New Products

UC-win/Road Ver.11 Real-Time 3D Interactive Software Package New License Price / Upgrade Price Ultimate : $18,000        Driving Sim : $12,800 Advanced : $9,700        Standard : $6,300 Ultimate : $9,000        Driving Sim : $6,400 Advanced : $4,850        Standard : $3,150 Release Jan, 2016 UC-win Simulation

VR-Cloud® Support by Default

Aimed at giving users the ability to publish their VR data on the internet, to perform coordinated design discussion, or even remote interactive conferencing, VR-Cloud's server features will be available to both the UC-win/Road Advanced and Ultimate versions by default. Users can now leverage on this change to perform more effective project presentation through remote TV conferences, or simply attract more audiences who lack a powerful computer. ▲Figure 1 VR-Cloud®

Improved UI

We will be replacing the menus and toolbars with a new ribbon menu design. This change will help users locate the commands needed more intuitively, increasing work efficiency. UC-win/Road's new menu layout will consist of the following ribbons: File, Home, Edit, View, Server, an Plugin. All functions are directly placed under its corresponding ribbon category. WIth easy-to-understand graphical icons, the complicated interface pre-version 11 will become much smoother to use.   ▲Figure 2 Main window ribbon menu ▲Figure 3 Texture Settings window Another minor but handy change is the ablity to load textures in the texture folder that have been modified without first restarting UC-win/Road. Furthermore, the specificying of textures is now integrated into one single window, with following features also incorporated:  Texture list update Importing of additional files Accessing and downloading from Road DB

Oculus Rift Support

Oculus Rift is an enclosed 3D head-mounted display developed and marketed by Oculus VR. It is one of the first and few headsets available that provide users with a wide field of view (up to 110 degrees). Through the use of the Oculus Rift, it will provide the users with a higher sense of immersion and realism. ▲Figure 4 Example of Oculus Rift video ▲Figure 5 Oculus Rift DK2 To achieve stereoscopic display, the images need to be outputted and rendered individually for each eye, with considerations of parallax. Furthrmore, in order to make the small lens displaying a seemingly wide area, the videos are deliberately distored. Combined with the embedded accelerometer, allows user to synchronize their head movements with the video they are seeing, which is great for navigation or driving in VR. HMDs grant users an unparalled sense of spatial and depth perception, and is thus very suited for visualization of simulations.

OpenStreetMap Support

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a world-wide collaborative project to create free world maps. Anyone may join and edit these data to further refine its precision. OSM is currently a popular alternative among various companies over paid options such as Google Maps.  This data format is characterized by its composition made mainly of nodes and roads, which is open and flexible. Elements such as roads, tunnels, bridges, and buildings can all be properly shown.  The new OSM plugin will allow importing of OSM data to shorten the time for creating 3D virtual spaces.  Users can now import the OSM files, which will be converted into UC-win Road data. Roads, lanes, tunnels, and bridges are currently supported. The roads are complete with further information such as their names, types and lane widths. Each of these elements are all converted for further customization. In the future, we plan to support buildings as well.  ▲Figure 6 OpenStreetMap data conversion example

Curve Calculation Function

In previous versions of UC-win/Road, roads are usually defined by first pasting aerial photos, then draiwing of the curves by entering turning points.  In UC-win/Road 11, however, road curves can be defined even more easily by our new Curve Calculation Functions. By importing information via GPS tracking, or a few simple clicks, the road centreline, horizontal / vertical curves will be automatically generated as opposed to manual inputs pre-ver.11.  Horizontal Curve Calculation Horizontal curves are mostly consist of straight lines, arcs, and transition curves, and are calculated by these elements. This new function willl first search for the straight lines and arcs before progressing any further. Once found, it will move on to calculate the transition curves that link together the straight lines and circles, or circles and circles (a.k.a. clothoid curves), and connect and combine everything together. Vertical Curve Calculation The vertical curve calculation is also done under similar logic to its hoizontal equivalent. First it searches for straints lines and arcs, then calculates the turning points, and finally adjust the VCL so it matches the point sets according to the road. ▲Figure 7 Horizontal curve created from point sets. ▲Figure 8 Vertical curve created by points sets.

Extended 3DS Export Support

When exporting files into 3DS files, further information such as objects' coordinates and many landscape settings can also be added into the exported XML files. The extended information in the exported 3DS models and XML files allow a quicker and more convenient import of UC-win/Road data into other software as well.  Furthermore, exporting of objects such as road signs, backgrounds, and power poles have been added.

SfM (Structure from Motion) Plugin

SfM(Structure from Motion) is the name of a technique of generating point-cloud data from a series of photo through a regular digital camera, which makes 3D data modeling much more accesible. SfM plugin allows photos to be loaded into UC-win/Road and analyzed to generate models.  Using the SfMPlugin mainly involves the following steps: Photoshooting the location to obtain 3-dimensional coordinates. Specify analysis parameters and perform SfM analysis. Adjust and refine the point-cloud data. When performing analysis user must specify the distortion characteristics of the camera that was used. No other files are needed to analyze the photos. The generated point-cloud data can be used in UC-win/Road immediately for simulation. Users can also set the position, orientation, and scale of the data to a desired location or shape.  This plugin may be useful in recording and recreating road structures and objects by car-mounted cameras. Or alternatively, using UAV to fly around large building complexes. ■Figure 9 SfMPlugin

Bicycle Simulation

Bicylcle dynamics are now a default feature of UC-win/Road. The previous bicycle riding function was internally defined as a mere model of a pedestrian, and will stop immediately once the user has stopped pedalling. The new simulation dynamics now incorporates factors such as inertia, friction, momentum, and aerodynamics. The bicycle would now continue on moving even if the user has stopped pedalling, and the speed will react differently according  to slopes and terrain elevation. Further parameters such as friction, pedal torque, and centre of gravity can all be defined to make a realistic simulation. ▲Figure 10 Adjustable Parameters for Bicycles Bicycle simulation will also become a part of scenario driving, and it is now possible to change bicycle models, routes, and starting position. Similar to driving, bicycle routes can also be assigned as a Flightpath, but they will automatically be snapped onto the terrain. Bicycles are controlled by keyboards or game controllers.  The Log Export Plugin will also be compatible with bicycles. Information such as position, tilt, and speed are exported and may be used for researches.  Flovel's cycleStreet bicycles introduced in earlier version can also be linked with UC-win/Road through a plugin. Pedalling on the pedals that is connected to a PC allow control of bicycles as well. All parameters, such as the RPM, of cycleStreet are reflected, to allow precise bicycle speed controls.

Improved Rendering Engine

Shadows have now been improved. The coding is now more optimized allowing higher speed rendering while maintaing quality. Other than shadow simulations, the improved shadows greatly increase the sense of presence and spatial perception necessary for driving simulation and realism. The shadow's sharpness, contrast, and blur can also be adjusted for cloudy conditions.  Ripples in lake water has also been improved, with dynamic calculation of texture and reflectivity for more realistic water graphics.  A new skydome model is now available in addition to the previous method of applying existing sky textures onto it. This allows more liberty and intuition in controlling the colour and sunlight of skies, through simply progressing the time. In the future versions, we will focusing on expanding the cloud models. The overall rendering engine has also been updated to allow more customizability. With the rendering process now consolidated, customization of every single rendering process is now possible. In the future, or via the SDK currently, it will be possible to add pre- and post- processing of all rendering steps. This will make it easier for developing features that are compatible with techniques such as fisheye lens effects, ambient occlusion, and edge blending. UC-win/Road Ver.10 No Shadows UC-win/Road Ver.11 Sunny and Bright UC-win/Road Ver.11 Cloudy and Dark ▲ Figure 11 UC-win/Road Ver.10 Comparison between Ver. 10 with no Shadows, and Ver 11. with Different Light and Shadow Settings. Ver.11 allows the changing of shadow intensiveness to adapt to the various weather and time conditions.   ▲Figure 12  Water Ripples    ▲Figrue 13  Improved Skyboxes

A Message from FORUM 8

These are the new features that will be introduced in the new version of UC-win/Road. We will continue to collect customer demands and continue to improve and perfect ourselves.

(Up&Coming 2016 New Year Edition)

Up&Coming