SAS : a chamber which allows the transition between one environment to the next.
SAS Cube : in this case, the SAS makes the transition between reality and Virtual Reality.

The SAS Cube is a virtual reality fully immersive room, similar to the CAVE® . A cube with 4 screens, 3x3m.
The user is inside the cube structure surrounded by stereoscopic retro projections thus the user is fully immersed in a 3D environment.
The movement and perspectives of the environment change according to the user's position and navigation.

The SAS3 allows a maximum range of movement for the user, dispensing with the need for weighty and HMD's that offer only a limited immersive quality. In the SAS3 the user can see his body, and the presence of other visitors.

The SAS3 is multi-platform and can function with 2, 4 or 8 PCs or with the SGI Onyx.

The quality of the projection surfaces in terms of uniformity and alignment of images is particularly high due to our partnership with BARCO that has allowed for extensive testing resulting in a more credible virtual environments with no 'hot' or 'cold' spots.

The PC version is up to 3 times less expensive than a traditional CAVE®.

The structure of the SAS3 is light-weight and easy to dismount and reassemble (one day assembly). It is the first portable apparatus of its kind.

The advantage in creating a virtual environment using the SAS3 is the users potential to interact in real-time with their whole body and to link environments either via Internet of other virtual environments.

The PC version allows the user to make software and content development on a low cost computer.

Once a portable SAS3 is installed examples of the range of uses are as follows:

• EDUCATION: exploration and learning environments
  science, geographical, historical, etc.
• INDUSTRY: interactive visualisations and walk through for architecture and design.
• ENTERTAINMENT: home 3D cinema, virtual environments for leisure, theme parks, museums…

The SASLibrary (SASLib)

The SASLib allows to create OpenGL applications for the SAS3 or for any other space involving multi-screen projections (with or without tracking, mono or stereo). The SASLib is particularly adapted to the management of clusters of graphics PCs using Windows2000 or Linux.

Above all, the SASLib manages:

• The start up and the shut down of applications on each PC in the cluster.
• Management of tracking and VR peripherals for navigation and interaction.
• The computation of projection matrices which is dependant of the tracking system for each screen.
• The synchronisation of the computers (the genlock, framelock and scenelock).

The SASLib includes a certain number of sample applications that allow the user to familiarise himself with the software. Among these, are the SASNav, a highly optimized navigator enabling navigation in Open Inventor or VRML databases, using either OpenInventor or OpenGL Optimizer scenegraphes.

Contact:
sascube@z-a.net
David Nahon
+33 1 48 06 65 66