Virtual Reality Software Developed For The International Space Station Comes Down To Earth

April, 1998

Open Worlds™, a virtual reality software package developed to support NASA’s work on the International Space Station, is opening new worlds of opportunity for businesses here on earth.

DRaW Computing of Philadelphia, Pa., developed the software under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. NASA asked for software that would allow it to create virtual reality simulations to facilitate training future crews for the International Space Station. Open Worlds’™ scripting, hardware and Graphical User Interface (GUI)-front end permitted NASA researchers at the Marshall Center to create complex virtual reality simulations while designing the space station’s various elements.

Open Worlds™ is an open platform for Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) 2.0 integration. With it, businesses gain the ability to have realistic, interactive, moving worlds. It provides the advanced features of VRML 2.0 without all the effort. The Open Worlds™ C++ library brings VRML 2.0 support for any applications and any graphics server. In addition, sample source code is included which demonstrates implementations of VRML 2.0 browsers on various graphics layers, including OpenGL. Sample code showing the implementation of the built-in nodes is also provided, as well as a GUI-based Scene Graph Viewer.

While commonly used in web browsing, VMRL also can be brought into applications. It allows the user not only to load VRML geometry but also run VRML animations and simulations. In essence it turns applications into browsers with all the features the application already supports.

With Open Worlds™, applications can be made to support Java scripting and virtual reality hardware devices. Open Worlds™ permits the use of VRML script nodes to add virtual reality capabilities to the user’s applications. It allows customers to extend legacy 3-D graphics systems or make new VRML applications. It can be used as a stand-alone program or as a web browser plug-in. Open Worlds™ is a fully open system, a set of C++ libraries which can add any level of VRML 2.0 to a client’s system. Parsing, scene-graph transversal, routing, scripting, prototyping, and external interfaces are provided. The customer can sample built-in nodes, user interfaces and applications or build their own.

The addition of script nodes in VRML 2.0 enables VRML to be a true system for virtual reality. Open Worlds’™ design is centered around the idea of a script node. By extending VRML’s Script API, Open Worlds™ lets users create VRML 2.0 built-in nodes in the language of the user’s choice. Through the same interface, users’ applications gain interactive Application Programmer Interface (API) with automatic support for a variety of languages. Currently, Open Worlds™ supports VRML nodes in Java, C++, C and Lisp. With C++ built-in nodes, the user can achieve the speed needed for demanding scientific and real-time applications. With Java script nodes, clients’ worlds will be smarter than ever.

Open Worlds™ flexible design lets users implement the graphical core of VRML 2.0 with the graphics API/platform of their choice. Open Worlds can support such low-level graphical API as OpenGL, high-level scene libraries such as Optimizer, or interface with the users’ own proprietary layer. Because different applications require different levels of VRML 2.0 support, Open Worlds™ provides separate modules so that the user only need purchase the support needed. The option of extending capabilities in the future is provided.