The MARquette Visualization Lab (MARVL): An Immersive Virtual Environment for Research, Teaching and Collaboration

Abstract

The MARquette Visualization Lab (MARVL) is a large-scale immersive virtual environment for research, teaching, collaboration and outreach at our mid-sized liberal arts university. MARVL consists of multiple display surfaces including an extra wide front wall and floor, and two side walls. This resource includes stereoscopic viewing, motion tracking and space for a large audience. MARVL’s versatile configuration facilitates viewing of content by 30 people, while also projecting on the entire width of the floor. This feature uniquely facilitates comparative or separate content visible simultaneously via 'split mode' operation (two 3-sided environments), as well as detailed motion for applications such as gait analysis and performing arts. Since establishing the lab, its members have received numerous queries and requests pertaining to how system attributes and applications were determined, suggesting these and related decisions remain a challenge nearly 3 decades since the first CAVE was constructed. This paper provides an overview of MARVL including the processes used in identifying a diverse group of cross campus users, understanding their collective vision for potential use, and synthesizing this information to create the resource described above. The subsequent design, qualitative and quantitative approaches to vendor selection, and software decisions are then discussed. Steps implemented for dealing with simulator sickness and latency are presented along with current approaches being implemented for project development with end-users. Finally, we present results from the use of MARVL by several end-users identified in the early planning stages, and recent upgrades to the system.