EVLers Greg Dawe and Chris Scharver join EVL collaborators FakeSpace Systems, Inc. to showcase the PARIS(TM) production prototype at the Eleventh Annual Medicine Meets Virtual Relaity Conference (MMVR).

Using PARIS (Personal Augmented Reality Immersive System), a projection-based 'augmented' virtual reality display, enhanced with haptics or forced-feedback device will demonstrate how surgeons and medical modelers working together in a virtual space can produce precise fitting, pre-fabricated surgical implants without costly molding, casting or sculpting steps. EVL has been working in cooperation with UIC's Virtual Reality in Medicine Laboratory and Department of Neurosurgery, to develop the collaborative augmented reality environment to provide a precise method to construct and revise pre-surgical cranial implant designs.

The current PARIS prototype employs the Christie Mirage 2000 DLP projector and a double mirror-fold to compactly and brightly illuminate an overhead black screen. Images projected on the black screen are reflected on a half-silvered mirror positioned over the user's desk. Putting his or her hands under the mirrored area, the user can see and interact with the virtual image, or the physical haptic device and/or keyboard. The configuration is well suited to the lighting conditions of a typical office environment, and the device can be easily packed, moved and deployed. The half-silvered mirror display can be raised and lowered over the desktop, so users can either work at their desk or in the virtual-reality space without leaving their offices. PARIS uses EVL-developed collaboration and networking software CAVERNsoft and Quanta, which enable real-time interactions over very-high-speed networks.