Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

The main goal of this research project is to design and implement a framework for HAptic, inteRactive Virtual EnvironmentS for Tele-presence (HARVEST), that would efficiently support and manage Haptic Audio Visual Environments (HAVE) in a tele-presence context on the Internet. HAVE-based network-intensive applications require specific support at the transport and application layer, and it is our goal to provide such support. In proposing HARVEST, our goal is to design, implement, and deploy an integrated framework on both high-speed Intranets and the Internet, based on recent and emerging concepts such as Haptic "Dead-Reckoning" (prediction), application layer multicasting, and HAVE transport protocols, while providing Area of Interest Management and Distributed Data Management to enable real-time HAVE Tele-Presence applications for groups of users participating in distributed and interactive simulations. The technology can be used in diverse applications such as modeling & animation, geophysical analysis, dentistry training, virtual museums, assembly planning, mine design, surgical simulation, design evaluation, control of scientific instruments, gaming, and robotic simulation and manipulation in hazardous environments.