Facilities

From HIT Lab NZ

The HIT Lab NZ provides a large number of research and development capabilities available for different research projects and collaborations.

A large number of these different environments are dedicated to Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Visualization, Video-conferencing, Tangible Interaction but also for more general empirical or applied CHI related projects.

Facilities

For more information about facilities and the building download a 3D virtual model of the lab..

Equipment

Equipment is also available for different experimentations or user studies, going from low level development (hardware&software), to evaluation and documentation (e.g. multimedia recording and video analysing).

Hardware - AR / MR

The HIT Lab NZ is one of the most equipped labs in the world for doing AR and MR Research. The lab owns a large range of HMDs (Sony, E-Magin, etc), alternative display technologies (MagicBook Handheld, Sony Vaio UMPC, mobile phones), electronic equipment (Arduino Boards, Proprietary Microcontroller Boards) or different tracking technologies (Intersense Inertia Cube3, GPS, Wii, etc).

Favoring the usage of Computer Vision for AR tracking, the lab offers a large variety and range of cameras: off the shelf webcams (USB, USB2), PtGrey Firewire camera, semi-professional DV/HDV cameras or stereo camera systems (Pointgrey BumbleBee, etc).

Hardware - VR

VR Research is supported largely by the VisionSpace and the usage of the complimentary Lab Room environment (hybrid collaborative environment, like integrating a video avatar into a 3D world). Additionally, different video projectors (NEC Visual System WT600, HP Digital Projector xb31, Depth Q 3D Projector, Dell 5100MP), 3D devices (Space Navigator, Space SpaceTraveler, Space Explorer) or other tracking systems (MotionStar, ART Tracker, Intersense, HiBall Tracker, TrackIR, Flock of Birds) are available.

Hardware - Multitouch

Finally, the lab is also equipped for multitouch tabletop/screen research (like with NextWindow touchscreen technology), CSCW research:

Software

The HIT Lab NZ has also a large list of professional development and research software available. The HIT Lab NZ is using largely open-source libraries and software that can be accessed by students during their research work on any platform (e.g. ARToolKit, Python, Processing, Blender, etc). Complimentary, we have at our availability a large number of commercial and high quality tools like:

• Development Tools: Visual Studio, Visual .NET, Symbian OS, Adobe Flash Pro, Quest3D
• Scientific Tools: Matlab, SolidWorks (through University)
• Multimedia Tools: Autodesk 3DS Max, Alias Maya, Right Hemisphere Deep Exploration, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop
• Evaluation, Statistics Software: SPSS (through University)

Finally, the multi-disciplinary team of the lab (electronics, psychology, computer science) will provide full and broad support during the development of any of your projects!!