Well this would be off topic in any forum, but I thought I'd share it with my buddies here as there's an interest in blending. Shame they're digitals and not CRTs, but they
are Barcos! (
Andy!)
We've just installed a new ATC simulator at work to train controllers ready for the new tower at Heathrow. I was in there this morning and took some pix which I hope some of you will find interesting. It's undergoing acceptance checks at the moment, but it's looking real good. They've been concentrating on getting the actual airport graphics right so there's an "open" horizon at the moment. By the time it goes operational in a month or so they will add a realistic and accurate "horizon-scape".
It's a full 360 degree system using ten BarcoReality SIM6 Ultra IIs. Like the real VCR there's a raised dais in the centre for the control positions, basically looking downwards onto the airport where all the action is.
So on to the pix. First from the centre of the dais looking down onto one of the piers. There's two blends in this shot. You can just make them out, but believe me you can't when you're really there. The camera is more revealing than the eyes:
A similar shot from a different perspective:
And one from the floor down by the screen, which is why there's some apparent distortion on the right of the pic:
This is a close-up of one of the blends, showing the interesting moirι pattern on the overlap. I don't know if the blending software takes this into account in it's modulation, but you certainly can't see it from the normal viewing position:
Things weren't perfect today. Two of the PJs had to have bulbs replaced yesterday, and their contributions were somewhat brighter. The difference
was obvious, though again not as bad in real life as it looks in the pic. The tech is coming tomorrow to adjust the levels, but the natural drop off in brightness means all ten bulbs will basically have to be replaced at the same time. That's £8,000 (plus labour). Spot the blend:
This is the PJ mounting rig. Had the flash on for this one so you see the screen rather than the picture:
Here's a shot looking in through the open entrance door. Note the stretched out image on the surface of the door, which is actually part of the screen of course. It's interesting that there's a very noticeable red shift when the PJ-screen is at such an acute angle. The door "gaps" are invisible when the door is closed, and is electrically opened. It's really weird when you walk towards "the sky" and a door suddenly opens. Like that scene at the end of
The Truman Show where Truman's boat bumps into the "sky"! Oh yeah - that's the other new bulb:
This is the screen from the outside. A bit like the old motorcycle "walls of death". It's actually self-supporting and quite thick fibreglass don't know what the inner surface coating is. The amazing thing is that it appears to be in just TWO pieces (I didn't see them build the screen), with joints where the doors are. (There's an emergency exit opposite the main entrance also "invisible"). The dark vertical line is actually the shadow of the support strut, not a join.
While I was in there they turned the graphics to night-time in a heavy snow fall. It was dark and all you could see was snow swirling all around you. I mean ALL around you talk about dizzy!
Here's a pic of the actual tower if you haven't seen it. The VCR (Visual Control Room) is at the top!
The "collar" was originally the same colour as the stalk, but we decided to paint it red to help prevent the aeroplanes bumping into it
..
Hope you've found this interesting I just wish they were NEC XGs!
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