Actuality Systems (www.actuality-systems.com) has been developing a volumetric system that allows for the display of voxels, or volume pixels of information in a physical volume of space. Now, the four-year old company has hired a new president and CEO to take the firm to the next level of development.

About a year ago, the company demonstrated it first working prototype volumetric display system. It uses a modified DLP projector to display pixels on a rotating screen under a clear hemispherical dome. As the screen rotates, it sweeps out a volume in space. Since the projected image at each screen location changes, the rapidly rotating screen creates voxels of dtat that give the appearance of a fully-three-dimensional image. Viewers can walk around this image gaining different perspectives from each view. The system is particularly good to visualizing complex objects and spatial relationships, like molecules.

But development of the volumetric display system is not that helpful unless many types of data can be displayed on it easily. Actuality recognized this early on and adopted open GL as a way to allow other applications to more easily interface to the volumetric display. The company used this standard to develop algorithms to map 3D data into data that can be displayed on a volumetric display.

New CEO and president, Cameron Lewis, has now helped developed the next strategy the company will pursue to open up the market for what is calls, spatial display platforms. "Open GL allows us to link some standard 3D packages like SolidWorks to our spatial display platform. You can actually see both the rendering of the 3D image on a 2D screen at the same time as seeing on our spatial display platform, said Lewis. "But after talking with our first three beta site customers, we believe we need to go further in developing the support tools for this display system."

Actuality DNA photo

As a result, the company will now embark on an effort to enhance certain applications of spatial rendering, presumably to support it initial customers. It will also work on a simulation tool that it will offer to other OEMs and developers to enable more applications. This can be used to embed the spatial display option into next generation applications.

Key to this effort is what Actuality calls the spatial transport protocol, which what does the spatial conversion and rendering for a volumetric display. It hopes this open protocol can become the basis for interface to multiple types of spatial display platforms - not just its own.

Lewis feels he is well equipped to take on this task after having had success stints doing various e-commerce and marketing and acquisition efforts at PatientKeeper, Network Associates / McAfee.com, Netscape, and MedicaLogic.

In the last 6 months, Actuality has improved contrast and jitter in its first generation system, as well as adding a reference viewing position. Four of these systems were built and three have been sold for around $40K each, with additional revenue coming in for support services.

Over the remained of 2002, it plans to build 10 more systems. Lewis notes it has over 1100 leads to mine for the sale of these 10 units.

The company is also about to close a series B round of financing, which should fund all these activities. - Chris Chinnock

Contact: Actuality Systems, Cameron Lewis, Cameron@actuality-systems.com, (781) 229-7553

Chris Chinnock, chris@insightmedia.info

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