Distributed Interactive Virtual Environment
by Lennart Fahlén
The Distributed Interactive Virtual Environment (DIVE) is an internet-based multi-user VR system where participants navigate in 3D space and see, meet and interact with other users and applications. The first DIVE version appeared in 1991.DIVE applications and activities include virtual battlefields, spatial models of interaction, virtual agents, real-world robot control and multi-modal interaction.
Projects and activities the DIVE team is involved in:
- Cave-like setups and interaction
- COVEN - Collaborative Virtual Environments
- telecontrol and telepresence
- Augmented Reality (in swedish)
- DING - Distributed Engineering (in swedish)
- DIVEdit - Collaborative Modelling in Virtual Environments.
The DIVE software is a research prototype covered by licenses. Binaries for non-commercial use, however, are freely available for a number of platforms. DIVE supports the development of virtual environments, user interfaces and applications based on shared 3D synthetic environments. DIVE is especially tuned to multi-user applications, where several networked participants interact over a network.
Dynamic behaviour of objects are described by interpretative Tcl scripts evaluated on any node where the object is replicated. Scripts are triggered by events in the system, such as user interaction signals, timers, collisions, etc. DIVE reads and exports VRML 1.0 and several other 3D formats. It is integrated with the World-Wide-Web and is HTTP/FTP/HTML/MIME compliant. DIVE is currently available on the following platforms: SGI Irix 5.3 and 6.x, HP HPUX 10.10, SUN Solaris 2.4, Linux 2.X, and Windows NT.
A virtual environment conference with three people simultaneously connected to the DIVE system. The people, represented by embodiments, interact, talk, and move in a shared environment.The Dive activity at SICS spans several projects and groups, including spatial interaction models, high-level programming, agents, robots, etc. A main portion of the work is performed within the DCE group. The Dive platform development spans over implementation of the Dive software itself, communication, facilities, support, documentation and releases.
DIVE related external activities:
- AC3D A 3D modeller by Andy Colebourne at Lancaster University; AC3D outputs Dive and VRML file formats
- the Virtual Society project at Sony investigates how the future online community will evolve using a system called Community Place
- the X-ray factory an Tankathon are two examples of the Dive related activities by Kai-Mikael Jää-Aro and associated at IPlab of the Royal Institute of Technology
- the powerglove and PUMA robot interface was made by Chris Chuter at the University of Texas
- CRG at Nottingham does research in distributed VR
- Massive and Massive95 by Chris Greenhalgh at Nottingham
- VR Archive
- Naval Research Laboratory and CTC in the US uses DIVE in Network
- Management applications are presented at:
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/CCS/ people/cubeta/venom.html.Fore more information on DIVE, see: http://www.sics.se/dive/
Please contact:
Lennart Fahlén - SICS
Tel: + 46 70 6661539
E-mail: lef@sics.se
