VR Projects
Nanomanipulator
Several university projects stood out as some of the most
promising research in the field of virtual reality. The most
fascinating of these projects is the Nanomanipulator.
Developed at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department of Computer Science in conjunction with the
UCLA Department of Chemistry in 1991. The project was
first presented at Siggraph in 1993 but has since gone
through several modifications. The Nanomanipulator incor-
porates a scanning tunneling microscope connected to a real-
time virtual reality interface with images generated by a Pixel-
Planes 5 graphics engine. It allows users to see and manipulate
microscopic structures which were previously only visible
through an electron microscope in a two dimensional image
on a monitor.
In 1994, an atomic force microscope was added to manipulate
microscopic particles. In the videotape shown by Warren
Robinett, who conceived of the interface in cooperation with
Stan Williams of UCLA, gold particles were moved across a
gold substrate by the nanomanipulator. The most recent
addition to the project is a haptic device called PHANToM
which fits over the finger and provides forced feedback,
allowing the operator to feel the surface being manipulated.
Augmented Reality
Also developed at the Chapel Hill Department of Computer
Science, is the Augmented
Reality Project which incor-
porates ultrasound data to create three dimensional images of
the human body allowing one to see beneath the surface without
actually opening it up. The project presented at the confer-
ence allows doctors to see 3D images of tissue, in this case
a woman's breast, which appear over the actual breast. In
this case, the subject was only being examined for a cyst
believed to be benign, but needed to be aspirated. The hope
is that doctors will soon be able to use the HMD to perform
procedures such as cyst aspiration. Project developers also
hope that seeing anatomical structures in 3D will make it easier
to get a sense of where the target (the cyst) is, reduce the time
it takes to train MDs to do procedures such as cyst aspiration,
and possibly reduce the time it takes to do such procedures.
It would seem that another possible benefit would be that
viewing internal structures using this technology would
facilitate medical procedures with minimal incisions, especially
with procedures such as this. At present the HMD does not
provide 3D images but researchers are hoping to be able to
perform the procedure with a 3D HMD within a year.
Phobia Project
The Phobia
Project, developed by the Georgia Tech Graphics
Visualization and Usability Center explores the use of virtual
environments for behavioral therapy. Currently they are working
on a treatment for acrophobia, the fear of heights. Subjects can
use this system to enter three virtual environments which allow
them to take an elevator up 49 floors, cross three bridges which
span a river running through a canyon, or step out onto a series
of outdoor balconies.
