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35 are snippets of visual code; they act as basic building blocks. The nodes interact with each other to create the simulation. Each node has a specific function and behavior. For instance, there are sensor nodes (e.g., mouse and keyboard), visual nodes (e.g., shape, material, and textures), motion models (e.g., walk and orbit), animation nodes (e.g., key frame, rotate, and skeleton), and base nodes (e.g., anti-aliasing, shadow quality, and frame size). The Walk node, for example, lets users navigate through a scene in the VR environment by dragging a mouse, moving a wand, or moving a head- mounted display (HMD) in the desired direction. Walk node translates these movements into coordinates, which are then applied to the VR scene. Incidentally, Walk node "doesn't necessarily have to move the camera frame; it can move any other frame as well," explains Cheben. Another common node is ClickSensor, which triggers events in the simulation when a user clicks on a virtual object, which is defined by two or three coordinates, with a mouse. Each node contains fields, which receive, store, and send values. When a value is updated, the node triggers one of its behaviors. When a node transmits a value to another node, an event happens. "The communication between the nodes in a simulation creates a cause-and-effect mechanism," explains Cheben. "These events drive the EON simulation" (i.e., the visual result). People "program" a VR simulation by choosing combinations of nodes and connecting them together ("making routes"). For simple simulations, no programming or modeling experience is required; programming is just a matter of dragging-and-dropping and clicking through popup lists of nodes. Some product details Both EON Studio and EON Professional are authoring packages for creating, rendering, and displaying interactive 3D simulations and VR environments. The software can generate VR simulations from "phone to dome"; that is, the same software can be used to create augmented reality on mobile devices, stereoscopic simulations on workstations and VR displays in HMDs, all the way up to VR in immersive theaters. Studio is the entry-level product (about $5,000 per seat). It supports 18 import formats, including ACIS, Autodesk 3D Studio and AutoCAD, IGES, Pro/Engineer, Solidworks, STL, the United States Geological Survey (many 3D landscape files are available in this format), and VRML2.0. Studio's real-time rendering features include proprietary algorithms for anti-aliasing, transparency, environment mapping, and shading. Studio can be integrated with popular web browsers and software programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Visual Basic. While Studio lets users see 3D images, Professional provides the immersive element by adding such capabilities as head tracking and wand interaction. EON Professional (about $30,000 per t The user interface of EON Studio consists of several windows. For instance, a simulation tree (to the right, top, of the window with the motorcycle) shows all the nodes used in the simulation (the window with the motorcycle). When a node is selected, its fields appear in the property bar (top far right). There, a developer manually modifies the value in those fields (such as color; the window below the simulation tree and property bar). The components window (left of the motorcycle window) shows a list of all available nodes. Nodes are dragged from the components window to the simulation tree. The routes window (bottom left) lets the developer link the fields of different nodes and to see a map of how the simulation will run. A log (bottom right) monitors the events going on in the simulation. or immersive views, or both. (The 3D and immersive effects require two images—one for a person's right eye and one for the person's left eye.) The "knowledge" of relationships between individual parts in an assembly depends on how the source geometry data was compiled and imported. "If the CAD or other modeling program has the proper relationship, they will stay inside EON. If those relationships are not properly formatted, additional work will be needed to create them," says Cheben. Developers create interactive simula- tions in EON's authoring software by putting nodes together. Nodes