How to set up a Fish Tank VR system.

This is a help document to set up a fishtank system similar to the one we have in the gfx lab and run the brain application.

Last modified: Sat Nov 30 03:05:59 EST 2002

For problems or questions e-mail to: cad@cs.brown.edu

HARDWARE / OS

make sure you're running windows XP (2k or even 98 may work, but XP is probably best to stay consistent.)
you'll need a stereo capable graphics card (ATI FireGL 2), FastTrak tracker, emitter, and stereo glasses (http://www.i-glasses.com/Store/3dpcinternet.php3 A103614 PC Gaming System (Cordless)). Alternatively, you can use NuVision's 60GX (www.nuvision3d.com) stereo glasses that are more ergonomic and apparently have larger lens viewing area.

GLASSES

plug VESA-3 standard cable (attached to IR emitter) into back of gfx card (you will not need any of the adapters unless you are using the GeForce3 card)
put emitter on top of monitor
turn glasses on with small button above left eye

STEREO (details completely depend on which gfx card)

get FireGL card into machine
download driver and install (enough detail?)
run supplied graphics program to make sure it's working
right click on desktop, goto properties, goto settings, goto advanced, find a tab that says something about "GL", check the enable "quad-buffered stereo" box
run supplied stereo demo program to make sure it's working

TRACKING

attach fasttrack hardware to COM1 serial port * if the mouse starts jumping all over the screen, boot computer with polhemus turned off and unplugged from the serial port, then when done with the boot, connect to serial port and turn it on
run polhemus-supplied airplane demo program to make sure it's working

DEMO

bdif: DT-MRI Brain Visualization Application.

Install:

Extract 'bdif.tar.gz' in a directory. If you have cygwin installed on your pc, you can extract it entering the following from the cygwin command line.

'gunzip < bdif.tar.gz | tar xvf - '

PowerArchiver 6.1 (freeware) or Winzip (commercial) would also do the same job.

Replace the word 'tuna' with the name of your computer in the file 'share/vrpn/bin/vrpn_cs_tuna.cfg'.

Run
run 'share/vrpn/bin/vrpn_server.bat' (vrpn server)
run one of 'share/bdifglue/bin/bdif_*.bat' files each of which represents a different brain data-set.

Use:

Keyboard::

Top