360° Projection Cylinder System

The University of Ottawa requires a fully immersive, 360° projection cylinder system to enable cutting-edge research in locomotion, navigation, and human biomechanics within virtual environments. This system will be installed in the dedicated Virtual Reality (VR) Lab at the Faculty of Health Science’s (FHS) building, lab 150. It must integrate seamlessly with an existing centre-pivot treadmill (Treadmetrix Split-belt with Centre Pivot Incline that uses AMTI force sensing elements) and be suitable when using other biomechanical recording tools (e.g., motion capture, EMG, IMUs).

The cylinder will serve as a versatile research platform supporting realistic, real-time virtual environments that react to participant movements. It must accommodate multi-modal experimental setups, including treadmill-based gait studies and (local) overground tasks.

The proposed system must be a cylindrical 360° immersive Cylinder featuring high-resolution panoramic projection capabilities, delivering high pixel resolution (i.e., minimum 4,000 lumens with 4K resolution). It must provide coverage for both floor and wall projections and have an internal diameter of at least 6 metres, designed to fit within the designated 85.8 m² space in Room FHS 150. An integrated audio system is required to ensure full spatial immersive sound during locomotion tasks. The projection setup must deliver seamlessly blended imagery synchronized across all projectors, enabling a realistic VR experience from any participant’s perspective, especially during treadmill-based activities. The structure must be mountable via truss or other ceiling supports and compatible with a ceiling-mounted harness safety system from the roof for participants walking on the treadmill. Additionally, the system must include a dedicated server/media system for real-time rendering of VR environments and an operator console to be situated in the adjacent control room. The Cylinder system must support real-time, bidirectional interaction with real-time 3D creation platforms (e.g., Unity and Unreal Engine 5) and, ideally, enable SDK/API integration with commonly used biomechanics software tools such as MATLAB, Python, and Qualisys Track Manager.

Mandatory Requirements:

1. Projection Cylinder
1.1 Cylinder must have an internal diameter of at least 6 metres to accommodate treadmill setup and allow for free movement of participants.
1.2 Cylinder must support 360° seamless panoramic projection on walls and internal floor space.
1.3 Projection system must provide seamless imagery with the use of auto-blending and calibration software.
1.4 Cylinder must include a fully immersive audio system with spatial sound capabilities.
1.5 Cylinder structure must support integration with existing and planned ceiling-mounted harness safety system.
1.6 Must include an internal mounting truss system that allows for infrared and RGB motion capture cameras (i.e., Arqus (8) and Miqus (8), Qualisys, Sweden) to be clamped to fully track the internal floor space of the cylinder for biomechanical studies.
1.7 Cylinder must allow full compatibility and bidirectional communication with Unity and Unreal Engine 5.
1.8 Cylinder hardware/software must allow for communication with the instrumented treadmill to control speed/tilt based on the immersive scenes being projected.
1.9 System must include an operator workstation, to be located in an adjacent room, as well as a dedicated server/media player for real-time rendering of VR environments.
1.10 The proposed cylinder must be mountable via truss or other ceiling supports.
1.11 The proposed solution must integrate with Qualisys Track manager and a minimum of one (1) of the following common biomechanical software: Matlab, Python, Xsens, Delsys Trigno.
1.12 The proposed solution must not exceed a maximum height of 4m.
1.13 For all software in the proposed solution, five (5) years of software updates/upgrades must be included.

2. Warranty/CSA/Installation and Training
2.1 Must include a minimum of one (1) year of warranty.
2.2 Must be capable of providing up to a total of five (5) years of warranty.
2.3 Delivery, installation, initial calibration, testing, and on-site training at the University of Ottawa for a minimum of five (5) users must be included.

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