DVI Pilot Applications

    by Douglas Dixon

Prototype and pilot applications of DVI Technology
From early simulations and demos to sample applications

	Galactic Challenge: 1984
	Functionality Demonstrations: 1985
	Pilot Applications: 1986 Palenque: Bank Street College Words in the Neighborhood, Children's Television Workshop Flight Simulator, Activision Design and Decorate, Videodisc Publishing Inc

Galactic Challenge: 1984

The Galactic Challenge interactive concept demonstration developed at Sarnoff in 1984 included many seminal ideas which were to become key concepts in DVI technology and future multimedia applications, including:

    - Compressed motion video at PC data rates
    - Interactive control of motion through environment
    - 360-degree panoramas seamed from still photos
    - Animated overlays of objects and motion video

[ Top ]

Functionality Demonstrations: 1985

In 1985 the project entered a new phase, beginning a transition from demonstrating the basic technology to developing more detailed prototype applications. Our group now included application programmers, video producers, and instructional designers who worked with outside partners to develop prototype interactive video applications. 

Some of these ideas were integrated into a series of demonstrations on the Ikonas graphics system, and others were eventually developed into the initial set of pilot applications demonstrated at the public announcement.

Billiard Balls Bouncing around a Texture-Mapped Table

New demonstrations of the product's hardware capabilities were developed, including fast drawing of solid and textured polygons, and a simulation of billiard balls on a texture mapped billiard table, colliding with one another and bouncing off the sides.

Bouncing Windows of Motion Video

To convey the potential of motion video stored and manipulated in a frame buffer, another demonstration was developed showing several video windows bouncing around the screen, each playing a different motion video sequence. 

At each press of a key, they would split into smaller and smaller pieces, until the screen was filled with tiny pieces of motion video. Visitors especially enjoyed trying to track the small squares as they swam across the screen, still playing their pieces of the video sequence.

2-D Video / Graphics Operations

The DVI Warp algorithm supports basic 2D transformations including scroll, mirror, scale larger or smaller, and rotate - all with arbitrary sizes. 

Because Warp allows images to be transformed into any polygonal region, video images can be manipulated to create a 3D perspective by shearing and distorting.

3-D Interior Design of a Room with Texture-Mapped Furnishings

Warp texture-maps 2D video images onto the surface of a 3D object model. Since Warp can brighten or darken the texture as it is mapped onto a surface, it can easily produce polygonal-shaded 3D images. 

Warp also provides more general 3D support such as hidden-surface removal and smooth (Gouraud) shading.

[ Top ]

Pilot Applications: 1986

A series of pilot applications demonstrating the advanced functionality of DVI technology were developed through 1986. An ISV Symposium was held at Sarnoff in January 1986 to bring together the companies working with DVI for the first time. The pilot applications were first simulated on a Targa-based PC development environment in early 1986, and then ported to the first hardware through early 1987. These applications were first publicly demonstrated at the Second Microsoft CD-ROM conference in March 1987.

The Palenque surrogate travel adventure provided video travel sequences, video help inserts, and the ability to interactively look around in 360 degree panoramas. 

Another important capability of digital video is the ability to manipulate the images stored in image memory, which can be used for video special effects, and for texture-mapping video images onto three-dimensional models. A microcode warp algorithm was developed to shrink, stretch, or otherwise distort polygonal regions for these purposes. The Design and Decorate interior design application provided realistic views of room interiors. This ability to manipulate video textures also was used by the Flight Simulator application. The DVI hardware could perform this texture-mapping on the fly, using the geometric data computed by the host computer based on the three-dimensional model. The textures also provided additional detail such as windows on the buildings.

Palenque: Bank Street College

"Palenque," an educational application pilot developed jointly with Bank Street College of Education, is a surrogate travel adventure which allows a viewer to explore an ancient Mayan ruin in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. 

A motion video sequence flies the viewer to the Yucatan jungle, where, after touch-down, graphical icons provide several choices for travel through the Mayan site.

Using a joystick to steer, the viewer can move forward and backward, leisurely or quickly, along several paths; and walk to the top of a temple, turn around, and come back down again. 

(The sequence uses one frame of film per step to simulate the effect of walking.)

In addition, at various points the viewer can scan slowly or quickly, left, right, up, down, or diagonally, around a full 360-degree panoramic view of the scene. A fisheye lens was used to photograph an entire scene on one frame of film. These panoramas were digitized, and then unwrapped digitally into a bit-map image to provide the full-circle view without edges or seams. The panning microcode then provided the experience of looking around within them.

Meanwhile, in the background, an audio track plays the sounds of crickets, running water, and an occasional howler monkey from the jungle. The surrogate traveler can compare the behavior and cries of different animals and even arrange a 'jungle symphony' with several cries playing at once. Additional text, video, and audio sequences can be accessed to explain Mayan carvings, rain forest ecology, and animal life.

Words in the Neighborhood, Children's Television Workshop

"Words in the Neighborhood," a pilot application developed with Children's Television Workshop, is a children's wordbook. 

It includes a selection of video sequences coordinated with graphical overlays and synchronized audio.

One activity shows a graphic image of a Sesame Street scene overlaid with four words that all begin with the same letter. Selecting a word via joystick starts a video and audio sequence from the television show in one quadrant of the screen. When the child plays several sequences at once, he or she hears a new song for the common letter sound.

Flight Simulator, Activision

[ Top ]