Gyeongju VR Theater
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Changhoon Park Gyeongju VR Theater: A Journey Sang Chul Ahn Yong-Moo Kwon into the Breath of Sorabol Hyoung-Gon Kim Heedong Ko Imaging Media Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Abstract 39-1 Hawolgok-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 136-791, Korea We have built the world’s largest virtual reality (VR) theater for the Gyeongju World Culture EXPO 2000. The VR theater is characterized by a huge shared VR Dept. of Computer Science & space with tightly coupled user inputs from 651 audience members in real time. Engineering The shared 3D virtual environment is augmenting the physical audience space in Korea University harmony. Large computer-generated passive stereo images on a huge cylindrical 1,5-Ga Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, screen provide the sensation of visual immersion. The theater also provides 3D Seoul 136-701, Korea audio, vibration, and olfactory display as well as the keypads for each of the audi- ence members to interactively control the virtual environment. This paper intro- Taiyun Kim duces the issues raised and addressed during the design of a versatile VR theater, Dept. of Computer Science & the production process, and the presentation techniques using the versatile display Engineering and interaction capability of the future theater. Korea University 1, 5-Ga Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 136-701, Korea 1 Introduction Recently, we built a VR theater for the Gyeongju World Culture EXPO 2000, held in Korea’s old city of Gyeongju (Kyongju) from September 1 to November 26, 2000. The expo was a remarkable celebration of Korean history and culture, sponsored by the federal and provincial government. The main theme was “Breath of the New Millennium,” but its secondary theme of “En- counter and Harmony” describes its spirit more precisely. By taking visitors back in time to the era of the Silla kingdom, it encouraged Koreans to draw on the strength of their cultural heritage to promote reconciliation and peace. The era of the liberal, progressive Silla is regarded as the golden age of Korean culture and its center was Sorabol, the present city of Gyeongju. The aim of designing and building the VR theater was to construct a versa- tile public demonstration for VR technology as a new medium for interactive storytelling of diverse kinds of artistic expression and edutainments of virtual heritage to the public. Demonstrating VR contents to a very large audience in VR theater is a relatively new area, and the issues and challenges to be over- come are only beginning to emerge in the literature (Greenhalgh et al., 1999; Stewart, Bederson, & Druin, 1999; Zanella & Greenberg, 2001; Ahn, Kim, Kim, Kwon, & Ko, 2001). Especially, the rapid advances in digital technolo- gies in recent years offer new directions for the virtual heritage based on the VR technology (Refsland, Ojika, Addison, & Stone, 2000; Kwon, Kim, Ahn, Ko, & Kim, 2001). Unlike the traditional single-user VR system or multiuser distributed/col- Presence, Vol. 12, No. 2, April 2003, 125–139 laborative VR system, VR theater consists of a large screen shared by the large © 2003 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology audience similar to IMAX theater. Although both the VR and IMAX theaters Park et al. 125 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/105474603321640905 by guest on 01 October 2021 126 PRESENCE: VOLUME 12, NUMBER 2 provide an immersive feeling of presence in the virtual the space between screens, projected a completely circu- environment by the large image displays, there is a fun- lar image while twelve synchronized sound channels damental difference in how the images are generated enveloped the audience in sound. The effect was magi- and projected. The VR theater is displaying multichan- cal, especially when the camera was in motion in a nel computer-generated images in real time by video plane, on a boat or on a railroad train (Stanton, 1997). projectors, whereas, in most installations, an IMAX the- But, there was no interaction for the audience. ater is driven by a large film projector with a single- At Expo 67, the Kino-Automat film at the Czecho- channel image. slovakia pavilion was a sociological and psychological The IMAX camera and projection system was devel- experiment with audience participation by just 127 peo- oped in 1970 specifically for realizing a greater mimesis ple in an intimate theater. It was developed by cinema- of natural vision. The IMAX system employs a frame tographer Raduz Cincera, who reasoned that, just as size of 48.51 by 60.60 mm and projected onto screens children like to make Tinkerbell live by applauding dur- averaging 70 by 100 ft. and covering, from most audi- ing Peter Pan, an adult audience might become in- ence positions, a diagonally measured field of 160 deg. volved in a performance with live audiences. Therefore, Omnimax, a modified form of IMAX, is an even at five points in the film’s plot, the film stopped and the closer representation of natural vision, utilizing fisheye audience was asked to vote on which way Mr. Novak, optics on both camera and projector. This procedure the hero, should act. Meanwhile, the actor appeared in creates a distorted image of the film that is corrected by the theater in person and appealed to the audience to projection onto the spherical surface of a planetarium helping solve his problems. Each viewer was asked to dome. The dome curvature yields a linearly corrected press either the red or green button beside him at each image covering 180 deg., reproducing the full maxi- decision point. The voting results were registered by mum angle of view of the eye. Another distinctive at- seat number, and displayed on a border around the tribute of the Omnimax projection is a curved image, screen, so each viewer could see their own vote which also conforms to the actual shape of the human counted. The winning choice would then be screened, field of vision. Although IMAX and Omnimax have making each experience of Kino-Automat (Stanton, been able to reproduce an angle of vision equivalent to 1997). Although the audience was allowed to change that of natural sight, these formats fail to meet the test the story with alternative film sequences, this does not of total mimesis in the functions of stereoscopic ranging mean real-time interaction was provided. and perception of motion. In shots composed of objects CINEMATRIX patented an audience participation at a distance of approximately 45 ft. or more from the technique through the use of simple reflectors. Each camera, stereoscopic depth perception is unable to dif- member of the audience was asked to vigorously wave ferentiate changes in that range. Moreover, the special one of two colored cards to express their vote. The projection requirements can only be met by installations overall level of activity of each color was automatically designed for a specific formal (Gutenko). In the film- detected from a video image. Therefore, an interactive based IMAX theater or theme park theater, no user in- entertainment system enables thousands of people to teraction is possible where the story of the movie must simultaneously communicate with a computer, making be fixed. possible an entire new class of human-computer interac- The Telephone Pavilion, sponsored by Canada’s tele- tion (CINEMATRIX 1998). But, the use of only two phone companies, told the story of Canada and com- colored cards restricted the scope of audience interac- munications. Its presentation Canada 67 was the most tion. popular film at Expo 67. The 22 min. film was executed At the MIT Media Laboratory in 1997, a computer- in Circle-Vision of 360 deg. a total wrap-around process based theatrical performance was held. It was a two- with 1,500 people standing in a room surrounded by character theater play, with a human character and an nine large movie screens. Nine projectors, concealed in autonomous computerized character. All the computer Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/105474603321640905 by guest on 01 October 2021 Park et al. 127 character’s reactions during the play were based on the 2.1 Screen human actor’s actions as detected by a three-camera In front of the theater on a stage, a 27 ϫ 8 m cy- visual segmentation system that was invariant to lighting lindrical screen with a radius of 37 m is erected vertically changes. In this system, the human character’s actions to display images projected by six double-stacked pro- are recognized not only by tracking gesture information jectors. For passive stereo display, the screen surface but also the context provided by the current situation in must preserve the polarized images from the projector the story (Pinhanez, 1997). Their research focuses on after reflection. This means that the screen is highly re- the actor in real and the virtual space for computer the- flective, and any impurities on the surface can become ater, but the audience’s mass interaction is not consid- glaringly obvious. We used a Harkness Hall spectral ered here. screen that was manufactured meticulously in environ- In the VR theater of Gyeongju, the image must re- mentally controlled factory and could be installed on a flect the result of user interaction in real time. With the curved frame. The frame geometry of the screen was a advancement of digital cinema equipment and real-time key design decision. With a flat screen, the geometry of computer image generation, we believe the VR theater the projected image would be too distorted for the pro- will eventually replace IMAX film theaters. Interactive jector to correct unless it is angled toward the projector. and real-time capabilities, combined with high-resolu- Then, the image across the discrete angle would look tion immersive imagery, create a much richer under- continuous only on the sweet spot but discontinuous in standing of the Silla Kingdom.