Wednesday, September 27
10:00am,  STII Room 430A

VR for Training and Gaming:Can We Fly for Real?

Abstract

The fast growth of new technologies requires humans to interact with more complex systems than ever before. To provide an adequate training on these systems, various expensive simulators or simulation environments are used. Since Head Mounted Displays (HMD), Datagloves, Tracking systems and powerful computer graphics resources are nowadays in an affordable price range, the usage of PC-based 'Immersive Virtual Training Systems' (VTS) becomes very attractive. The availability of low cost VR systems raises the question: Can we use VR systems in the entertainment industry to propell gaming experience to a next level?

In our studies to evaluate an immersive VR Flight Simulator for training and entertainment purposes, we partially simulated an Airbus A340 cockpit and developped an environment that allows the study of the human factors during training missions on the systems level and in free flight scenarios. All interaction devices such as side stick, pedals, throttles, knobs, buttons, and dials are modeled as 3D geometry. All other parts and surfaces are formed by images (textures). To overcome the problem of the missing forced feedback, some devices are physically available such as sidesticks, pedals, and throttles. All others are replaced by plastic panels to generate a haptic feedback for the trainees. The study showed that VR can be a valuable tool to enhance training, but the outcome strongly depends on the training scenario and the correct design of an intuitive 3D interaction metaphor.

The study also showed that to develop a successful application for VR systems, we need to conduct fundamental human factor studies to carefully identify system limitations, possible interaction paradigms and usable modalities to display information. The human perception plays hereby a major role and cannot be ignored. Even if some of the limitations are more critical for serious training applications than for the entertainment field, it is not enough to connect a tracked HMD to a conventional game. Familiar game-pad, keyboard and mouse devices will not be available/visible in immersive gaming environments and one cannot expect that users will be able to adapt easily to the new system. To make a successful transition from 2D monitor based games towards a 3D immersive gaming experience - to fly for real - new forms of interaction and information presentation need to be designed and evaluated.

Speaker Bio