Immersive articulation of the human upper body in a virtual environment
By:  Paul F. Skopowski
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 224
Description: This thesis addresses the problem that virtual environments (VE's) do not possess a practical, intuitive, and      comfortable interface that allows a user to control a virtual human's movements in real-time. Such a device would      give the user the feeling of being immersed in the virtual world, greatly expanding the usability of today's virtual      environments. The approach was to develop an interface for the upper body, since it is through this part of users'      anatomy that they interact most with their environment. Lower body motion can be more easily scripted.      Implementation includes construction of a kinematic model of the upper body. The model is then manipulated in      real-time with inputs from electromagnetic motion tracking sensors places on the user. Research resulted in an      interface that is easy to use and allows its user limited interaction with a VE. The device takes approximately one      sixth the time to don and calibrate as do mechanical interfaces with similar capability. It tracks thirteen degrees of      freedom. Upper body position is tracked, allowing the users to move through the VE. Users can orient their upper      body and control the movements of one arm. Uncorrected position data from two trackers was used to generate      clavicle joint angles. Difficulty in controlling figure motion indicates that the sensors used lack sufficient registration      for this purpose. Therefore, the interface software uses only orientation data for computing joint angles.
Notes: Thesis advisor(s): Robert B. McGhee,  John S. Falby.

Appendix E videotape located at Circulation Desk, call number VHS 5000064.

"December 1996."

Thesis (M.S. in Computer Science) Naval Postgraduate School, December 1996.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-222).

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

US Marine Corps (USMC) author.

dk/dk cc:9116 5/14/97