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many other businesses and academia gave high praise to VirtuSphere. Created and hosted by Dr.
Thomas Furness, Dr. Suzanne Weghorst and the great team at the Human Interface Technology
Lab, the event, held on August 9-10, 2005 was an excellent forum to demo our technology. A
special honor for us was that Douglas Trumbull (creator of the "Back to the future" simulator ride
for Universal and special effects author for Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and
2001: A Space Odyssey) took the VirtuSphere for a spin.
Sammamish Startup to Work with Leading Virtual Reality Lab in Identifying Commercial Markets for its
Technology
July 6, 2005, SAMMAMISH, Wash. -- VirtuSphere, Inc. today announced that it will team with the University of
Washington’s Human Interface Technology (HIT) Laboratory and renowned virtual reality research scientist
Suzanne Weghorst to explore new market opportunities for the company’s patented VirtuSphere™ product.
The simulation platform enables lifelike movements in virtual reality and delivers an innovative interface that
allows users to walk or even run in cyberspace.
The joint work is being made possible through a Research and Technology Development (RTD) grant
received from the Washington Technology Center (WTC). WTC awards more than $1.3 million annually
through is RTD grants program to university researchers teamed with entrepreneurial technology
companies on projects that show commercial potential. Applicants compete for this funding, which WTC
awards as public investment in technology research to spark economic growth through company and job
creation.
“We are very grateful for the award. The WTC has also provided excellent support for our company by
giving us valuable guidance, connecting us with top researchers and potential manufacturing partners in the
State of Washington,” said Alexey Palladin, CEO of VirtuSphere, Inc. “We chose Washington as our base
because of the richness of talent and a tremendous ecosystem and resources for high tech development.
We are honored that the world’s leading Virtual Reality laboratory and the team lead by Suzanne Weghorst
will be working with us. The University of Washington’s HIT Lab has a long history of creating breakthroughs
in technology and in applying their knowledge to helping people learn and heal through virtual
environments. We are confident that through our joint work we will find new uses and new users for the
VirtuSphere”.
The VirtuSphere and HIT Lab proposal was evaluated by the WTC’s Advisory Committee – a group
comprised of academic and business leaders from technology companies including Battelle, Boeing,
Microvision, and Paccar – who forwarded their recommendations to the WTC’s board of directors.
“The Washington Technology Center is pleased to provide research funding to this team,” said Laura
Dorsey, technical services manager, WTC. “The tremendous expertise in virtual reality at the UW HIT Lab
and VirtuSphere’s plans for growing the company are impressive.”
Virtual reality (VR) simulation was valued in 2003 at $42 billion worldwide and is projected to reach $78
billion by 2008 according to CyberEdge Information Services, a leading VR research firm. VR technology
holds significant promise and potential for a host of applications including education and training,
rehabilitation, recreation, and data visualization.
One of the key barriers for VR has been the lack of devices that allow users to move freely and navigate
naturally in virtual environments. The VirtuSphere omni-directional locomotion device provides a highly
effective and robust solution to this problem, allowing lifelike movements with full-range of motion.
VirtuSphere’s primary market is military training and simulation. Through this project, the team will explore
application of this technology to new commercial markets including interactive education, rehabilitation, and
movement-based gaming.
“The HIT Lab has been looking at omni-directional interfaces for some time, and we are convinced that
VirtuSphere has developed the most elegant and effective solution for navigating within virtual
environments,” said Weghorst, senior research scientist and assistant director of research at the HIT Lab.
“We're pleased and excited to have this opportunity to help further its potential.”
The RTD grant funded Phase 1 of the project began on July 1, 2005 and is scheduled to be completed
within 9 months.
For more information about VirtuSphere please visit www.virtusphere.com or write to:
info(at)virtusphere(dot)com.
For a video demonstration please see www.virtusphere.com/videos.
For more information about the HIT Lab please visit http://www.hitl.washington.edu/
For more information about the WTC please visit http://www.watechcenter.org/
