Instant Hole ᵀᴹ (Windows onto Reality)

Abstract

Inspired by the inventive uses of the fictional product of transportable holes demonstratedin several animated cartoons, we have endeavored to create a environment that allows usto create windows within our virtual worlds. These windows open the often closedenvironments of head-mounted displays to the richness of the physical world thatsurrounds us. We have created a video-based stereo see-through head-mounted display toenable the merging of 3D windows onto reality. We describe the many obstacles tomerging stereo images generated by a computer graphics system and views of thephysical environment. While this paper describes only a single implementation, theissues remain general to anyone intending to construct a similar environment and themotivation is not implementation specific. We point out obstacles, solutions, workarounds, and other issues for others wishing to attain the same goal. We also discuss theadvantages of adding familiar of physical input devices to virtual environments.