PROJECTS

CAVEkiosk: A VR Tool for Outreach and Research in Archaeology

The CAVEkiosk at UC San Diego is a high-definition virtual reality system located on the ground floor of the university’s Geisel Library. One of a number of such kiosks stationed at University of California campuses at Berkeley, Merced and Los Angeles, the CAVEkiosk uses a combination of panoramic imagery, data point clouds and 3D models to create a lifelike display of threatened cultural sites around the globe. Currently, visitors to the Geisel Library can use the CAVEkiosk to explore sites in Greece, Egypt, Israel and Jordan.

The UC San Diego CAVEkiosk also operates as a research hub connecting scientists on the forefront of archaeological research. Through a high-speed network called the Pacific Research Platform, or PRP, researchers can now share and access 3D archaeological datasets collected from anywhere in the world at kiosks on participating UC campuses. The shared system is designed to help researchers collaborate toward archiving and ultimately preserving at-risk cultural heritage sites.

This project was spearheaded by Dr. Thomas Levy and Dr. Jurgen Schulze. Funding was provided by a Research Catalyst award from the University of California Office of the President.

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Jurgen Shulze

DIRECTOR

Dr. Jurgen Schulze is an Associate Research Scientist at UCSD’s Qualcomm Institute, and an Associate Adjunct Professor in the computer
science department, where he teaches computer graphics and virtual reality. His research interests include applications for virtual and augmented reality systems, 3D human-computer interaction, and medical data visualization. He holds an M.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. After his graduation he spent two years as a post-doctoral researcher in the Computer Science Department at Brown University working on real-time volume rendering in virtual reality.

EDUCATION

Virtual reality is a great tool for education. At IVC, we’re using VR to help hospital patients better understand conditions impacting their health, and to bring threatened cultural sites around the globe to public universities.

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DATA ANALYSIS

Our augmented reality technology offers anyone the power to visualize large, multidimensional datasets in 3D. Users can interact with and manipulate datasets through hand gestures or a 3D controller. 

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ENGINEERING

We invite researchers to share fresh, innovative ideas to support the IVC’s mission to improve artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality technologies. Our goal is to create a space and provide the resources for you to develop new and exciting tools for research across the board.

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DEFENSE

At IVC, we’re partnering with the Stanford Research Institute to increase the accuracy of artificial intelligence for use in public platforms and military and national defense.

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MEDICINE

We’re using virtual reality to transform hospital patients’ MRI/CT scans into interactive, 3D models to improve surgical outcomes and give patients a deeper understanding of their body and condition.

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