Voluble is a dynamic space-time diagram of the solar system. Voluble is designed to help users understand the relationship between space and time in the motion of the planets around the sun. Voluble is set in virtual reality to relate these movements to our experience of immediate space. Beyond just the visual, understanding dynamic systems is naturally associated to the articulation of our bodies as we perform a number of complex calculations, albeit unconsciously, to deal with simple tasks. Such capabilities encompass spatial perception and memory. Voluble investigates the balance between the visually abstract and the spatially figurative in immersive development to help illuminate phenomena that are beyond the reach of human scale and time. While most diagrams, even computer-based interactive ones, are flat, three-dimensional real-time virtual reality representations are closer to our experience of space. The representation can be seen as if it was "really there," engaging a larger number of cues pertaining to our everyday spatial experience.

Date Published: 8 February 2008
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 6804, The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality 2008, 68040A (8 February 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.773176

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6804:
The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality 2008
Ian E. McDowall; Margaret Dolinsky, Editor(s)