Immersive 3D visualization laboratory concept
In the paper an advanced concept for a Virtual Reality (VR) CAVE installation is presented, which should allow for human immersion in a spatially unlimited virtual world. The CAVE will be completed by the end of 2013 in a special building designed and constructed for the purpose. The unit will simulate an autonomous movement of a human inside a computer generated scenery. The person immersed in VR space will be placed in a transparent sphere with a large diameter supported on rollers and equipped with a motion tracking system. Walking motion of the person will inflict the revolution of the ball and trigger changes in the computer generated images on screens surrounding the sphere thus creating an illusion of motion. The projection system will be equipped with a 3D simulation capability and supplemented with a spatial sound generation system.
CirculaFloor
Acknowledgements This research was supported in part by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. In most applications of virtual environments, such as training or visual simulations, users need a good sensation of locomotion. We have developed several prototypes of interface devices for walking since 1989. From the results of this research, we determined that an infinite surface is an ideal device for creating a sense of walking. We employ a group of omni-directional movable floors to realize the locomotion interface. Each floor is equipped with a holonomic mechanism that achieves omni-directional motion. An infinite surface is simulated by circulation of the movable floors. The position of each floor is detected by ultra-sound sensors.The motion of the feet is measured by magnetic sensors. The floor moves opposite to the measured direction of the walker, so that motion of the step is canceled. The position of the walker is fixed in the real world by this computer-controlled motion of the floors. The circulation of the floors has an ability to cancel the displacement of the walker in arbi t rary direction. Thus, the walker can freely change direction while walking. CirculaFloor is a locomotion interface using a group of movable floors. The movable floors employ a holonomic mechanism that achieves omni-directional motion. Circulation of the floors enables the user to walk in a virtual environment while his/her position is maintained. The user can walk in arbitrary directions in a virtual environment.
Microfiltration: Effect of retentate protein concentration on limiting flux and serum protein removal with 4-mm-channel ceramic microfiltration membranes.
The objective of our study was to determine if the limiting flux and serum protein (SP) removal were different at 8, 9, or 10% true protein (TP) in the microfiltration (MF) retentate recirculation loop using 0.1-µm ceramic graded permeability membranes with 4-mm-channel diameters operated at 50 °C using a diluted milk protein concentrate with 85% protein on a total solids basis (MPC85) as the MF feed. The limiting flux for the MF of diluted MPC85 was determined at 3 TP concentrations in the recirculation loop (8, 9, and 10%). The experiment was replicated 3 times for a total of 9 runs. On the morning of each run, MPC85 was diluted with reverse osmosis water to an MF feed TP concentration of 5.4%. In all runs, the starting flux was 55 kg/m(2) per hour, the flux was increased in steps until the limiting flux was reached. The minimum flux increase was 10 kg/m(2) per hour. The limiting flux decreased as TP concentration in the recirculation loop increased. The limiting flux was 154 ± 0.3, 133 ± 0.7, and 117 ± 3.3 kg/m(2) per hour at recirculation loop TP concentrations of 8.2 ± 0.07, 9.2 ± 0.04, and 10.2 ± 0.09%, respectively. No effect of recirculation loop TP concentration on the SP removal factor was detected. However, the SP removal factor decreased from 0.80 ± 0.02 to 0.75 ± 0.02 as flux was increased from the starting flux of 55 kg/m(2) per hour to the limiting flux, with a similar decrease seen at all recirculation loop TP concentrations.