The Design of a Graphics Engine for the Development of Virtual Reality Applications

Authors

  • Silvano Maneck Malfatti Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Laboratório ACiMA - RJ
  • Selan Rodrigues dos Santos Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte - RN
  • Luciane Machado Fraga Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Laboratório ACiMA - RJ
  • Claudia Marcela Justel Instituto Militar de Engenharia - RJ
  • Paulo Fernando Ferreira Rosa Instituto Militar de Engenharia - RJ
  • Jauvane Cavalvante de Oliveira Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Laboratório ACiMA - RJ

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22456/2175-2745.8261

Abstract

This work presents the design and the features of a flexible realtime 3D graphics engine aimed at the development of multimedia applications and collaborative virtual environments. The engine, called EnCIMA (Engine for Collaborative and
Immersive Multimedia Applications), enables a fast development process of applications by providing a high level interface, which has been implemented using the C++
object-oriented programming paradigm. The main features of the proposed engine are the support to scene management, ability to load static and animated 3D models, particle system effects, network connection management to support collaboration, and collision detection. In addition, the engine supports several specialized interaction devices such as 3D mice, haptic devices, 3D motion trackers, data-gloves, and joysticks
with and without force feedback. The engine also enables the developer to choose the way the scene should be rendered to, i.e. using standard display devices, stereoscopy, or even several simultaneous projection for spatially immersive devices. As part of the evaluation process, we have compared the performance of EnCIMA to a game engine and two scene graph toolkits, through the use of a testbed application. The performance
results and the wide variety of non-conventional interaction devices supported are evidences that EnCIMA can be considered a real time virtual reality engine.

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Published

2009-04-17

How to Cite

Malfatti, S. M., dos Santos, S. R., Fraga, L. M., Justel, C. M., Rosa, P. F. F., & de Oliveira, J. C. (2009). The Design of a Graphics Engine for the Development of Virtual Reality Applications. Revista De Informática Teórica E Aplicada, 15(3), 25–46. https://doi.org/10.22456/2175-2745.8261

Issue

Section

Regular Papers