“The Virtual Lego Village” by Mlyniec
Conference:
Type(s):
Entry Number: 30
Title:
- The Virtual Lego Village
Program Title:
- Digital Bayou
Presenter(s):
Collaborator(s):
- Dan Mapes
- Payton White
- Ivan Scott Fuller
- Bill Preskar
- Ken Betts
- Dent-De-Lion Du Midi
- Julian E. Gomez
- Bo Nielsen
- Claude Aebersold
- Christian Greuel
Project Affiliation:
- MultiGen Inc., LEGO A/S, SPU-Darwin, and Fakespace Labs
Description:
In the SmartScene immersive scene-assembly environment, this virtual playspace is assembled into an ever-changing and infinitely variable world. Several players at various physical locations share a common, collaborative space for assembling these scenes.
After a brief session in a separate training station, the player dons a headmount and Pinch gloves and interacts with the scene through virtual snap cursors positioned between thumb and forefinger. The cursors appear as blue jacks embedded in red balls. By grabbing the fabric of space with one or both hands, users simultaneously translate, rotate, and scale themselves through the scene. With other pinch gestures, they can grab objects in the scene and interact with a toolbox that floats over the palm of the left hand.
Lego parts are selected by browsing in a kit library through simple pinch gestures in the toolbox. These parts are then stretched and snapped into the scene. Any number of players can simultaneously grab and stretch a single part. They can also paint parts and assemblies from a palette of appropriate colors and textures that is also accessible through the toolbox.
Spatial audio and ambient music plays a strong role in enhancing the experience, and live video feeds of the other users located in the MultiGen and SGI booths in the SIGGRAPH 96 Exhibition are accessible from the toolbox through scalable video titles. Infinite Reality-supported particle systems are also incorporated into the experience.
