Architecture and design of a generic device server for virtual reality hardware integration in surgical navigation

Abstract

The vendor specific interfaces and heterogeneous hardware of VR-devices is a major drawback for planning and realizing a VR-environment, necessitating an intermediate layer between the hardware and software interfaces, the hardware abstraction layer (HAL). In this work we present the implementation of a device server for generic and simple integration of devices like tracking tools, force sensors, micro controllers or 3D interaction devices. Utilizing this device server, harmonization of the message formats, data representations and transmission protocols is achieved. Furthermore, device-specific communication threads allow for precise timing capitalizing multi-core architecture of the host server. For application development, device-specific API code is automatically generated as a specific network proxy, thus allowing independence from programming language and platform. The presented device server is currently used for modern teaching aspects in the academic domain, as well in a research project developing a surgical training environment for kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty in the medical domain. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.