Visualization and Motion Systems

This section provides a description of visualization and motion rendering systems used for virtual systems and simulators. The characteristics of visual systems, such as image resolution, brightness, contrast, and frequency, have a substantial impact on immersion, and display latency may induce severe cybersickness. A brief history of HMDs illustrates the evolution of virtual visualization systems, which are currently experiencing a renewed interest. A special focus is given to passive and active stereoscopic rendering, including autostereoscopic systems with a short survey on light field technology. The latter makes 3D vision possible without the use of specific polarization or active glasses, although at the price of increased system complexity and installation costs. Motion systems include various devices. Affordable and compact vibration systems provide face value and generic motion. Treadmills allow to extend natural walking. High-performance motion rendering systems include 6-axis and/or linear actuators, reproducing human motion perception and avoiding visuo-vestibular conflicts. Tilt coordination—a motion rendering technique for sustained accelerations, based on the gravito-inertial equivalence—is presented. The chapter completes this overview with a presentation of the main Motion Cueing Algorithms (MCA) for motion rendering—from classical and adaptive cueing approaches to prediction-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) techniques.