Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has been awarded a contract to provide Daimler AG a Traffic and Experimental Control (TEC) Software package for their next generation driving simulator.
April, 2008

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has been awarded a contract to provide Daimler AG a Traffic and Experimental Control (TEC) Software package for their next generation driving simulator.

The new driving simulator will be located at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center (MTC) in Sindelfingen, Germany, to further extent and intensify the simulator’s use within the car development process of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Planned main improvements of the new facility are increased motion dynamics, needed for realistic drive dynamic assessments of digital prototype cars, as well as new traffic simulation software to reproduce complex interactions such as inner-city scenarios in a lifelike fashion to develop and evaluate future driver assistance systems.

The Traffic and Experimental Control module for the simulator will be designed to provide a flexible interface to the other subsystems of Daimler’s new simulator in order to control experimental conditions and study a variety of driving situations. The TEC will provide a means for generating autonomous traffic on predefined OpenDrive road databases, generate scripted traffic and pedestrian events; control data collection; and place and control objects such as traffic lights, traffic cones, and other barriers. Finally the TEC system will include an advanced user interface to allow the user to quickly configure new driving situations and modify currently executing scenarios.

The Traffic and Experimental Software for the Daimler Driving Simulator leverages some of Realtime Technologies, Inc.’s current software solutions including SimCreator and SimVista. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real time simulation and modeling software package. SimCreator's GUI interface allows users to quickly develop distributed simulation models by adding and connecting components. Models are developed without writing a single line of C code. SimVista utilizes database tiles that can be arranged within a virtual world to make a seamless driving environment. Users can select tiles to represent a variety of driving environments. Correlated data which defines roadways, intersections, and traffic flows are then saved to the database by adding a series of control objects and parameter specifications. SimVista ships with a flexible set of control objects such as sensors and timers that allow the user to define the series of events and actions that will be experienced during a simulation drive. These sensors, when triggered, initiate scripted actions consisting of vehicle or human model behavior, environmental conditions, or measurement capabilities. Vehicle and human models can be directed to perform specific actions based on the driver’s performance. Measurements can be captured and stored for subsequent analysis.

Starting from Daimler’s current simulator configuration, RTI will utilize Daimler’s existing OpenFlight databases and OpenDrive road files. A maneuver designer will be developed that will allow non-programmers to develop maneuver scripts in SimVista’s JavaScript authoring language. An advanced authoring user interface will be developed to allow a user to select a set of pre-defined maneuvers and develop complex traffic situations and scenarios. In the user interface, the user will select and position maneuvers relative to other maneuvers or absolutely using a 2D map. The user will also be able to select a set of maneuvers and assemble them into a scenario. When triggered by the user either a single maneuver or a complete scenario will be loaded and executed by SimCreator.

The functionality developed for the TEC module will be offered as an upgrade for RTI’s current SimVista customers. The new functionality will include new JavaScript commands, the maneuver designer, and the authoring user interface.

Daimler is a leading supplier of premium passenger cars as well as the world‘s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. With its strong brands and its comprehensive portfolio of automobiles from compact cars to heavy-duty engine trucks which are completed by tailor-made services along the automotive value chain, Daimler is active in nearly all countries in the world. Brands of Daimler are Mercedes-Benz, smart, Maybach, AMG, Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star, Mitsubishi Fuso, Setra, Detroit Diesel, Thomas Built Buses, Orion. Daimler has manufacturing facilities in 17 countries with about 270000 employees. For more information please visit www.daimler.com

Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI) specializes in real time multibody vehicle dynamics, and graphical simulation and modeling. We offer simulation software applications, consulting, custom engineering, software, and hardware development. RTI’s customer base includes university researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada, international, government and private entities.

Founded in 1998, RTI is based in Royal Oak, Michigan, and has satellite offices in Lafayette, Colorado, and South Jordan, Utah.

Realtime Technologies, Inc. Awarded Contract by Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute to Provide High Fidelity Motion Based Vehicle Simulator
January, 2008

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has been awarded a contract to provide Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute with a high-fidelity 6-DOF motion based vehicle simulator. Founded in 1994 by the Montana and California Departments of Transportation, in cooperation with Montana State University, the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) has grown from a small, university research office into a nationally recognized center of excellence in transportation research and education. WTI employs a professional staff of over 60 engineers and scientists and conducts research for sponsors in 35 states and 5 countries.

WTI is congressionally chartered as a center for the study of rural surface transportation. At WTI, they have always taken a holistic approach to transportation and the environment. WTI believes that the transportation system can be improved at the same time that the environment is protected, when a collaborative approach to research by engineers, human factors specialists, and roadway ecologists is adopted. The WTI human factors team conducts research on driver performance, safety, training, intelligent transportation systems, and engineering visualization.

WTI currently has a vehicle simulator for its studies but is now adding an RTI provided vehicle simulator to support increased fidelity studies. An example of this is driving in terrain with mountains and trees where the influence of sunny versus shady areas occurs. In the real world, shady areas are more likely to have icy or wet roadways providing reduced roadway friction. The alternating areas of light and dark also affect the driver’s vision and may hide an obstacle or curve in the deeper shadows. The current WTI simulator does not have this ability to simulate shadows. RTI’s SimLights tool provides light-mapping support to facilitate these types of lighting environments.

SimLights is one of RTI’s line of Multigen Creator plug-ins. SimLights is a full-featured and highly configurable lightmap generation tool that dramatically simplifies the task of adding high quality shadows to an existing OpenFlight database (version 15.7 or newer). SimLights can pre-render your database, generating a series of lightmaps that correspond to the lighting contributions from all static lights in the scene. The light maps are automatically applied to the geometry as a secondary texture layer, while maintaining full OpenFlight compatibility.

Other key components included in this contract are RTI’s SimCreator and SimVista software packages. SimCreator provides the core software of the vehicle simulator. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real-time simulation and modeling system. It includes high-fidelity vehicle dynamic models that are reconfigurable to represent different vehicles as needed.

RTI’s SimVista will provide a tile-based scenario and database authoring tool. SimVista utilizes database tiles that can be visually arranged within a virtual world to make a seamless driving environment. Users select tiles to represent a variety of driving environments and drag and drop them into their scenario. Each tile has a set of correlated data which defines roadways, intersections, and traffic flows. This data is saved to the database by adding a series of control objects and parameters specifications. With SimVista, WTI will be able to quickly create and control simulation scene, scenario and object interaction via a modern user interface capability.

This new simulator will have (2) cabs that are quickly interchangeable with the FCS/MOOG 6-DOF motion base. In addition a scenario control subsystem that includes ambient traffic simulation, scripted events, relational behaviors and environmental controls will be provided. The cab/control loading subsystem provided by RTI creates the physical controls and operational environment for the driver. This subsystem also collects data and performs measurement functions from the simulator for research analysis.

The visual subsystem handles all real time visual rendering processes, including animated and static objects in the scene. This makes what the driver sees out the window seem very realistic. The projector based visuals component is able to render VRML or OpenFlight databases in real time at 60Hz using resolutions for the WTI simulator of 1400 x 1050 resolution at 32-bit color depth at 3000 ANSI Lumens.

The audio software and hardware provided with the simulator give audio cues that match what the driver would expect under the conditions being simulated. Synthesized sounds include engine, wind, tire whine, and noise from other vehicles.

RTI’s SimObserver will provide a digital video capture subsystem containing both software and hardware components that are used to collect real time data streams and events for later analysis. Key features include direct video capture to high quality MPEG-2 format, real time video titling, up to four camera views, event markers and review, and a remote command interface. The video and data streams are synchronized for a seamless after action review. Data Distillery will also be provided to facilitate data reduction and analysis.

In addition, RTI will also provide line of sight ray casting into the scene. This will facilitate researchers to trigger events and collect data based on the object in the scene that the driver is looking at. This level of functionality enables researchers to study a variety of interesting research questions with a level of fidelity that has not been provided in the past.

Key personnel involved with the MSU simulator include Dr. Nicholas Ward (Senior Research Scientist and Professor of Industrial Engineering), Dr, Michael Kelly (Senior Research Scientist), and Suzanne Lassacher (Simulation Lab Manager).

Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI) specializes in real time multibody vehicle dynamics, and graphical simulation and modeling. We offer simulation software applications, consulting, custom engineering, software, and hardware development. RTI’s customer base includes university researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada, international, government and private entities. Founded in 1998, RTI is based in Royal Oak, Mich., and has satellite offices in Lafayette, Colo., and South Jordan, Utah.

Contact:  Clayne Woodbury
Phone:  (801) 647-4672

2007 News, Articles and Releases

Realtime Technologies, Inc. To Provide Michigan Based Visteon Corporation with Vehicle Simulator for Advanced Vehicle Design Research
November 30, 2007

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has been awarded a contract to provide Visteon Corporation with a high-fidelity vehicle simulator for use in human factors research and vehicle design. Visteon Corporation is a leading global automotive supplier that designs, engineers and manufactures innovative climate, interior, electronic and lighting products for vehicle manufacturers.

RTI’s SimCreator provides the core software of the vehicle simulator. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real-time simulation and modeling system. It includes high-fidelity vehicle dynamic models that are reconfigurable to represent different vehicles as needed. SimVista, another RTI software package, is also included. SimVista is a tile-based scene and scenario authoring system.

Other key components include a cab/control loading subsystem which offers physical controls and operational environment for the driver. Other key components included in this simulator are the scenario control subsystem that includes ambient traffic simulation, scripted events, relational behaviors and environmental controls. This subsystem also collects data and performs measurement functions of the simulator for research analysis.

The visual subsystem handles all real time visual rendering processes, including animated and static objects in the scene. This makes what the driver sees out the window seem very realistic.

The audio software and hardware provide audio cues to match what the driver would expect under the conditions being simulated. Synthesized sounds include engine, wind, tire whine, and noise from other vehicles.

RTI’s SimVista will provide a tile-based scenario and database authoring tool. SimVista utilizes database tiles that can be arranged within a virtual world to make a seamless driving environment. Users select tiles to represent a variety of driving environments. Correlated data which defines roadways, intersections, and traffic flows are then saved to the database by adding a series of control objects and parameters specifications. With SimVista, Visteon will be able to quickly create and control simulation scene, scenario and object interaction via a modern user interface capability.

The Visteon driving simulator will be used to support on-site usability and validation testing for future consumer-interfacing products and concepts. These HMI products and concepts support key business opportunities for Visteon’s Electronics, Interiors and Climate product groups. This equipment will provide Visteon with the capability to conduct data-driven rapid prototype and full product usability tests that will support research and product development.

Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI) specializes in real time multibody vehicle dynamics, and graphical simulation and modeling. We offer simulation software applications, consulting, custom engineering, software, and hardware development. RTI’s customer base includes university researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada, international, government and private entities. Founded in 1998, RTI is based in Royal Oak, Mich., and has satellite offices in Lafayette, Colo., and South Jordan, Utah.

Contact:  Clayne Woodbury
Phone:  (801) 647-4672

Realtime Technologies, Inc. Joins With AAI Corporation, Battelle and MetaVR to Create High Fidelity MRAP Vehicle Model for Realistic Training Demonstration at I/ITSEC 2007 Conference
November 21, 2007

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI), AAI Corporation, Battelle and MetaVR Incorporated have teamed to create a demonstration for I/ITSEC 2007 in (RTI booth # 3829, AAI booth # 3517and MetaVR booth #1901) that shows a simulated military vehicle operating in a virtual 3D environment, in a scenario for use in training military personnel on Force Protection operations ranging from individual cognitive and procedural skills to collective interactions between UAV operators and route clearance teams. The scenario created for I/TSEC 2007 shows off the collective capabilities of these companies to model one of the military’s key mine resistant-ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles both visually and dynamically. For this scenario, the MRAP vehicle matches the true characteristics of a specific Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle (MPCV) called the “Buffalo” (see image), which plays a critical role in route clearance team operations. It features a highly articulated interrogation arm that has been accurately modeled to ensure maximum training benefit. In this true to life environment the vehicle operators must perform as they would in the real-world in order to successfully complete their assigned task. The true transfer of knowledge from this virtual environment to real world operations is essential to any successful training simulation. The capabilities featured in this demonstration represent a critical step towards accomplishing this goal by RTI, AAI, MetaVR and Battelle.

AAI Corporation, Battelle, MetaVR Inc., and Realtime Technologies Inc., pooled their technologies and skills for this demonstration, and look forward to the feedback and suggestions from attendees of I/ITSEC 2007 in their continued efforts to anticipate and meet the military’s force protection needs.

About AAI, Battelle, MetaVR, and Realtime Technologies
AAI Corporation, founded in 1950, is a global corporation whose products and services include an array of innovative aerospace and defense technologies.

The company’s businesses range from tactical unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marines and allied armed forces to training and simulation systems, automated aircraft test and maintenance equipment, armament systems, aviation ground support equipment, logistical and engineering services, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities.

AAI is headquartered is Hunt Valley, Maryland. The company also has key facilities in Charleston, South Carolina; Choctaw, Mississippi; Sierra Vista, Arizona; Huntsville, Alabama; Orlando, Florida; and numerous field offices around the country that support various defense industry customer bases and requirements. AAI has more than 2,500 employees and annual sales of $564 million.

Battelle is the world’s largest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory Management, National Security, Energy Science and Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific discovery and application by conducting $4 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories which Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Battelle also is one of the nation’s leading charitable trusts focusing on societal and economic impact and actively supporting and promoting science and math education. Battelle’s Global National Security business applies science and technology to solve complex technical challenges for the military services and federal agencies. Including the operations of national laboratories, Battelle annually performs nearly $1.6 billion in national security-related work contributing to advances in chemical and biological defense, homeland security, armor, technology refreshment and undersea technology.

MetaVR, Inc., founded in 1997, develops game-quality PC commercial software for the simulation and training markets, featuring high-speed 3D visualization content and rapid creation of networked virtual worlds using real-world data. MetaVR's real-time PC-based visual systems provide the fidelity of geospecific simulation with game-quality graphics. Users can build (with real-world photographic imagery, elevation data, and feature data) high-fidelity virtual worlds with our terrain generation applications, and render in real time, at 60Hz frame rates, the resulting virtual world with our real-time 3D visualization application, Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG)™.

MetaVR systems are used for applications such as urban operations training, unmanned aerial systems and manned flight simulators, environmental disaster management training, and prototyping the JTAC Virtual Trainer Dome. For more information, visit www.metavr.com or send email to: inquiries@metavr.com.

Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) specializes in real time multi-body vehicle dynamics, and graphical simulation and modeling. We offer simulation software applications, consulting, custom engineering, software, and hardware development. RTI’s customer base includes university researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada, international, government and private entities. Founded in 1998, RTI is based in Royal Oak, Michigan, and has satellite offices in Lafayette, Colorado, and South Jordan, Utah.

RTI’s SimCreator provides the core software of the vehicle simulator. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real-time simulation and modeling system. It includes high-fidelity vehicle dynamic models that are reconfigurable to represent different vehicles as needed.

Contact:  Clayne Woodbury
Phone:  (801) 647-4672

RTI Releases New Tractor Trailer Ownship Vehicle Model
November 13, 2007

Royal Oak, MI - Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) is excited to announce that it has released a tractor / trailer vehicle own ship model. RTI specializes in developing many vehicle models, i.e., straight trucks, buses, SUVs, large and small passenger cars and military vehicle models including tracked vehicles that are used in various vehicle simulation products throughout the world for education, military and commercial customer needs. This model is different though because it includes a high fidelity articulated tractor / trailer model combination versus a standard straight vehicle model only with no articulation. The ability to transfer knowledge from training in the virtual environment to performing the same tasks in the real world is critical to any successful simulation training tool. RTI offers complete vehicle simulation software and hardware tools for its customers; some of these features are listed below.

RTI's SimCreator provides the core software of the vehicle simulator. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real-time simulation and modeling system. It includes high-fidelity vehicle dynamic models that are reconfigurable to represent different vehicles as needed.

Other key components include a cab/control loading subsystem which offers physical controls and operational environment for the driver. The scenario control subsystem that includes ambient traffic simulation, scripted events, relational behaviors and environmental controls. This subsystem also collects data and performs measurement functions of the simulator for research analysis.

RTI's SimVista provides a tile-based scenario and database authoring tool. SimVista utilizes database tiles that can be arranged within a virtual world to make a seamless driving environment. Users select tiles to represent a variety of driving environments. Correlated data which defines roadways, intersections, and traffic flows are then saved to the database by adding a series of control objects and parameters specifications

Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI) specializes in real time multibody vehicle dynamics, and graphical simulation and modeling. We offer simulation software applications, consulting, custom engineering, software, and hardware development. RTI's customer base includes university researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada, international, government and private entities. Founded in 1998, RTI is based in Royal Oak, Michigan, and has satellite offices in Lafayette, Colorado, and South Jordan, Utah.

RTI Hires Senior Project Manager
October 2007

Royal Oak, MI - Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has hired Mr. Larry Cathey as a Senior Project Manager, supporting simulator contracts and product development.

Mr. Cathey's immediate responsibilities at Realtime Technologies include teaming with the leading edge expertise at RTI to bring state of the art solutions to customers wanting either new driving simulators or to upgrade existing simulator hardware. Mr. Cathey brings to RTI experience in using driving simulators in a research and development environment.

Mr. Cathey has extensive experience in visual system architecture, visual database development and hardware in the loop (HWIL) vehicle systems development using driving simulation. Mr. Cathey also has extensive experience with design, fabrication and integration of vehicle cabs with motion and non-motion simulators. Prior to joining RTI he worked at the Ford Research Lab for 30 years. The last thirteen years he was part of the team at Ford designing and using a series of driving simulators including the Ford VIRTTEX driving simulator. These simulators were used for many studies including design tradeoff and understanding the HMI aspects of advanced active safety systems that are now appearing on passenger vehicles.

Mr. Cathey has authored and co-authored over 25 papers during his work at the Ford Research labs. Mr. Cathey received numerous awards from his work at Ford. These include the 2006 Manufacturing and Vehicle Design DNA Award for a Pedestrian Hardware in the Loop Development System and the 2004 Henry Ford Technology Award as part of the design and research team for the VIRTTEX Driving Simulator.

Mr. Cathey earned his Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Control Systems at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He earned his Bachelor's in Computer Science at Wayne State in Detroit, Michigan.

Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI) specializes in real time multibody vehicle dynamics, and graphical simulation and modeling. We offer simulation software applications, consulting, custom engineering, software, and hardware development. Realtime Technologies’ customer base includes international, government and private entities. RTI was founded in 1998.

RTI Moves to New Facility
June 2007

Royal Oak, MI - Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) is pleased to announce the opening of its new location at 1523 North Main Street in downtown Royal Oak.

RTI specializes in real time multibody vehicle dynamics, graphical simulation and modeling, and vehicle simulators.  RTI's strength has historically been simulation and modeling software.  However, a significant increase in demand for RTI simulators prompted the move to a facility that offers a suitable environment for developing, constructing and testing simulators and simulation hardware.

Richard Romano, president and CEO says, "The company has grown nearly 50% in the last two years. We needed a larger facility so that we could continue down the same path of success and growth."

Romano founded RTI in 1998 with two employees and his SimCreator software, a real time simulation and modeling system. Since then, Realtime Technologies has grown to 12 employees and added six distinct products:  SimVehicle, SimVista, SimObserver, SimLights, SimForce, and SimSurface.  RTI's products work synergistically to offer simulation developers the technology they need to complete a full vehicle development cycle from design to evaluation.

RTI to Provide Interactive Vehicle Simulator to Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 2007

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has garnered a contract with Discovery World of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to provide the organization with a high-fidelity vehicle simulator. RTI was chosen because it can integrate existing Discovery World hardware with state-of-the-art simulation software. The simulator will be included as one of several interactive technology experiences at Discovery World’s facility.

Discovery World offers a variety of educational, cultural and environmental programs for visitors of all ages. Among the existing science-related experiences is a Rotational Motion Lab in which participants learn about the use of gears, gear rotations and gear ratios. Lab participants build a simple drive train to propel a model vehicle. Realtime Technologies will be providing Discovery World with the virtual embodiment of these concepts by means of simulation software.

Realtime Technologies simulation software is built upon SimCreator, a modeling system that can be configured to represent different vehicles. SimCreator works together with several other RTI products – SimVista, SimForce, SimLights, SimVehicle and the OverTilt Motion Drive Algorithm – to create a realistic driving experience. This experience includes the scenes that are projected in front of the driver, the sensation of forward motion, the movement of the physical simulator components, the views in the side- and rear-view mirrors, and sounds consistent off and on-road driving. The result is a real vehicle that moves and responds to cues symbiotic with a simulated driving experience.

Realtime Technologies is working closely with Discovery World’s Dustin Dupree to integrate the new simulator into the Johnson Controls TechnoJungle exhibit. The simulator will be a centerpiece in the exhibit’s Human Mobility area and will allow visitors to compare the efficiency of different types of vehicles.

Discovery World Ltd., formed through a merger in 2004 with Pier Wisconsin, Ltd., is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to connect innovation, science and technology with exploration, environment and our Great Lakes freshwater resources through interactive exhibits and experiential learning programs.

Discovery World opened to the public in September, 2006. Key features in the 120,000 foot facility include interactive science, technology and freshwater exhibits, learning labs, theaters, television and audio studios, and fresh and saltwater aquariums.  Discovery World is also home to the S/V Denis Sullivan.  The Denis Sullivanis a 137-foot replica of a 19^th century Great Lakes schooner and floating classroom for water education and conservation programs, day and night sails, and private receptions. 

Discovery World’s ticketed spaces are open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  The grounds, promenade, amphitheater and over 450 feet of dock space are free, wi/fi accessible, and open to the public.   To date, Discovery World has welcomed over 185,000 visitors and established over 13,000 memberships.  The entire facility is available for private and corporate events, catered by Bartolotta’s catering and events.  To register for Discovery World labs, studios, programs, expeditions or pleasure sailing, or to book events call 414-765-9966 or visit www.discoveryworld.org. 

RTI Releases SimSurface Visual Terrain Enhancement Toolset
Mar. 26, 2007

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies Inc. (RTI) announced today the availability of SimSurface, RTI's latest toolset for enhancing the realism of simulated terrain models.

SimSurface consists of three Multigen Creator-compatible plug-ins, each of which outputs a high-fidelity surface and a bump map texture.  These textures are mapped to OpenFlight polygons, adding high-frequency detail such as a gravel road to an otherwise flat model.  Adding such details improves the realism of simulated scenes.

SimSurface's NURBS Surface Generator generates parametric (mathematical) surfaces.  These are used for terrain data that repeats in a simulation, such as snow or gravel. 

The product's Height Field Editor generates a discreet or unique surface represented by an array of datapoints. These are used to represent surfaces like a manhole cover that is raised above a street in one location. The height field editor is also a paint-style program that allows users to create surfaces with a 3D brush. 

The third SimSurface plug-in is an Auto Normal-Mapper. This plug-in converts color textures into height fields in a batch process, saving users time and repetitive effort. Depending on the effect desired, the user simply chooses the appropriate plug-in.  

SimSurface joins SimLights in RTI’s Creator Plug-in family. 

MultiGen-Paradigm supplies real-time 3D solutions for visualization, simulation and training applications. MultiGen-Paradigm'sCreator software creates highly optimized, high-fidelity real time 3D content for use in visual simulation, urban simulation and other applications. MultiGen’s OpenFlight is the standard real time 3D format for developing and delivering visual simulation applications. OpenFlight's logical, hierarchical scene description file format informs a real time image generator what, when, and how to render, resulting in real time 3D scenes.

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RTI Announces Participation in SAE2007
Mar. 26, 2007

ROYAL OAK, MI - Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) announced today its plan to exhibit at the Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) World Congress April 16-19, in Detroit, Mich., at the Cobo Center. RTI will exhibit in booth #2112.

RTI's exhibit will showcase the company's 2007 release of SimVehicle LT Version 2.2. SimVehicle LT is the most recent version of RTI's General Vehicle Dynamics System product. SimVehicle LT is a multibody real time vehicle dynamics modeling package. The new version includes improvements in the vehicle model and a new graphical interface for entering vehicle data.

RTI's upgraded SimCreator, version 2.6, will be on display as well. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real time simulation and modeling software package.

SimObserver, a stand-alone after action review system, will also be presented. SimObserver records digital video and data from multiple independent sources. Other highlights of the exhibit include an automated off- and on-road driving simulation demonstration. Information sheets for all of RTI's products will be available.  Mr. Dale Holtz, RTI’s Senior Development Engineer, will be presenting a paper at this year’s SAE World Congress on real-time multi-body track modeling on Monday April 16th in the main hall.

SAE is a non-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to advancing mobility technology to better serve humanity. Over 89,000 engineers and scientists, who are SAE members, develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles including automobiles, trucks and buses, off-highway equipment, aircraft, aerospace vehicles, marine, rail, and transit systems. SAE disseminates this information through its meetings, books, technical papers, magazines, standards, reports, professional development programs, and electronic databases.

SAE's 2006 congress attracted 35,114 registered attendees from 47 nations globally; U.S.
attendees represented 49 states - all but Hawaii.

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RTI Releases Free Beta of Cross-platform 3D Model Viewer for Firefox
Jan 17, 2007

Realtime Technologies (RTI) announced today the availability of a beta version of their cross-platform 3D model viewer plugin for the Mozilla Firefox web browser. It's the latest example of Realtime Technologies' leadership in bringing powerful design and rendering tools to simulation engineers around the world.

Click here to download the Firefox Plugin.

RTI's cross-platform plugin employs a high-performance rendering engine to display Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) 2.0, and X3D models in a Firefox browser window. MultiGen-Paradigm OpenFlight 3D models can also be rendered. The high-performance scene graph allows RTI's plugin to render larger models than other existing plugins. Furthermore, loading OpenFlight databases is a feature other similar plugins do not offer.

The plugin supports frame-accurate MPEG-1 video capture of the model being viewed. The resulting video can be observed in any standard movie viewer and does not require RTI's proprietary viewer. MPEG movie capture facilitates sharing visualizations without having to share the model itself. Therefore, if a model is very large, proprietary, or otherwise not easily shared, it may be more widely distributed than otherwise possible. Existing plugins do not yet support OpenFlight or MPEG video capture.

The viewer plugin is effective in Firefox running under Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Realtime Technologies under a US Army Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract. The plugin is built in part upon open source projects such as X3DToolkit in development. Consequently, as these projects improve and mature, so will the plugin.

RTI plans a future release of a premium version of the viewer with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video capture. Development is already under way for i686-based versions of Linux.

Mozilla Firefox is an award-winning open source web browser. The name "Mozilla" is the principal trademark representing official releases of internet client software developed through the mozilla.org open source project. mozilla.org acts as the virtual meeting place for the Mozilla code, providing a central point of contact and community for those interested in using or improving the source code.

MultiGen-Paradigm supplies real-time 3D solutions for visualization, simulation and training applications. MultiGen-Paradigm's OpenFlight, is the standard format in the visual simulation industry. OpenFlight's logical, hierarchical scene description file format informs a real time image generator what, when, and how to render, resulting in real time 3D scenes.

Click here to download the Firefox Plugin.

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2006 News, Articles and Releases

RTI to Provide Ford Motor Company with Tile-based Scenario Development Software and Lightmapping Tool
Dec 18, 2006

Realtime Technologies, Inc. (RTI) announced today the sale of theirSimVista™and SimLights™ products toFord Motor Company for its Virtual Test Track Experiment (VIRTTEX) system.

The VIRTTEX system is a full-motion based driving simulator with a 360° field of view. An instrument of Ford’s driving simulation group, VIRTTEX provides researchers with a safe and controlled environment for testing product features and driver behaviors.  SimVista’s role in the process is to reduce the time it takes to create realistic driving scenarios and to improve experimental data collection.  SimLights, in turn, will improve the realism of simulated scenes.

RTI’s SimVista represents the latest in driving simulation design. SimVista utilizes database tiles that can be arranged within a virtual world to make a seamless driving environment.  Users select tiles to represent a variety of driving environments.  Correlated data which defines roadways, intersections, and traffic flows are then saved to the database by adding a series of control objects and parameters specifications.  With SimVista, Ford will be able to quickly create and control simulation scene, scenario and object interaction via a modern user interface capability.

SimVista was developed to provide a stand-alone scenario authoring tool. In this case, SimVista will operate via the simulation engine provided through VIRTTEX. SimVista also handles previously-developed OpenFlight scenario databases which will allow Ford to continue to use existing scenarios.

SimLights is a full-featured and highly configurable lightmap generation tool that dramatically simplifies the task of adding high-quality shadows to an existing OpenFlight database (version 15.7 or newer). SimLights pre-renders database images, generating a series of lightmaps that correspond to the lighting contributions from all static lights in the scene. The lightmaps are automatically applied to the geometry as a secondary texture layer, while maintaining full OpenFlight compatibility. Realtime Technologies proudly announced SimLights in September 2006. It is RTI’s newest Multigen Creator plug-in. 

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures and distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 300,000 employees and 108 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Motor Credit Company.  Ford is the only North American automaker with a full-motion-based driving simulator like VIRTTEX.

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RTI to Provide GeorgeMason University with High Fidelity Vehicle Simulator
Nov 17, 2006

RTI announced today that it has been awarded a contract to provide a high-fidelity vehicle simulator toGeorge Mason University’s (GMU) Psychology Departmentfor research into a broad range of driver cognition and human factors issues.

The contracted simulator includes several unique features such as a +/-90 degree high-quality yaw ring for navigational study requirements, a 180 degree forward field-of-view visual system with 42-inch visual displays, a pitch degree-of-freedom motion base, and DC Servo motor-based control loading steering system. A strategic partner to RTI, IMX-IDEAS of Oceanside, Calif., developed the yaw ring and motion base as well as the cab. The cab will be an open-cockpit Ford Focus layout.

RTI’s SimCreator provides the core software of the vehicle simulator. SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real-time simulation and modeling system. It includes high-fidelity vehicle dynamics models that are reconfigurable to represent different vehicles as needed. SimVista, another RTI software package, is also included. SimVista is a tile-based scene and scenario authoring system.

Other key components include a cab/control loading subsystem which offers physical controls and operational environment for the driver. A scenario control subsystem includes ambient traffic simulation, scripted events, relational behaviors and environmental controls. This subsystem also collects data and performs measurement functions of the simulator for research analysis.

The visual subsystem handles all real time visual rendering processes, including animated and static objects in the scene. This makes what the driver sees out the window seem very realistic. The visuals component is able to render VRML or OpenFlight databases in real time at 60Hz using resolutions for the GMU simulator of 1280x1024 resolution at 32-bit color depth.

The audio software and hardware provide audio cues to match what the driver would expect under the conditions being simulated. Synthesized sounds include engine, wind, tire whine, and noise from other vehicles.

Key personnel involved with GMU’s driving simulation research include Drs. Christopher Monk and Maria Kozhevnikov. Dr. Monk received his PhD in Human Factors and Applied Cognition from GMU in 2004. Prior to joining GMU, Dr. Monk spent over a decade working as a human factors professional in the area of traffic safety for organizations such as the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. His research at GMU focuses on how people cognitively manage multiple tasks in dynamic contexts such as driving.

Dr. Maria Kozhevnikov, formerly an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, joined the Human Factors and Applied Cognition program at GMU in August 2006. Dr. Kozhevnikov received her doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on visuospatial imagery, individual differences in cognitive style, and spatial navigation performance. The GMU campus is located in Fairfax, Va.

IMX – IDEAS, a division of Starr Specialties, Inc., specializes in design, development and manufacturing of interactive driving simulators. Initially established as a provider of simulation platforms for the Mexico Driver Development Market, IMX- IDEAS has evolved into the foremost provider of driving simulators for the Republic of Mexico.

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Realtime Technologies Integrates faceLAB™ Eye Tracking Software with SimCreator® and SimVista™
Nov 16, 2006

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) announced today plans to integrate Seeing Machines’ faceLAB™ 4.0 eye tracking software with its own SimCreator® and SimVista™ software packages, improving SimCreator’s and SimVista’s ability to accurately monitor, record, and simulate driver behavior.

faceLAB™ uses a non-contact, video-based eye tracking system that records a person’s natural behavior -- head pose, eyelid movement and gaze direction -- while the person performs a task such as driving a vehicle. Integrating faceLAB technology into Realtime Technologies’ products offers many practical applications. One example is the ability to simulate real-time distractions such as when a driver looks away from the road.  Under these circumstances an unanticipated event can put the driver in danger.  The ability to study these events within a simulation environment allows researches to understand the driver distractions.  Researchers can then improve safety through preventative strategies using new technology.

Coupling faceLAB with SimCreator will allow users of faceLAB to view eye tracking data while using SimCreator. Similarly, users of RTI’s SimVista product will be able to access the eye tracking data when running scenarios.  Doing so offers the ability to trigger events based on eye data which leads to a richer scenario development environment.  This, in turn, provides a range of possibilities for event generation.

RTI currently provides a software connection between its SimObserverproduct and faceLAB.  This marriage of technology creates a more powerful tool when analyzing data. Having driving performance measurements side-by-side with eye tracking data makes it easier to reduce and analyze data. Coupling these data eliminates the need to send frame rates from one system to the other.  Consequently, synchronizing the data files takes far less time, offering more time for further analysis.

Seeing Machines is an award-winning technology company with a focus on vision-based human machine interfaces. Formed in 2000, Seeing Machines purpose is to commercialize its computer-vision IP across a range of industries and applications.

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RTI Exhibits at I/ITSEC 2006
Oct 25, 2006
Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today its plan to exhibit at the Interservice / Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference (I/ITSEC) being held Dec. 4-7, 2006, in Orlando, Fla., at the Orange County Convention Center.

In booth 2347, RTI will showcase its newest product, SimLights, a full-featured, highly configurable lightmap generation tool that dramatically simplifies adding high quality shadows to an existing OpenFlight database (version 15.7 or newer). SimLights pre-renders a database, generating a series of light maps that correspond to the lighting contributions from all static lights in the scene. SimLights is a light map generation plug-in for Multigen Creator v 3.0+.

RTI’s exhibit will include driving simulation demonstrations generated using its SimCreator software. In addition, RTI will be demonstrating the SimVista toolset which can be used to generate realistic driving environments from a tile-based database authoring system. SimVista also offers the ability to add individual database elements and scenario control objects. The scenario control objects allow for the execution of scripted scenario events, specific vehicle behaviors, and simulation control.

RTI's SimObserver and Data Distillery software packages will be spotlighted as well. SimObserver is a high-performance digital video and data capture system that captures up to four camera views and receives run time data and event marks from a simulation system. The Data Distillery software from TUMOkinetic is used to review the captured data, seek to marked events, reduce data into measures of performance, and code behaviors or events post-process.

I/ITSEC promotes cooperation among the Armed Services, Industry, Academia and various Government agencies. I/ITSEC encourages cooperation by improving simulation training and education programs, identifying common training issues and developing multi-service programs. Over 16,500 people registered for I/ITSEC in 2005, nearly 2,000 of who represented 46 countries outside the United States. The conference included over 450 exhibitors.

Initiated in 1966 as the Naval Training Device Center/Industry Conference, the conference has evolved and expanded through increased participation by the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Industry. In 1979, it became known as the Interservice/Industry Training Equipment Conference.

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RTI Releases SimLights, Lightmapping Plug-in
Sept 15, 2006

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) announced today the availability of SimLights, the newest addition to its line of Multigen Creator plug-ins. 

SimLights is a full-featured and highly configurable lightmap generation tool that dramatically simplifies the task of adding high quality shadows to an existing OpenFlight database (version 15.7 or newer). SimLights pre-renders your database, generating a series of lightmaps that correspond to the lighting contributions from all static lights in the scene. The lightmaps are automatically applied to the geometry as a secondary texture layer, while maintaining full OpenFlight compatibility.

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RTI Hires Human Factors Engineer
July 24, 2006

Royal Oak, MI - Realtime Technologies, Inc., (RTI) announced today that it has hired Heather Stoner as a Human Factors Engineer, supporting product enhancement and new product development.

Ms. Stoner's immediate responsibilities at Realtime Technologies include applying to RTI products her unique perspective as a creator and user of simulation-based research tools.  Ms. Stoner is also slated to work on SimVista, RTI's tile-based scene and scenario authoring system.  Additionally, she will apply her expertise to the navigation and UI editor for the CAVE (CAVE Automated Virtual Environment), a permanent, room-sized, immersive environment that projects stereoscopic imagery on its walls and floor.

Ms. Stoner brings to RTI extensive experience in programming, interface design and evaluation, in web-based environments and in-vehicle systems. She specializes in designing interfaces using a technique called Cognitive Work Analysis. This technique can develop and identify user needs, training gaps, design and the usability of new systems.  

Ms. Stoner also possesses experience in on-road and simulation transportation studies, and has worked with such sponsors as Nissan Motor Company LTD., and the National Transportation Safety Administration.  Prior to joining RTI, Ms. Stoner was employed at Aptima Inc., a human-centered engineering corporation based in Boston, Mass.

Ms. Stoner earned her Master's degree in Industrial Engineering at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.  She earned her Bachelor's in Computer Information Systems at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.

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RTI Announces Release of SimVista Tile-based Scene & Scenario Authoring Tool
May. 22, 2006

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) announced today the release of SimVista version 1.0, a flexible tile-based simulation scene and scenario authoring system designed for ground vehicle simulators. SimVista represents the latest in driving simulation design, allowing users to create and control simulation scene, scenario and object interaction with a modern user interface capability.

RTI’s SimVista utilizes database tiles that can be arranged within a virtual world to make a seamless driving environment. Users can select tiles to represent a variety of driving environments. RTI can create custom tiles to client specification or users can create their own tiles by importing graphics models. Correlated data which defines roadways, intersections, and traffic flows are then saved to the database by adding a series of control objects and parameters specifications.

Once a virtual world is created, a user adds objects such as people, vehicles, buildings and foliage to enhance the visual complexity of a scene. These items can be taken from SimVista’s palettes or created by users in third party 3D modeling packages and imported into SimVista. Similar to the tiles, objects are simply dragged and dropped into the virtual world.

SimVista ships with a flexible set of control objects such as sensors and timers that allow the user to define the series of events and actions that will be experienced during a simulation drive. These sensors, when stimulated, initiate scripted actions consisting of vehicle or human model behavior, environmental conditions, or measurement capabilities. Vehicle and human models can be directed to perform specific actions based on the driver’s performance. Measurements can be captured and stored for subsequent analysis.

SimVista offers robust data collection and performance measuring tools making it an excellent choice for driver training research, human factors studies and rehabilitation training.

SimVista is available as a standalone product or included in the design of a complete simulator.

Please visit http://www.simvista.com f or more information about SimVista, RTI’s tile-based scene and scenario authoring system.
 
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RTI Announces Participation in SAE 2006
Mar. 23, 2006

ROYAL OAK, MI - Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) announced today its plan to exhibit at the Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) World Congress April 3-6, in Detroit, Mich., at the Cobo Center.

RTI's exhibit will showcase the company's 2005 release of SimVehicle.
SimVehicle is the most recent version of RTI's General Vehicle Dynamics System product. SimVehicle is a multibody real time vehicle dynamics modeling package. The new version includes improvements in the vehicle model and a new graphical interface for entering vehicle data.

RTI's upgraded SimCreator, version 2.1, will be on display as well.
SimCreator is a graphical, hierarchical, real time simulation and modeling software package.

SimObserver, a stand-alone after action review system, will also be presented. SimObserver records digital video and data from multiple independent sources. Other highlights of the exhibit include an automated
off- and on-road driving simulation demonstration. Information sheets for all of RTI's products will be available. RTI will exhibit in booth #1733.

SAE is a non-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to advancing mobility technology to better serve humanity. Over 89,000 engineers and scientists, who are SAE members, develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles including automobiles, trucks and buses, off-highway equipment, aircraft, aerospace vehicles, marine, rail, and transit systems. SAE disseminates this information through its meetings, books, technical papers, magazines, standards, reports, professional development programs, and electronic databases.

SAE's 2005 congress attracted 35,908 registered attendees from 47 nations globally; U.S. attendees represented 48 states - all but Hawaii and South Dakota. Last year's registered

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RTI Releases SimForce Steering System
Feb. 6, 2006

Royal Oak, MI – Realtime Technologies Inc., (RTI) announced today the availability of SimForce, a high-fidelity force feedback steering system.  

SimForce has been under development since 2001.  Its patent-pending design relies on a high-performance DSP card inside the host PC for communications of up to 1000 Hz.  The DSP controls a servo disk type motor, which has high bandwidth, low inertia, no gearing, zero      cogging and zero backlash.  A powerful 600W servo amplifier, providing high torque and safe speeds, drives the motor.

The dedicated DSP processor, executing with a 2000 Hz loop time, provides tight control and dedicated safety.  In addition, the DSP's DX/DT velocity calculation provides smooth feedback.

When coupled with Realtime Technologies’ SimVehicle, power steer boost curves and tire aligning torque are accurately modeled and presented to the driver.  SimVehicle is a high-fidelity, multibody, real time vehicle dynamics model.

SimForce is available as a standalone product or included in the design of a complete simulator.

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