The TourCAVE innovates on the NexCAVE design by adopting a modular, scalable, and mobile, cylindrical design. Its 14 passive stereo display tiles are arranged in a 7×2 layout, with each tile mounted in portrait mode. The TourCAVE adopts a portrait-mode configuration to achieve optimal off-axis performance for users of different size, from small child to tall adult, and its cylindrival shape mazimizes both immersion as well as stereo retention for users located in the center of the viewing volume. Its 17 HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution tiles, in the 7×2 layout ((7,560 x 3,840 pixels), deliver roughly 29 megapixels (29,030,400 pixels) in total, or 14.5 megapixels per eye.

The TourCAVE is powered by 7 display nodes with dual graphics cards and 10 Gbps network interconnects, as well as one additional head node. A light-based tracking system is used for head and wand tracking. In this case, a modified gyro mouse serves as the wand and primary input device.

The TourCAVE hardware design as well as its open-source software stacks, CalVR and CGLX, were entirely developed in-house.

Innovation:

• Simplified cylindrical tile layout
• Improved passive stere retention in both horizontal and vertical direction
• Modular, scalable and field deployable with small footprint
• High-resolution, high-contrast, high-brightness BIG-VR environment
• Reduced cost by two orders of magnitude over traditional CAVEs, while boosting image quality

Access:

• The TourCAVE is part of the shared-use cyber-infrastructure that our team is developing and as such is accessible to other research and development projects, demos or tours, through a recharge mechanism

Location:

• The TourCAVE is located on the first floor of Atkinson Hall in room 1608a