October 27, 2005
High-tech haunted house hits Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Envision Center for Data Perceptualization will be put to chilling use on Halloween (Monday, Oct. 31) as a virtual reality system turns a "cave" accessed by a tunnel between Purdue Memorial Union and the Stewart Center into a haunted house.
|
Fifteen-minute tours of "Castle Highmoore" will be offered to the public free of charge between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The program, created by computer graphics students Justin Heisler and Jack Moreland, will take visitors into the bowels of a medieval dungeon. Groups of more than 20 people are encouraged to call in advance.
Normally, the center is used to create life-like simulations of real-world phenomena, from storm systems to cellular life, and to help far-flung teams of engineers to collaborate on projects from automobile design to oil prospecting. The center is one of the most capable facilities in the country for the practice of computational science. The interdisciplinary center also includes a next-generation telecommunications facility and computers that simulate solid objects via "haptics" displays.
Inside "Castle Highmoore," 3-D goggles, a hand-held remote control, surrounding sound and sensors that detect where a visitor is looking help create an interactive experience that plays on fears and phobias.
"We wanted to do something that messed with people's perceptions," Heisler said about the class project he spent months making. "This does that."
Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu
Sources: Nancy Dietrich, Envision Center user service coordinator, (765) 494-9788, nmdietrich@purdue.edu
Justin Heisler, (765) 418-1609, heislerj@purdue.edu
Jack Moreland, (765) 464-8391, morelandj@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue computer graphics technology students Justin Heisler, from left, and Jack Moreland examine details in the virtual reality haunted mansion they created for a class project in the university's Envision Center for Data Perceptualization. "Castle Highmoore" is available for free public tours on Halloween day. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/envision-halloween.jpg.
To the News Service home page