Responsive Workbench
The Responsive Workbench is a 3D interactive workspace
originally developed by
Wolfgang Krueger
at
GMD.
Computer-generated stereoscopic images are projected onto
a horizontal tabletop display surface
via a projector-and-mirrors system, and viewed through
shutter glasses to generate the 3D effect.
A 6DOF tracking system tracks the user's head,
so that the user sees the virtual environment from the correct point of view.
A pair of gloves and a stylus, also tracked by the system,
can be used to interact with objects in the tabletop environment.
Our current research involves extending the workbench environment
to more efficiently support interaction, visualization and collaboration.
- To support interaction we have been: researching techniques for
two-handed manipulation,
developing workbench tools or widgets,
and investigating various other interface metaphors
appropriate for the workbench.
- To support collaboration we (working with FakeSpace)
have developed a
two-viewer version of the system.
The two-viewer version is capable of simultaneously tracking
the head position, and displaying a stereo pair of images,
for two users.
- To test the effectiveness of using the workbench for visualization,
we are currently exploring
several different application areas,
including architecture, scientific visualization, and medicine.
We are also researching basic issues
involved in building environments such as the workbench:
hardware, calibration, and rendering.
People
Others have contributed in major ways:
Cary Kornfeld (design of the original RWB),
Sean Anderson (3D stylus and sketching interface),
Jeffrey Feldgoise and Julie Dorsey (architectural applications),
Larry Cutler (two-handed input),
Martin Fischer (production planning),
Steve Bryson
(virtual windtunnel),
and Yeva Fineberg (modeling),
The Responsive Workbench is a cooperative project between
Stanford University and GMD. This project was supported by a grant from
Interval Research Corporation.
Additional support for particular visualization applications is provided by
DARPA (visualization of complex systems) and
CIFE
(contructions planning),
and in the past,
NASA Ames
(virtual windtunnel),
Equipment donations have been provided by
Silicon Graphics Computer Systems
and
Fakespace, Inc.
Talks
-
The Responsive Workbench: Two-Handed Input and Two-User Output
- Presented by Bernd Fröhlich at the 1997 Immersive Projected
Technology Workshop
-
Two-Handed Direct Manipulation on the Responsive Workbench
- Presnted by Larry Cutler and Bernd Fröhlich at the 1997 Symposium
on Interactive 3D Graphics
Papers
- The Two-User Responsive Workbench: Support for
Collaboration Through Individual Views of a Shared Space
- Maneesh Agrawala,
Andrew C. Beers,
Bernd Fröhlich, and
Pat Hanrahan, Stanford University
- Ian MacDowall and Mark Bolas, Fakespace, Inc.
- Proc. SIGGRAPH '97
- Two-Handed Direct Manipulation on the Responsive Workbench
- Lawrence D. Cutler,
Bernd Fröhlich and
Pat Hanrahan
- Proc. 1997 Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics
Related Projects
Last modified: Wed 17 Jun 1998
rwb@graphics.stanford.edu
