Ryan Pavlik and Leif Berg, the doctoral students of Iowa State University were provided with a pair of 3-D glasses and a Wii remote. Iowa State’s Multimodal Experience Testbed and Laboratory (METaL), a new virtual reality lab has been operating since February and is intended to be an everyday research tool.
METaL provides partial immersive surroundings and a simple arrangement with a few devices. The lab uses 48 computers and 24 projectors. Yet, the projector technology has been progressing since few years, offering radiant displays with 3-D resolution sufficient enough to produce an efficient virtual reality environment.
Vance stated that during the research, it is interesting to walk up to a three-dimensional image of a virtual object and study it in different angles. According to Vance, the lab will be utilized to explore and integrate audio effects, 3-D visual display technology, and force feedback and is intended to generate natural interaction practices in virtual reality to be used by industrial producers to construct innovative components, to discover design functionality or to establish improved assembly methods.
Furthermore, the objective of the lab is to make virtual reality feasible on campus. Vance says that METaL will serve as a tool, which would be utilized by scholars, researchers, making it available to potential engineers and budding students. Lately, around 40 high school and middle school girls were invited to the lab to gain knowledge about virtual reality and engineering.
The lab was constructed by Mechdyne with supports from Iowa State’s institute for physical research and technology, the department of mechanical engineering and the college of engineering.