Enhance Virtual Reality

Computer scientists at UC San Diego have taken the wraps off a new technique for mixing images and video feeds from mobile cameras in the field to provide remote viewers with a virtual window into a physical environment. Dubbed "RealityFlythrough," the application constructs a 3D virtual environment dynamically out of the live video streams.
Media contact: Daniel Kane, (858) 534-3262, dbkane@ucsd.edu

When a bridge collapses, testing how well structural systems hold up in the event of an earthquake or other disaster assumes added urgency. Little attention, however, is paid to the nonstructural systems that may also be damaged in the event of a temblor -- potentially causing even more damage than the structure itself and threatening the lives of the structure's occupants. "Our information-technology research involves sketch-based modeling, simulation and visualization," said Falko Kuester, Calit2 professor for visualization and virtual reality and associate professor of Structural Engineering in UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering.
Media contact: Daniel Kane, (858) 534-3262, dbkane@ucsd.edu