EVE is a research and development project initiated at the ZKM Karlsruhe in cooperation with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. It encompasses the conceptual and technical development of a new form of interactive immersive visualisation environment and virtual-reality apparatus.
In the centre of a large inflatable dome, two video projectors are mounted on a motorised pan/tilt device (e.g. robot arm) which can move the projected image anywhere over the inside surface of the dome. The two video projectors present a stereo pair of images - the viewers wearing polarising spectacles can see the projected imagery in three dimensions.
One of the visitors to EVE wears a helmet (or a 'miner's lamp') with an attached spatial tracking device that identifies the position and angle of his head. This controls the positioning of video projectors so that the projected image always follows the direction of the viewer's gaze. In this way the viewer can move the picture frame over the entire dome surface and interactively explore the computer-generated virtual scenographies which are presented there. A joystick also allows the viewer to control his forwards and backwards movement in the surrounding virtual space.
In 1993 (MultiMediale 3, ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany) The Virtual Museum (1991) was adapted for presentation within EVE. In 1995 (MultiMediale 4, ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany) a new work titled The Telepresent Onlookers linked the movement of the interior video projectors to a stereo pair of video cameras mounted on another pan/tilt device situated outside the dome. As a result the exterior scene could be reconstituted within the dome, allowing the viewers inside to be vicariously telepresent in the space outside.
Credits:
Project leader: Ralph Gruber
Software: Gideon May
Software revised: Ralph Kondziella and Detlev Schwabe (1998)
Hardware: Andre Bernhardt and Armin Steinke (1998)
Cooperative project between ZKM and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany.
Developped further within the EU project eRena (Esprit project 25379).
Exhibitions:
1993: MultiMediale 3, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany.
1994: Le Metafort, d´Aubervilliers, France.
1995: Acciona Museo Interactivo de la Cienca, Madrid, Spain; MultiMediale 4, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany.
1998: surrogate 1, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany.
