Eric Bachmann – Research in the Huge Immersive Virtual Environment (HIVE)

Dr. Bachmann demonstrating the lightweight wireless wearable rendering unit

Eric Bachmann is a leader in the field of virtual environments.  His research led him to create the Huge Immersive Virtual Environment (HIVE) on the Oxford campus of Miami University. The 1100-square-meter tracking area is the largest in the world  and the associated lightweight wireless wearable rendering units uniquely position Miami University researches to study problems related to large-scale virtual worlds.

Originally funded by a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Army Research Office in 2005, the state-of-the-art virtual environment allows for research relating to spatial cognition, navigation, human motion tracking development, human-computer interaction and more. The HIVE is a joint project in the departments of computer science and software engineering and psychology. Current research focuses on allowing immersed users of virtual environments to navigate naturally through virtual worlds of unlimited size.

Eric Bachmann

David Waller

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded co-directors Eric Bachmann, associate professor of computer science and software engineering, and David Waller, associate professor of psychology, with a $312,672 grant to enhance Miami’s Huge Immersive Virtual Environment facility to support multiple users. The NSF grant will help upgrade the HIVE’s hardware and software infrastructure, expanding the research possibilities in both computer science and behavioral studies. It also will provide support for Eric Hodgson, postdoctoral fellow in psychology and HIVE operations manager/director of the Smale Interactive Visualization Center.

Equipped with a "rendering unit," a student perceives a vitural Maimi campus as he moves through the HIVE.

Dr. Bachmann displays a computer-generated dinosaur designed to enhance a virtual habitat.

Tracking multiple users in the virtual environment will enable research in computer science that develops, evaluates and compares 3D user interfaces; develops algorithms for collision detection and multi-user redirected walking; and develops tools for collaborative computing environments. Behavioral research in the HIVE aims to improve understanding of how humans learn and remember large spaces, and of the social dynamics of users who cohabit a computer simulation, the researchers said.  The improved infrastructure also will allow for the digital preservation and demonstration of culturally important spaces.

For his outstanding research in virtual environments, Eric Bachmann received the 2009 Dennis and Bridget Orwig Outstanding Research Award, which is endowed by the Orwig Family. The criterion for the research award includes: Importance of the research towards progress in the discipline, creativity of the thought process and methods behind the research, and original breakthroughs in conceptual frameworks, conclusions, and methods.

For more information, go to the HIVE.

Also see the article in the Oxford Press newspaper.