CrystalEyes

Add depth to your display

Is your 21" monitor with 0.22mm dot pitch just not giving you thepicture you need? Maybe you need the 3-D resolution that StereoGraphics'CrystalEyes stereo eyewear offers. In addition to the stereo goggles that comein the CrystalEyes package, the product requires a PC emitter, cabling, a videocard, and software that supports stereo imaging.

Hardware Setup Is Easy
Finding hardware support for CrystalEyes isn't difficult. Many OpenGL videocards from manufacturers such as Intergraph, HP, Creative Labs, DiamondMultimedia Systems, and Dynamic Pictures have integrated support for stereoimaging.

You connect the PC emitter to the video card's stereo port. You canidentify a card's stereo port by the imprint of a pair of glasses or the wordstereo; the stereo port usually resides alongside the trapezoidal 9-pin videoport. Stereo ports come in numerous designs: 3-pin DIN connectors, 7-pin DINconnectors, or single-pin male connectors, depending on which company's videocard you have. You need to be sure your emitter comes with a cable that matchesthe connector for your video card.

The lightweight CrystalEyes goggles fit nicely over most pairs of glasses.The goggles' two lenses are LCD screens with shutters that rapidly open andclose. CrystalEyes requires stereo software, which produces offset images forthe right and left eyes. To produce the 3-D effect, the lenses' shuttersalternate opening and closing in sync with the stereo video display, so thateach eye sees only the image designed for it. The PC emitter broadcasts aninfrared signal to the glasses that coordinates the onscreen images with theshutters.

When you look at a stereo image without stereo eyewear, you see a ghostedimage. When you look through stereo eyewear without a stereo image on thescreen, the display appears to flash. The juxtaposition of the opening andclosing of the goggles' shutters and the monitor's refresh rate creates theflashing effect.

To best display stereo images, your monitor and graphics card need tosupport a refresh rate of 120Hz. StereoGraphics makes an emitter that works withmonitors or graphics cards that can't support 120Hz refresh rates, but the 3-Deffect isn't as good.

Finding Software Is Difficult
Windows NT applications that take advantage of CrystalEyes' 3-D capabilitiesare scarce. To test CrystalEyes, I installed ERDAS's IMAGINE 8.3 geographicalimaging software on an Intergraph TDZ 2000 with dual 333MHz Pentium IIprocessors and a RealiZm II VX113 GT 3-D graphics card.

IMAGINE uses a process called stereoscopy to produce stereo images fromhigh-resolution satellite images. Stereoscopy uses stereo-pairs, twoimages of the same area taken from different angles, to determine the lay of theland. The resulting composite image is known as a Digital Elevation Model (DEM).IMAGINE's images have a resolution of one pixel to 20 meters. I expect 3-Dproducts' resolution to improve soon, because new satellites will offer aresolution of 1 pixel to 1 meter.

I used CrystalEyes to view a DEM of Palm Springs, California, and the San Bernardino National Forest. Looking at IMAGINE's stereoscopic images through the CrystalEyes goggles is similar to the view I imagine flight simulators provide. The digital image comprises several layers of textures and vector images, including the topography of the terrain and the buildings and streets of Palm Springs. The 3-D effect isn't exactly depth defining, but it gives you a better sense of the texture and layout of the land than you have in 2-D.

The military has traditionally used stereoscopy in classified operations,but the technology is quickly moving into the mainstream as image resolution andPCs' processing power increase. Today, many government and private organizationsuse satellite-imaging technology to determine the quantity and quality ofnatural resources, research the health of crops, and perform habitat andenvironmental impact analyses. Other fields in which 3-D vision is gainingground are biotechnology, molecular modeling, CAD, computer-aided manufacturing(CAM), and ergonomic design.

Despite the currently limited number of stereoscopic NT applications, Iexpect to see more 3-D applications for NT. Companies continue to port theirUNIX products to NT and NT workstations continue to make inroads into 3-Dimaging, which was once the exclusive domain of UNIX workstations. For a list ofsoftware that is compatible with the CrystalEyes goggles, download theCrystalEyes Software Catalog from StereoGraphics' Web site (http://www.stereographics.com).