A 'room' with a 'view'

An immersive virtual reality system called the CAVE is described. To match virtual reality to real tasks, researchers built this smoothly functioning walk-in system mostly from off-the-shelf components. The CAVE represents a new model for the design of virtual reality systems, one that offers several advantages over existing models. CAVE users do not need to wear helmets, don bulky gloves and heavy electronics packs, or be pushed about by movement restricting platforms. Instead, they put on a pair of lightweight glasses and walk into the Cave, a 27 m/sup 3/ room with an open side and no ceiling. The Cave is in fact a partial cube, with the top and one vertical side missing. The three vertical sides are 3 m by 3 m rear projection screens facing the viewer, and the floor is a front projection screen. The glasses trick a user's mind into seeing the screen images as three-dimensional objects.>