Sounding
Off
Talent was in abundance at KROQ’s 10th annual Weenie Roast — unfortunately, most of it was on the side stage / 8
SUMMER HO JIN
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
WEDNESDAY
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June 19, 2002
Of interest...
Catholic Church leaders have not done enough to punish priests accused of molestation /4
News Digest	2	Calendar	2
Did you know? 2		Opinions	4
Classifieds	7	Crossword	8
Lifestyle	8	The Buzz	8
vol. CXLVI, no. 6 www.dailytrojan.com
USC engineers develop new 3-D technology
Innovation: The Integrated Media System’s Center has created an experience that can bring reality to videos
By SARA RODRIGUEZ
Contributing Writer
USC engineers have helped 3-D technology move beyond IMAX theaters.
The simulation room in the Integrated Media Systems Center is set up like a living room. The video starts out with a rocket launch. Observers can feel the sound — the sound surrounds the spectator as the room shakes. After comparing the videos sound to other types of sound, such as digital sound, the audio the USC engineers have developed feels real. Instead of just watching the video, spectators actually experience it.
The School of Engineering’s IMSC has combined several technologies with the Internet to design an innovation that creates a realistic, three dimensional experience through high-resolution video and immersive audio techniques.
The technology delivers an expe-
rience superior to traditionally ‘flat’ Internet and broadcast video technologies, according to USC News.
"This offers an IMAX-type experience without having to use special cameras or theaters — all via the Internet,” C.L "Max” Nikias, dean of the USC School of Engineering told USC News.
The technology is not just an incremental improvement in streaming media, Nikias told USC News.
“We have effectively recreated the experience of being at a remote occasion such as a sports event, concert or videoconference,” according to Nikias.
The center, which the National Science Foundation established in 1996, has been working on the Remote Media Immersion project for about one and half years, said Deputy Director of IMSC and professor of Electrical Engineering Alexander Sawchuk in an e-mail. Although RMI is not completed, researchers at the center will continue to upgrade and improve it, Sawchuk said. Eventually RMI can be used as a form of television, communication, and in many other applications in education, health care, entertainment and journalism, Sawchuk added.
Other universities and research
University e-mail system revamped
Tech Talk
USC’s new system will allow students and faculty to use the World Wide Web to access their e-mail accounts from any location in the world
The university is scheduled to complete the process by July 20
Messenger Express, the system USC •will use, is similar to Yahoo and Hotmail
Technology: Students and faculty will be able to access their e-mail from anywhere
By AMAELA WILEY
Contributing Writer
USC will be the third major university, after University of Hawaii and Stanford University, to allow students and faculty to access their university e-mail accounts from anywhere in the world, said Lynn Jasper, MIS manager for the Information Services Division.
A new electronic messaging system will replace the existing e-mail system and will allow students to access their e-mail through the World Wide Web, according to ISD. The process is scheduled be completed by July 20, 20 days after the initial target date of July 1.
After identifying e-mail as “a critical communication tool in the achievement of ...[its] goals,” the university decided to update its current system, according to the ISD Web site. The project will support these goals by using a global messaging system. This system will implement a global directory system, making it easier to share information between users of the system.
The new system will replace the multiple computer servers and host names, such as ref and almaak, with one server, email.usc.edu, according to the ISD Web site. By replacing the “complicated tangle” of servers, the university will make it easier for students to access their e-mail from any location. The project, spearheaded by
I see E-mail, page 2 I
Crystal Lauderdale l Summer Trojan
Sound effects. cAris Kyriakakis and Roger Zimmerman are two of the masterminds behind IMSC’s 3-D Immersion technology, which gives the audience a complete audio/visual experience and can make a movie seem real.
labs have been working on similar ways to combine video and Internet network technology to produce immersive experiences, Sawchuk said.
“To the best of our knowledge, no other group has successfully combined video, 10.2 channel immersive audio, on-demand streaming server technology and error correction to provide hiccup and free playback over a shared network,” Sawchuk added.
According to the IMSC Web site,
new development is “a test bed that integrates many of the technologies that are the result of various research efforts. The goal of the project is to reproduce the complete aural and visual ambiance of an environment, which includes people and other real and virtual elements.”
Researchers said the technology, which uses the high-speed capabilities of the Internet to transmit multiple streams of sound and picture
across the country, far surpass the quality that is possible with high-def-inition broadcast television, according to USC News. Scientists at the center regard the technology, also known as “Immersipresence,” as the next breakthrough in the Digital Age, Nikias told USC News.
“We believe it will dramatically transform todays two-dimensional world of computers, TV, film and I see Technology, page 2 I
Diving into Summer
Crystal Lauderdale i bummer irojan
Crash landing. Children in grades three through eight dive into the action of the Junior Varsity portion of Pete Carroll's annual football camp, which allows kids to spend four days on campus and receive intense training from USC staff.