Press Release

This Press Release reports "the virtual aquarium, using rear-projection technology, is one of the largest in the world to showcase aquatic life digitally. Manufactured by Reynolds Polymer Technology Inc., the panel featured mermaids "swimming" in the water at the grand opening to enchant guests.

This Press Release talks about the use of VR in a new research initiative at De Montfort University.

"IN RECENT years, significant resources and research activities worldwide have been invested in the creation of Virtual Reality (VR) environments to train specialised skills for surgeons. Virtalis was one of the first, creating a trainer for minimally invasive therapy. Now, a research team from De Montfort University has begun work on assessing the feasibility for a whole team VR surgical trainer with Virtalis both supplying and designing the VR research platform.

From the OpenSceneGraph website: "PERTHSHIRE, Scotland - 12th February 2009 - OpenSceneGraph Professional Services announces the release of OpenSceneGraph 2.8, the industry's leading open-source scene graph technology, designed to accelerate application development and improve 3D graphics performance. OpenSceneGraph 2.8 written entirely in Standard C++ and built upon OpenGL, offers developers working in the visual simulation, game development, virtual reality, scientific visualization and modeling markets - a real-time visualization tool which eclipses commercial scene graph toolkits in functionality, stability and performance. OpenSceneGraph 2.8 runs on all Microsoft Windows platforms, Apple OS/X, GNU/Linux, IRIX, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX and FreeBSD operating systems."

From this idw press release: "What happens when the border between illusion and reality is erased; when the spectators and actors no longer have distinct roles and the audience can physically enter the artwork and take an active role in the process? This is the subject of a new dissertation in the discipline: Digital Representation from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Magali Ljungar-Chapelon, who has a background in the performing arts, is a doctorate student in Digital Representation at the School of Photography at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In her research, she has studied the experiences that arise in the borderland between digital performance and installation.

We are pleased to announce the release of Equalizer 0.6, a major advance in parallel OpenGL rendering, supporting:

• Automatic 2D and DB load-balancing
• DPlex (time-multiplex) compounds
• Paracomp compositing backend

Please check the release notes on the Equalizer website for a comprehensive list of new features, enhancements, optimizations and bug fixes. The Programming Guide can be ordered at lulu.com.

From the BusinessWire website: "AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Magellan Health Services, Inc., the nation's leading manager of behavioral health care, hosted top virtual reality (VR) therapy and anxiety disorder expert Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D., ABPP, today at the company’s annual conference of its clinical and medical leadership team. Rothbaum, director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program and professor of psychiatry at Emory University’s School of Medicine, pioneered the development of a virtual-reality based program to treat anxiety disorders—a program that is now also being widely used to address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in war veterans. Magellan is exploring ways to include virtual reality therapy as part of its treatment tools in managing PTSD for veterans.

Latest Version of Free, Online 3D Modeling Software Allows Users to Reuse or “Remix” Models from Other 3DVIA Users

Concord, Mass. – September 15, 2008 – Dassault Systèmes (DS) (NASDAQ: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065. DSY. PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced 3DVIA Shape 2.0, the latest release of its free 3D modeling software featuring an all new and expanded 3D remix capability. This latest update will make creating and publishing online 3D content amazingly easy by allowing users to construct or “remix” complete 3D scenes using models contributed by other users on the 3DVIA.com content library.

This press release reports Dassault Systèmes announced that its 3DVIA brand for lifelike 3D product experiences will be showcasing the latest in highly-interactive 3D and virtual reality technology at the SIGGRAPH 2008 Conference. From the press release: "Joined by many of its technology partners in its booth, #1217, 3DVIA will provide attendees with an exciting look at the 3D advancements enabled by its 3DVIA Virtools application development platform.

From the OpenSceneGraph website: "PERTHSHIRE, Scotland - 5th August 2008 - OpenSceneGraph Professional Services announces the release of OpenSceneGraph 2.6, the industry's leading open-source scene graph technology, designed to accelerate application development and improve 3D graphics performance. OpenSceneGraph 2.6 written entirely in Standard C++ and built upon OpenGL, offers developers working in the visual simulation, game development, virtual reality, scientific visualization and modeling markets, a real-time visualization tool that eclipses commercial scene graph toolkits in functionality, stability and performance. OpenSceneGraph 2.6 runs on all Microsoft Windows platforms, Apple OS X, GNU/Linux, IRIX, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX and FreeBSD operating systems."

A stereoscopy.com press release reports Alioscopy will introduce its new 3DHD-40 autostereoscopic 3D LCD display technology at SIGGRAPH 2008. From the press release: "The 3DHD-40, developed and manufactured by Alioscopy, features a highly specialized Lenticular lens that boasts unmatched quality, clarity and depth. The system also supports real-time capabilities that enable viewers to interact with content for a truly immersive experience. Artists can easily create 3D content with leading 3D software applications such as Autodesk(R) 3ds Max(R), Autodesk(R) Maya(R), Softimage(R) XSI(R), MAXON CINEMA 4D and NewTek Lightwave 3D(R) and render it out for display on the 3DHD-40.