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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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Virtual reality centre woos big business
October 13, 2000 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/soa/Virtual-reality-centre-woos-big-business-/0,139023165,120103497,00.htm
Forget childish games and ungainly goggles, a Melbourne based company is making virtual reality into a commercial possibility. Australia's first virtual reality centre will open its doors this week, giving designers, engineers and architects access to three-metre wraparound screens and high-tech model displays. The $4 million RMIT University Interactive Information Institute, dubbed -I-Cubed", can provide a 150-degree horizontal view of intricate 3D structures, automotive components, and even mining exploration data. The centre, like the 50 or more used around the world, is designed for high-end simulation, prototyping and other industry uses. Operator Gary Eves, who built and launched a similar project in the UK three years ago, says there is plenty of scope in Australia for such a centre. The I Cubed is already set to help visualise the controversial Docklands project, while a major deal is expected to be announced next month with major Australian automotive manufacturers. The centre has been pioneered by Silicon Graphics and based on the company's graphics and modelling technology. Silicon Graphics built the centres -to provide groups of designers, engineers and entertainment presenters exposure to realtime graphics," Eves said. Eves established the first European commercial Virtual Reality centre and said it wasn't long before the facility was drawing -one million pounds revenue in consultancy work alone". The centres have since been used to visualise oil rigs, cars, machine tools, office blocks, even historical reproductions of castles and abbeys. -We're offering it to a range of industries" in Australia, Eves said. -We're not pretending to be architects or engineers," although these are the professionals who have the most to gain from the I-Cubed. -They have to start using systems like this now as their CAD systems have masses of 3D data," Eves said.
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