Visual Computing

This thesis covers research on new and alternative ways of inter-action with computers. Virtual Reality and multi touch setupsare discussed with a focus on three dimensional rendering and photographic applications in the field of Computer Graphics. Virtual Reality (VR) andVirtual Environments (VE)were once thought to be the future interface to computers. However, a lot of problems prevent an everyday use. This work shows solutions to some of the problems and discusses remaining issues. Hardware for Virtual Reality is diverse and many new devices are still being developed. An overview on historic and current devices and VE setups is given and our setups are described. The DAVE, an immersive projection room, and the HEyeWall Graz, a large high resolution display with multi touch input are presented. Available processing power and in some parts rapidly decreasing prices lead to a continuous change of the best choice of hardware. Amajor influence of this choice is the application. VR and multi touch setups ofte