W Industries: A Report from Britain

 From psinntp!rpi!usenet.coe.montana.edu!milton!hlab Mon Nov 18 00:51:27 EST 1991

Article: 2526 of sci.virtual-worlds

Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds

Path: rodan.acs.syr.edu!psinntp!rpi!usenet.coe.montana.edu!milton!hlab

From: Chris Hand <cph@leicester-poly.ac.uk>

Subject: W Industries: A Report from Britain

Message-ID: <1991Nov17.211041.28133@milton.u.washington.edu>

Sender: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu (Human Int. Technology Lab)

Organization: HIT Lab, Seattle WA.

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 91 15:24:17 GMT

Approved: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu

Hello again moderator!

Here is a short report I wrote on a fairly recent

presentation made by UK company W Industries.

Sorry about the lag, but I thought it best to

get it verified by someone from WI before it went

out.

Cheers,

Chris

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Hand, Lecturer           INTERNET: cph%uk.ac.leicp@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk  

Dept of Computing Science         JANET: cph@uk.ac.leicp

Leicester Polytechnic, LEICESTER, UK LE1 9BH      TEL: +44 533 551551 x8476

 

                 Report on presentation by W Industries. 

               Leicester Polytechnic Branch Meeting of the  

               British Computer Society, 9th October 1991 

 

 

               Chris Hand, Department of Computing Science 

                   Leicester Polytechnic, Leicester, UK 

                             cph@leicp.ac.uk 

 

                          (c) Chris Hand, 1991 

 

Introduction 

 

On October 9th 1991 Leicester Polytechnic was visited by two 

representatives of W Industries, one of  the major forces in the UK's 

rapidly growing Virtual Reality industry.  The talk was presented by  

Terry  Rowley, Simulation Director of W Industries.  Also present was 

Sales Executive Chris Yewdall who  answered some questions and ran the 

demonstration at  the end of the presentation.  

 

 

A Definition of Virtual Reality 

 

Terry Rowley began the presentation by talking about our senses and 

how we use them to interact with our immediate environment. 

 

He followed this with a definition of VR as being the substitution of 

sensory inputs.  He added that  this must be coherent to avoid 

sickness.  The substitution of sensory inputs may be performed in  

many ways;  visually, film or video are familiar media, while through 

sound, the use of headphones   to create a sound image in space is 

common. 

 

Technology has also become available to provide input to the sense of  

touch, through pneumatic   tactile gloves and force-feedback 

techniques (eg. the steering wheel on a driving simulator).  Some 

difficulties arise with the sense of touch, however.  For example how 

do we simulate the  feeling of wetness when dipping our fingers into 

virtual water.  The simulation of temperature is also a problem: how 

do we make the temperature of the simulated water feel right? 

 

Other senses are altogether more problematic.  Simulation of smells, 

although quite possible, is difficult in an interactive environment 

due to the need to dispose of smells that are no longer applicable in 

the current situation.  More research needs to be done on smell - for 

example discovering the Primary Elements of smell (analogous to Red, 

Green and Blue in light) to allow us to create any smell necessary. 

 

The sense of taste may also be hard to simulate, but even so: since 

we usually swallow what we taste, would we actually want to taste a 

virtual object?  

 

 

History 

 

Mr Rowley then went on to discuss some of the history of VR, and his 

experiences with simulation technology. 

 

He lead us from the early experiments with stereo film, wide-angle 

screens, 3D glasses (and associated headaches - literally) to the 

development of  Flight Simulators, in which he played a part during 

his work at Marconi Radar Systems Ltd, England.  

 

A range of visual simulation techniques were described, from using 

film and anamorphic lenses to the use of a video camera suspended 

over a model landscape.  This latter approach was very expensive to 

make,  and had its problems in the fact that when the camera moved 

nearer to the model the end-user's image became out of focus, whereas 

in reality closer proximity results in greater clarity.  Other 

problems with depth of field and the model landscapes melting under 

strong lights or being gouged out by mis-navigated cameras meant that 

this approach was costly and inconvenient. 

 

Simulation techniques benefitted from the advent of computer generated 

images, although in the earlier days these were of low resolution.  

Mr Rowley showed slides of early military trainers that compromised 

by providing simple silhouettes of aircraft rather than attempting to 

display detailed images. 

 

When increased computer power arrived in the 1970's and 80's, colour, 

shading and texture became possible in real time.  In the 70's a  

simulation system developed by Marconi (in Leicester) was capable of 

rendering 5000 textured polygons/s in real time at a rate of 50Hz.  A 

video clip taken directly from such a system showed a harrier jet  

performing vertical take off, before disappearing smoothly into the 

distance.  Such a system cost between 2 and 20 million pounds. 

 

Mr Rowley pointed out that although these simulations were only 

available to a few, it was during this time that much of the 

groundwork was laid down and techniques developed that would be used 

later. 

 

Moving on to more recent times, we were told how such devices as the 

TMS 34010/20 40Mflops graphics co-processor can be used to create 

images at high speed, and how LCD colour screens can be used for 

head-mounted displays (for example VPL eyephones and W Industries 

headset).  Since such devices were capable of being mass-produced, 

the result can be a large saving in the potential cost of realistic 

simulation systems. 

 

 

The Rise of W Industries 

 

Terry Rowley next turned his attention to the history of the company 

of which he is Simulation Director: W Industries of Leicester, UK. 

 

The early work was due to Jonathan Waldern at Leicester Polytechnic, 

who worked there with Professor Edmonds in the HCI research unit 

(which later moved to Loughborough University). 

 

A video clip from an early 80's episode of the BBC TV programme 

"Tomorrow's World" showed some of the early work of Dr Waldern.  The 

"Roaming Caterpillar" (as it was known) was shown being used by 

presenter Maggie Philbin to examine a virtual room.  The display was 

a large B/W monitor with handles on each side, supported by a 

flexible arm on castors covered by a concertina of rubber (the 

"caterpillar"). The image displayed was a wire-frame view of the 

"contents" of the (actually empty) room. The location of the monitor 

was sensed by 3 fixed speakers emitting audible clicks in a fixed 

sequence, with the time taken to reach microphones being used to 

calculate the distance.  It was also possible to detect the position 

of the user's fingers by wearing tubes on them, with microphones and 

wires attached to a control unit. By pinching her fingers together in 

the right place, the presenter picked up the receiver of a virtual 

telephone and left it suspended in space.  

 

A stereoscopic view of the room was also possible by wearing a  head-

mounted visor with a rotating shutter, a separate image being 

presented to each eye on alternate frames of the video image. 

 

Although slow at the time, this system allowed further 

experimentation.  

 

John Waldern was joined by Al Humrich - another colleague with expertise

in graphics - and then Richard Holmes (an ex-Rolls Royce employee) and  

Terry Rowley from Marconi. These four decided to put their money 

where their mouths were, and in October 1987 founded W Industries. 

 

Although the four had to start by constructing equipment in their 

garages, by January 1989 they acquired and moved into their own 

premises. They started with a head-mounted display, tethered at the 

top, with handles on a small screen (LCD?).  This version didn't get 

very far off the drawing board.   

 

Their second HMD, another tethered system, was known as the 

"giraffe".  This featured mechanical 2D head-tracking.  Some games 

were written that used the device.  Mr Rowley showed a slide 

featuring a white plastic unit, not entirely unlike a giraffe (!), 

with the wearer reaching out into virtual space (despite the lack of 

a hand-tracking device).  The legend on the side of the arm read  

"W Industries 3d vids". 

 

The fourth device to be built was much slimmer, featuring a magnetic 

head-tracker and twin LCD screens.  It is of interest to note that 

the head-mounted part of the device allowed for adjustment of inter-

occular spacing.  At the time it was thought that the correct 

adjustment of this distance to suit each viewer would be vital to the 

stereoscopic effect.  Mr Rowley pointed out that it was later found 

not to be so important, as long as the exit pupil of the optics was 

made large enough. 

 

The fifth head-mounted display/tracker is the current W industries 

system as seen in many a smoke-filled publicity photograph (see later 

for details).  

 

In early 1989 W Industries received an award for "best emerging 

technology" which brought a prize of GBP20,000 and, just as important, 

a good deal of publicity.  They were approached by a large leisure 

firm who bought 75% of their equity.  This gave the leisure firm 

majority control, but the resulting input of 1 million pounds was 

greatly needed.  

 

In November 1990 the "Stand-Up" unit was launched at the Computer 

Graphics 90 exhibition staged at London's Alexandra Palace.  At the 

same time the parent company went into liquidation, but fortunately W 

Industries had been sold just prior to this to another company, which 

also owns the Wembley Stadium in London. 

 

The "Sit-Down" unit was launched, at Wembley, in March 1991.  With 

ever-gathering momentum, WI moved into their own premises of 22,000 

square feet in an industrial park in Leicester in May 1991.  These 

premises are still only partly occupied and are currently used for 

development, assembly and testing of the units, known as 

"Virtuality". 

 

 

Inside the Virtuality System 

 

The system comprises a User Interface (sensors, headset etc.), Host 

Computer, Software and Console. 

 

* User Interface 

The key element of the user interface is the visor (or 

"visette").  This contains a sensor for 3-dimensional head 

tracking, along with the colour TFT LCD screens which create 

the stereo image.  The inputs to the screens are simply RGB 

signals created by the graphics boards.  The screens provide a 

resolution of 276 horizontal by 376 vertical pixels, with the 

graininess of the image created being removed using a "spacial 

convolver".  

  

The screens are actually mounted on the sides of the user's 

head, to avoid making the visor front-heavy (balancing of the 

unit being very important since it has to be able to be used in 

a Video Arcade environment: safety of users when moving the 

head quickly from side to side is paramount).  This side-

mounting technique means that the optical path has to be 

folded, with the image passing through a collimating lens. 

  

The headset also has a built-in microphone and quadraphonic 

sound with 2 speakers on each side of the head.  The sound 

image in space is "vectored" by the host computer. 

 

A headband is provided which is adjustable to allow the user to 

fix the position of the unit relative to the top of the head, 

to create the stereo graphical image correctly.  

 

A clamp pulls down and fixes the unit on the head at the back: 

no chin-strap is used for safety. The visor can be quickly 

released in an emergency by simply tapping on the clamping bar.  

This unit will, apparently, fit 90% of users. 

 

With the possibility of 200 people per day using the visor, 

hygiene is an important factor.  Bacteria, fungus and livestock 

(eg. head lice) could all be a problem.  The Glass-reinforced 

plastic headset unit is supplied with hygienic paper "wipes" 

which can be used to clean it between users.  During health and 

safety testing, the headset unit had passed non-transmission 

tests with many bacteria and virii, including HIV.  When not in 

use, the visor rests on a plastic "head" built onto the main 

unit.  

  

* Host Computer 

Known as "Expality", this is a custom unit with a CD-ROM drive 

and floppy disk.  Currently the CD-ROM contains only sound-effects and

background scenes, while the floppy disks are used to transport the

games software.

Currently the CD-ROM contains 5 games; a 

purchaser of the games unit must buy a separate key-disk for 

each program they wish to run.  

 

The computer -- actually an Amiga 3000 motherboard -- handles 

tracking of sensors, sound and music (from samples).  Rendering 

of graphical images is performed by two custom graphics boards 

(one per eye), using  TMS 34020/082 at 40Mflops.  Mr Rowley 

told us that the unit could render a maximum of 30,000 

polygons/s at 20 screen updates per second. 

 

* Console 

This is simply a glass-reinforced plastic shell that protects 

the user and the electronics from each other.  The driving game 

shell looks like a car (it has a lift-up lid like a car bonnet 

giving access to hardware). The stand-up unit has a cushioned 

"bench" (the electronics are underneath) on which one sits to 

strap on the visor/electronics.  A small unit carrying cabling 

is tied round the waist and fits in the small of the back.  The 

cables carry video and sensor signals to and from the headset. 

 

* Software 

W Industries call their programs "virtual experiences".  These 

are developed on desktop workstations using the same hardware as 

found in the virtuality unit itself.  The specification of each 

game is reviewed by "Games Consultants".  The specification and 

creation of these experiences includes 

 

        - Considering vehicle dynamics 

        - Network interaction (for team games) 

        - Creation of scenery and images (models are digitized 

          with video cameras from many angles) 

        - The roles and behaviour of "Actors", which may be 

          computer-generated or other players. 

 

The software must have start/finish sequences to instruct a 

(probably naive) user how to put on/take off headset etc. 

 

Mr Rowley commented further on the developing VR market, suggesting 

that the stand-up units would be suitable for CAD as well as 

entertainment, although he doubted the present resolution would be 

adequate for virtual medical surgery.  We were told that the stand-up 

units are being sold to those educational and research institutions 

that can afford them.  Furthermore, not much "real competition" 

exists in this area since, according to Mr Rowley, WI had the first 

real custom-made VR units on the market. 

 

Next we were shown a WI promotional video.  Proclaiming "10 years of 

development towards Virtual Reality", the video featured clips of two 

women using sit-down units (with joy-sticks), followed by a 

demonstration of the stand-up units by two males. 

 

Other clips showed the data glove and "force feedback" glove being 

used for Desktop CAD (ie. non-immersed).  Both these gloves can be 

worn on the same hand simultaneously. 

 

After some more nebulous promises about the "possibilities of Virtual 

Reality", the video ended with the remark that W Industries' offering 

represented a "Production VR system at PC prices".   

 

In (non-virtual) reality, these prices turn out to be from GBP17,500.  

A stand-up R&D system with full stereo and touch-glove would cost 

GBP40,000. 

 

When the video had ended, questions were taken.   

 

 

Questions and Answers 

 

Q.      Criticism that the present software (eg. driving game) 

        doesn't encourage the user to "look around" and so make 

        good use of 360 degree environment. 

A.      It was admitted that this was true to an extent, but a new 

        game due at the end of October 91 was mentioned.  This 

        features a  30-ft high slow-moving robot biped.  The user 

        controls this using a steering wheel and foot-pedals.  

        Other (networked) users can be shot using head-guided 

        laser beams.  We were told that this actively encourages 

        head-movement when tracking prey and when avoiding 

        ambushes.  But essentially these games are market-driven, 

        so if the users (or arcade owners) want a driving game, 

        they get one.  It was also mentioned that a hang-gliding 

        simulator was produced for the promotion of a new after-

        shave.  This encouraged looking around since more time is 

        available than in a high-speed racing game. 

 

Q.      What is the development time of the games software?  How 

        long to develop an application from scratch? 

A.      Utility software can be bought from WI for fast 

        development of a virtual environment. The general rate of 

        progress is very fast.  It was admitted that while a 

        Flight Simulator program had been written in 10 days, it 

        then required several months to get it "polished".  The 

        new Walker game was said to have taken around 2 months 

        from start of writing to reach the alpha version being 

        shipped to sample customers.   The final version would be 

        released 4 weeks after that. 

 

        The cost of a "custom experience" was put at GBP6-10,000.  

        An example is the hang-glider simulator created for the 

        after-shave company.  Routines were developed for the 

        simulation of seagulls that fly around the hang-glider 

        when the user reaches the sea.  It was pointed out that 

        this code can then be re-used -- the seagull routines were 

        later used in a modified form to create a Pterodactyl! 

 

Q.      What languages are used for software development? 

A.      There exists a high level "virtuality graphics system" 

        (actually libraries) used in-house.  Development takes 

        place in "C" or Amiga assembler.  

 

Q.      Has a new hardware base been considered? 

A.      Maybe. WI are looking at something that would allow a 

        possible increase in power of a factor of 10-100. 

 

Q.      Would this use custom hardware? 

A.      No -- it's cheaper to develop products using off-the-shelf 

        hardware. 

 

Q.      What is the time delay between user movement and display 

        update? 

A.      The electromagnetic tracker operates at 30 - 120MHz.  Any 

        delay is mostly due to the graphics chip (a 25MHz device 

        (?) using   a 33MHz clock).  Lag is 60 or 70ms.   

        Mr Rowley admits that one has to compromise over the 

        limitations of hardware in some situations. 

 

Q.      What compatibility is there with existing CAD systems?  

A.      A DXF file transfer facility is available.  

 

 

Q.      How many systems are being used in non-leisure 

        applications? 

A.      One organisation in France intends to use WI units with 

        Silicon Graphics workstations for computer-generated 

        puppetry.  In Italy systems are being used for the 

        rehabilitation of children after hand surgery, using 

        datagloves.  Another unit is being used by the University 

        of Delft in the Netherlands. 

 

Q.      Will a cheap "home version" be available? 

A.      Moves are afoot to run a version off a home computer.  W 

        Industries are "looking into it" 

 

 

Demonstration 

 

For the last 50 minutes of the evening Chris Yewdall supervised use of 

the "stand-up" games unit they had brought along.  The rush to "have 

a go" was overwhelming to say the least, and with the length of each 

game being 3 minutes (this is hard-wired into the code!), progress 

seemed slow.  While waiting, the eager crowd had chance to chat 

further with Mr Yewdall.  

 

WI apparently have a non-disclosure agreement with "a chip-set 

manufacturer" regarding some new graphics chips to be used in the 

future.  Yewdall said that WI were the first to put a TMS34020 in "a 

product" and as such "ended up doing a lot of debugging" for TMS. 

 

Mr Yewdall also said that WI are working closely with Matsushita who 

supply the LCD screens: better resolution displays could be easily 

substituted since the whole visor is a modular design, with the edge 

connectors allowing quick replacement of devices. 

 

 

Impressions 

 

Due to lack of time I only had chance to use the head-unit briefly. 

The colour and rendering seemed fairly smooth, with the frame rate 

being quite adequate.  The main disappointment was the field of view: 

at only 70 degrees the unit gives a feeling of looking down a tube.  

Apparently the field of view is limited to 70 degrees by the 

combination of screens and optics used: spreading the image any wider 

would distort the image unacceptably.  

 

 

Game Description 

 

Several games have been introduced by WI for use with their sit-down 

units in video arcades: these include a flight simulator and a 

driving game.  The unit demonstrated after the presentation -- a 

stand-up system including a "free" joy-stick -- can also be used for 

games.  One of these is described below. 

 

Having donned the visor and pressed both the joy-stick's trigger 

buttons the game starts with one of its many digital samples: "Time 

to Die" from Blade Runner.  The user "walks" (actually moves using 

the joy-stick: not actually walking) around the play area, which is a 

set of grey platforms suspended in outer space -- a suitable 

background of stars is provided.  Staircases join lower platforms to 

higher ones.   

 

Looking at the joy-stick through the visor it appears as a gun. 

Extending one's arm shows a virtual arm rendered in bright pink 

polygons.  To add a competitive element, the platforms are patrolled 

by a lean gun-slinger (looking like a renegade from the Dire Straits 

"Money for nothing" video) who walks by and suddenly turns to shoot, 

spinning and bending his knees as he fires.  Fortunately the bullet 

moves slow enough to be able to avoid it, eg. by ducking. Standing on  

one of the yellow triangles found at edge of a platform is equivalent 

to calling the elevator: a tray hovers over from a nearby platform 

making a PING sound when it arrives.  Walking onto the tray causes it 

to return to its platform, taking the user with it. 

 

The idea is to shoot the gun-slingers before they get you.  To add 

further complication to this otherwise undemanding task, a more 

sinister enemy awaits.  After firing 9 shots of the gun a ghoulish 

voice announces: "Birdy's hungry!".  After the 10th shot, a large 

green pterodactyl ("Birdy") flies overhead -- accompanied by wing-

beating sounds -- and tries to grab the player.  If Birdy is shot at 

the last minute at close range you will be successful.  Otherwise you 

can expect to be picked up in Birdy's talons, carried to a virtual 

height of 200ft above the platform and dropped on your head.  When 

this happens, users see themselves falling from a third person's 

viewpoint.  An interesting point about all WI games is that due to 

worries about the psychological effects of "being killed" virtually 

in the game, the user is taken to an out-of-body viewpoint to remind 

them that they are not really there.  For example when a car crashes 

in the driving game, the driver flies up in the air looking down at 

the wreck.  They can then see the car piecing itself back together 

before finally being flown back down into the driving seat to start 

again. 

 

 

Conclusions 

 

An interesting and thought-provoking evening for all concerned.  A 

testament to the amount of interest in this area is that a larger 

venue had to be found at short notice to accomodate the number of 

people attending.  It was evident during the presentation that this 

industry is still at the embryonic stage, and that advances in 

technology will soon bring usable VR systems within the grasp of many 

of those who currently find the cost prohibitive.  By placing their 

initial emphasis on entertainment-oriented mass-produced units, W 

Industries will be one of the companies responsible for bringing VR 

to the people. 

 

 

 

----

My thanks go to Terry Rowley and Al Humrich of W Industries for ensuring

that the information presented here is correct.