Synthetic Environments 4/3

In today's class we traveled to Philips' main gym to get a demonstration of the HIVE, the Huge Interactive Virtual Environment. We learned that Miami's HIVE is the largest interactive virtual environment in the world. We got a demonstration of the starting off with looking at the computer which was mounted on a back pack as well as the headset. After that we looked at how the camera based infrared sensors were able to track almost exact movement. Then we all took turns in the environment by walking around the gym collecting virtual Easter eggs. I had a great time doing this but what was also interesting was the fact that straight lines were hard to walk because the computer has a built in safe guard that alters the the world so that you do not run into the walls of the gym.