WorldViz

WorldViz is a virtual reality software company that provides 3D interactive and immersive visualization and simulation solutions for universities, government institutions, and commercial organizations.^[1]

Founded in 2002, WorldViz is a privately held company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

Applications

WorldViz 3D visualization solutions are used in product visualization, safety training,^[2] architecture visualization,^[3]^[4]^[5] marketing research, human behavioral and perception research, and social interaction research.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Software

Vizard Virtual Reality Toolkit

Vizard software ^[9] is a virtual reality software toolkit for building, rendering, and deploying 3D visualization & simulation applications. Vizard natively supports input and output devices, including head-mounted displays, CAVEs™, Powerwalls™, 3D TVs, motion capture systems, haptic technologies, and gamepads. Vizard uses Python for scripting and OpenSceneGraph for rendering.^[10]

Hardware

PPT Real-Time Motion Tracking System

PPT ^[11] is a real-time motion tracking system for large area (i.e., up to 20 x 20 meters) six-degrees-of-freedom optical-inertial motion tracking for immersive virtual reality applications.^[12] It includes a hand interaction tool that lets users navigate and manipulate virtual scenes and virtual objects, as well as a wireless 3D glasses tracking system for updating a users’ point of view in conjunction with CAVE™ or Powerwalls™ 3D display systems.

History

Beginning in 1992, precursors to the WorldViz software and hardware technologies were developed at University of California, Santa Barbara UCSB ^[13] and later extended at Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT (1996–1999). During the 1990s, these technologies gained momentum as legitimate methodological tools for studying human cognition and visual perception, and numerous peer reviewed studies leveraged the unique abilities of virtual reality to answer scientific questions. Throughout the early history, a major driving force behind the scientific use of virtual reality at UCSB was Professor Jack Loomis.^[14] He and his former student, Andy Beall, promoted and validated the use of virtual reality as a research tool in psychological sciences, and their efforts were later joined by Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson,^[15] who further promoted its use in social psychology ^[16] and communication.^[17] In 2002, WorldViz announced its first commercialized software, Vizard Virtual Reality Toolkit, and PPT Real-Time Motion Tracking System.