Multi-Dimensional, User-Oriented Synthetic Enviornment (MuUse): A Standard Collaborative Tool for Building Virtual Worlds

This proposal is to design a standard collaborative tool that will link together geographically separated experts at specialized workstations with disparate data, source materials, algorithms and domain knowledge, for the purpose of creating geospecific virtual worlds. The proposed standard collaborative tools will be based on the proven functionality of the Multi-dimensional, user-oriented Synthetic Environment, MuUSE (pronounced "muse"). Developed at Sandia National Laboratories and licensed to MuSE Technologies, Inc., MuUSE has already demonstrated its utility in transforming many kinds of data into 3D, time-based representations -- including digital terrain data, CAD data, MRI and CT-scan data, and applications programs, while simultaneously displaying text, still photographs and video. These basic functionalities allow MuUSE to access, process, manipulate and integrate CAD, digital map data, geographic information systems, and models and simulations, all of which are necessary elements in creating and using geospecific virtual worlds. MuUSE is a wrap-around synthetic envrionment shell, designed to enhance human-computer collaboration. Both hardware and software independent, it provides interactive user tools for many desirable functions. It is designed for real-time operations, and support and displays simultaneous heterogeneous environments, e.g., flat screen displays, VR displays, audio and haptic devices. The architecture also supports shared, networked environments.