VIPER : A Distributed Virtual Reality System
Developing distributed virtual environments is a complex time consuming
task. In order to develop such environments the programmer has to be proficient
in network, graphics, device handlers and user interface programming. Moreover,
network based programs are inherently more difficult to program and debug
than sequential ones.
In order to simplify this task, we have developed VIPER (VIrtuality
Programming EnviRonment) which enables the rapid and easy development of
distributed VR applications.VIPER is aimed for the design of every application
based on a distributed virtual environment which can be modelled by exchanges
(symbolised by stimuli) between autonomous entities, in a virtual universe.
Interactions between entities, modelled by the stimulus paradigm (a
phenomenon or an event perceptible by an entity), cross media, called stimuli
spaces, which allow communications between many entities simultaneously.
An entity receives perceptible stimuli (visible shapes, near sounds...)
through sensors and acts on its environment through effectors (producing
new stimuli).
Moreover, each entity owns a behaviour built with connected behaviour
components. Each component can be triggered by a sensor or another component
through internal communications. There are two classes of components :
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- System components implement the relations between an entity and its computer
environment (persistency, distribution...).
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- Application components modify the entity internal state (the set of its
attributes) and command actions to its effectors. An example of such a
component is a multimodal interaction manager which collects stimuli, builds
a single message which can trigger other components.
-
Currently I'm working on an ESPRIT project called CAVALCADE.
The goal of this project is to build a Collaborative Virtual Prototyping
application (VIPER is the distributed core of CAVALCADE).
PhD Thesis (in French)
VIPER : Un modèle de calcul réparti
pour la gestion d’environnements virtuels (1 MByte)
P. Torguet
IRIT, Paul Sabatier University, February 1998 (thesis number 2954).
Some Publications
Some Images
Those images are snapshots from a concurrent modelling application built
on VIPER.
See this paper for more information.
Those pictures are a bit old... I will put new and better pictures
soon.
Patrice Torguet