution.”