The way in which R&D on a PC-CAVE solution proceeded is a typical example of research undertakings that have been initiated in the Futurelab and have subsequently led to wide-ranging improvements to computer solutions that were in use at the time to perform specific tasks in a variety of different fields.

Motivated by the desire to facilitate artists’ access to elaborate VR systems, the Futurelab began at a very early stage to seek ways to replace extremely costly hardware components with PC technology. Our private-sector associate, VOEST Alpine Industrieanlagenbau GmbH (VAI), in turn, was interested in a system that would enable its staff to carry out research projects in-house that they previously had been able to conduct only at a great cost of time and effort using the Ars Electronica Center’s infrastructure.
The Futurelab staff finally succeeded in coming up with a solution based on Linux clusters that made it possible to create a platform to enable users in both cultural and industrial fields to carry out projects that had previously been unaffordable. The Onyx replacement developed in collaboration with the Department of Business Computing (Prof. Gustav Pomberger, occupant of the Chair for Software Engineering,) of the Johannes Kepler University of Linz, VAI, VRCO Inc. and the Laboratoire d'Informatique d'Orléans provided a starting point. Its structure was upgraded in the Futurelab to the ARS BOX, whose functionality surpasses that of the original CAVE model. It is possible to stereoscopically play projection surfaces with up to 64 screens in the classical CAVE configuration, independently of each other, or as a panorama (VR dome, curved surfaces).