Tech List and Other Notes;

We went down to the VR Centre this morning to speak with Garry and get an idea about what was available to us and what we could do. I've put together a rough list of what we can use as well as some notes for some of the equipment.
He also mentioned some other more general things about the exhibit so I've included them as well.

I'll email this to everyone but I'm posting it here as well so it's easy to reference.

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Equipment List:

VR Centre:

• 8x   HD LCD Panels, 1080p, 16:9 Aspect

• 4x   Average PCs, Windows 7, Nvidia Graphics
• 4x   High-End PCs, Windows 7, Nvidia Graphics

• 3x   Projectors (Project onto the walls, no screens.)

• 1x   Large Projector Screen,

1920x814 Resolution, 2.35:1 Aspect

• 1x   Curved Projector Screen,

3840x1024 Resolution, 60Hz, 15:4 Aspect
3D: 3072x768 Resolution, 85Hz, 4:1 Aspect

Games Lab:

• 14x   Headphones

• 27x   High-End PCs, Windows XP, Nvidia Graphics

• 27x   LCD Screens, 1600x1200 Resolution, 4:3 Aspect

  (Currently running 1280x1024 Resolution)

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Equipment Notes:

Large Projector Screen:
The screen runs at 1920x817px resolution so any games or videos will have to be modified to fit the screen correctly. The colour on the screen can display quite different to LCD screens so it will need to be tested beforehand.

Curved Projector Screen:
The curved screen runs with 3 CRT projectors at 3840x1024px resolution. Any games will have to have custom resolution set to display correctly, and UDK or Unreal shooter FPS games will have to have the FOV tweaked as well as possibly the HUD. Colour also looks quite different on this screen, especially in darker areas so testing will probably be needed.

3D Vision:
The curved screen is also capable of 3D display at 3072x768px resolution. Some games built in UDK or Unreal may be able to use Nvidia’s stereoscopic 3D on this screen without too much tweaking. If anyone is interested I can ask Garry for more information.

PCs:
There is a range of PCs available to us and very few have the same specs.
Right now there is roughly 4 mid-range and another 4
All of the VR Centre PCs are currently using Windows 7. Most of them are running 32bit with a couple running 64bit, but Garry is hoping to have more of them running 64bit by the time of the exhibit.

We can also take PCs from the games lab, which might make it easier for testing installations because we won’t need to get to the lab every time to test them. If we do want to use any though we need to organize this with CSIT through Fabio or Geoff in advance.

Sound:
The main area is set up with 5 channel audio, so we can probably use that for music. If we are setting up microphones for any talks we should be able to run them through the same speakers.

The VR room with the big screens has it’s own sound system big enough to shake the room. If we want to have it turned up loud Garry recommends paying extra attention to the low frequency sounds because bad audio will sound really awful on the subwoofer.

For the computer there are no speakers but we should have enough headphones for the individual computers on the LCD screens.

Projectors:
The projectors are available for us to use, but Garry says they don’t work so great when there are a lot of bright LCD screens on in the room. Also with them hanging at around ceiling height people may catch the light in their eyes and will probably walk in the way of the projector.
If we want to use them we’ll have to find a way to keep a wall in darkness as much as possible.

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General Notes:

Access:
The interior glass doors to the lab will be locked open during the exhibition to help manage heat, with the exterior doors to the street left closed. Garry recommended having a welcome desk or something in the foyer area because people will spill out into that area.

In terms of exhibition space we have access to the main room and the VR room with the big screens.

Bar / Drinks:
The main room has a bar in the corner that we can use for serving drinks. There is also a storage closet behind the bar that is available to us. I don’t know if there is a fridge or not in there so we may have to end up stealing the bar fridge from the games lounge or getting a cooler.

Drinking will have to be kept inside because we’ve been asked that people not be allowed on the street outside with their drinks because it looks bad.
Also I really doubt this will be a problem because we’re not planning to, but selling drinks isn’t allowed on account of it being illegal.

Heat:
Garry said it can get uncomfortably warm in the exhibit space with so many people and machines pumping out heat. Maybe we can try and find some way to try and manage the heat a bit?