GiPSiNet: an open source/open architecture network middleware for surgical simulations.

In this paper, we present the design and techniques of GiPSiNet, an open source/open architecture network middleware being developed for surgical simulations. GiPSiNet extends GiPSi (General Interactive Physical Simulation Interface), our framework for developing organ level surgical simulations, to network environments. This network extension is non-trivial, since the network settings pose several serious problems for distributed surgical virtual environments such as band-width limit, delays, and packet losses. Our goal is to enhance the quality (fidelity and realism) of networked simulations in the absence of network QoS (Quality of Service) through the GiPSiNet middleware.