Tomorrowtools proposes to develop a transportable virtual reality (VR) training station which will be fully interactive with a remote VR training simulator/host computer. The proposed device will link in realtime a 5 ounce, 96 kilopixel video headset and a head position tracking device to a 128 kilobaud ISDN telephone line. Video data transmitted from the remote VR host computer will be compressed via data JPEG algorithms, suitably modified for application to computer-generated images. Head positioning data will be returned from the training site to the VR host computer via the ISDN line, allowing full interactivity with the virtual environment. This training station is an innovation because it will merge VR, JPEG data compression and ISDN tele- communications into a single, unique device. This device meets a NASA need for inexpensive, transportable VR training stations which can be widely disseminated and conveniently timeshared with expensive, immobile VR host computers.
