Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO

Immersive Participation Lab

Immersive 3D displays for realistic, detailed, accurately rendered real-time visualization

© Ludmilla Parsyak | Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive Participation Lab

Prof. Katharina Hölzle, Director of the Fraunhofer IAO, cuts the ribbon at the opening of the new CAVE. To her left is the Deputy Director of the Institute, Dr. Steffen Braun, and to her right the Head of the ‘Urban System Design’ research area, Prof. Dr. Vanessa Borkmann.

Gate between virtual and real worlds

Prof. Dr. Katharina Hölzle, director of the Fraunhofer IAO, delves into the virtual world.

Immersive Participation Lab

Huge interest in the reopening of the CAVE on 22 October 2024.
© Bernd Müller, Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive Participation Lab

Multilateral stereo projection environments also allow groups of decision-makers to visit virtual site models together.
© Bernd Müller, Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive Participation Lab

Overlapping VR scenes and 2D content offer ideal support for sessions and provide all the information needed for decision-making.
© Bernd Müller, Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive Participation Lab

Intense, high-definition stereo images are projected onto the back of the display wall. The fact that the projector’s residual heat is used for heating the building serves as an example of the meticulous planning that went into the lab.
© Bernd Müller, Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive Participation Lab

Using markers on the viewer’s 3D glasses, precise optical positioning permits to-scale overlapping of the real viewer with the virtual scene.
© Uwe Völkner | Fotoagentur FOX

Immersive Participation Lab

Multilateral stereo projection environments enable a dia-logue at eye level. Specialists and laypeople experience a new culture of communication.
© Uwe Völkner | Fotoagentur FOX

Immersive Participation Lab

In a virtual planning session, an installation’s shift supervisor provides the planning team with valuable information about optimizing processes.
© Ludmilla Parsyak, Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive construction meeting

Even complex issues such as results of a thermal simulation can be discussed using immersive visualization systems.
© VRfx Screenshot, Fraunhofer IAO

Immersive construction meeting: Building Information Modelling

Digital building models from the planning phase form the basis for an up-to-date, valid and cost-effective visualization. Such models are produced using the building information modeling (BIM) method, and they can be linked directly to visualization systems via interfaces.
© Ludmilla Parsyak, Fraunhofer IAO

Digital planning and experience

It is not always necessary to use expensive CAVEs for visualization from the outset. The market already offers a wide range of reasonably priced, portable immersive systems. The image shows a 3D TV set, which is used as an interactive 3D system in the participation at Fraunhofer IAO.

Research topics

The Immersive Participation Lab IPLab is a work and presentation environment, which allows for accurately rendering immersive 3D graphics in real-time. Using Virtual Reality (VR), virtual prototyping is applied to a variety of sectors. The research focusses not only on VR technology and software interfaces for seamlessly integrating data from various sources, but also on methods to design custom VR-sessions for collaborative decision-making.

A key target group is the construction sector, which is currently making the digital transition towards building information modeling (BIM). In the IELab, the BIM model becomes a 1:1-scale prototype of the building, to walk through and experience. This way stakeholders can have what is known as an »immersive site consultation meeting« and make decisions efficiently.

Further potential applications:

  • Product development
  • Ergonomic evaluation
  • Production planning
  • Urban planning

Facilities

The main component of the laboratory is a 3D projection system with a powerwall measuring 5.5 meters in length and 3.4 meters in height and a built-in four-sided CAVE. For these, 11 projectors produce a picture of 45 million pixels that is so rich in intensity and contrast, that a lab flooded with daylight is no problem. Real-time visualization and a high-precision tracking system allow users to immerse themselves in the virtual environment. Combining the VR-system with modern conferencing infrastructure means that meetings can benefit from both: conventional face-to-face contact and VR. This turns »virtual prototyping« into »immersive participation«.