VR-Chart
Virtual Reality Goes Small—The Latest Development from the Future Office Project

2002

Gerfried Stocker (AT)
Dietmar Offenhuber (AT)
Horst Hörtner (AT)
Christopher Lindinger (AT)
Robert Abt (AT)
Wolfgang Ziegler (AT)
Florian Berger (AT)
Erwin Reitböck (AT)
Stefan Feldler (AT)
Scott Ritter (AT) (US)

The chart featuring enhanced media and communications capabilities is a prototype of a flexible media platform in which VR technologies in compact form and suitable for everyday office use have been integrated for the first time.

The ARSBOX mode of 3D representation in virtual space developed at the Ars Electronica Futurelab makes possible a versatile display or presentation tailored to the particular requirements of the material. It's easy to transfer work on paper into the computer and to disseminate it via the Internet.

The ARSBOX will introduce VR applications into totally new contexts—for instance, into the telematic working environments that the Ars Electronica Futurelab has been designing as part of its "Future Office Project", an effort to develop and test prototypes for the workplace of the future.

As a follow-up to the "Future Office Table", an additional component will be presented this year—the "VR-Chart" that contains a high-performance stereoscopic VR system with an integrated projection surface in addition to its array of technical features to support conferences and seminars.

The "VR-Chart", which is not that much larger than its analog counterpart, was developed in collaboration with Scott Ritter, one of the Ars Electronica Futurelab's long-time associates who has repeatedly been called upon to come up with solutions to challenging architectural and design problems.