Industrial strength VR platform developed

A team from various disciplines has produced, after five years of work, a powerful next-generation multimedia development platform for virtual reality entertainment. Though the Xulu Entertainment platform is targeted initially at VR "showcase sites" including theme-park rides and arcades, the company is looking toward the home VR experience through PCs and game consoles equipped with broadband.

According to the company, the program uses high-resolution imaging and audio with motion sensation as well as physical interaction with objects in a simulated environment. The motion experience relies on a physics engine and a distributed architecture of physics-based simulation algorithms residing on servers and clients. EETimes reports that the advanced simulator experience, unlike theme park rides, does not have the "scripted" feeling. A problem with Web-based VR is latency, as people can detect extremely small reaction lags caused by Web lag time. Xulu deals with this problem by predicting next steps based on past actions, correcting when necessary. The company will publish its API in 2003.

The source article is at eetimes.com.