Groundbreaking 4K CAVE Facility for Jaguar and Land Rover

Click image to view Holovis Video

 

Weybridge, UK, 15 January 2008- Sony has partnered with HoloVis International in a $4million investment by Jaguar and Land Rover into a state-of-the-art 'Computer Aided Virtual Environment (CAVE)'. This industry-leading facility uses specialist Sony 4K projection technology to create a virtual reality environment for simulating vehicle exteriors and interiors and assisting in rapid development and testing of all areas of the vehicle programme.

Working with installation and support partners Sun Microsystems and IC:IDO, HoloVis and Sony have created what has been recognised as the most advanced facility of its kind in the world. Jaguar and Land Rover's four-walled 'CAVE' draws on immense projection power; each of the eight Sony SRX-S105 high resolution projectors installed is as powerful as the strongest projector used in any of today's hi-tech cinemas and their native 4K resolution provides a visual quality that outstrips existing industry CAVEs by producing photo realistic images.

2 SRX-S105 4K Projectors

 

At over 8.8 Mega pixels (4096 x 2160), the SRX-S105 projector accommodates images with an ultra-high resolution that is over four times as clear as the latest High Definition television. This provides two major benefits; pixels so tiny that images are free from visible pixel structure, even when viewed at close quarters, and displaying ultra-high resolution images from a single projector eliminates the more complicated requirements of multi-projector systems using edge blending.

Director of Engineering for Jaguar and Land Rover, Al Kammerer explains, "This is a key advance in our development toolbox. The awesome power of this project is unparalleled in our industry worldwide and will allow us to produce new vehicles on a much quicker timeline, to update and develop more responsively to customer trends and to be considerably more efficient as well."

 

Indeed, this next-generation virtual environment for Jaguar and Land Rover will allow engineers and designers to see life-size models of vehicles and components at a contrast ratio of greater than 1800:1. Reproducing the images with such rich and precise colour tonal detail ensures a realistic effect, while the use of 3-D glasses again lends itself to the experience of 'ultimate realism'. The SRX-S105 therefore reduces the need for physical prototypes, significantly speeding up product development cycles and thus saving both time and money in the process. As Raj Pandya, General Manager for Sony UK confirms, “The Sony 4K projectors are four times the resolution of High Definition, meaning it is almost impossible to see pixels on this size screen. These projectors are now going to affect the automotive market in a drastic way."

The new CAVE is due to be completed and operational at Jaguar and Land Rover's Gaydon engineering centre by Spring 2008.