Design evaluation and modification of mechanical systems in virtual environments

Design is one of the most important stages in the manufacturing cycle and influences all the subsequent stages of product development. In the context of today’s iterative design methodology, the modification of any design is a process involving many evaluations and improvements to the solutions chosen in earlier stages. For this purpose, in the most recent decade, 3D computer simulations have become common tools used within industry. Whilst virtual reality (VR) technology is seen as the interaction technology of the future, much of the current research in this area is carried out to explore the potential benefits and added value brought by the integration of this into standard software technologies currently used at various stages in manufacturing life cycle. A lot of attention has been given to exploring the usability and benefits of interactive VR for assembly planning, knowledge elicitation and design and simulation. However, little research has focussed on the analytical aspects of the design process, for example in the use of VR as an interface for simulation software in finite element methods and multi-body systems. This paper introduces research focussing on applications of virtual environments (VEs) for interactive design evaluation and modification adapted and used with standard simulation software. The use of such interactive visualisation offers the engineer more realistic real-time representations of the design and advanced facilities to interact with the model during the design process. While design evaluation is based mainly on visualisation; design modification requires interactive changes of the model during the simulation, and the interfaces described here highlights such applications. In this work, two software prototypes have been developed using VR technology. First, a software tool called design evaluation in virtual environments is presented together with an application in civil engineering to illustrate the mode of operation and added value of the use of an interactive visualisation environment. Linking the simulation software with the VE provides real time bi-directional communication of graphical information which can be successfully achieved even within the limits of current computer technology. The tool includes a suite of software modules and a user interface to facilitate the link between the simulation results and the VE. The second tool facilitates the design modification in virtual environments system by providing real time dynamic simulation. Two dynamic approaches are investigated in order to study the real time simulation issues in the context of design modification and system performance: the classic approach based on rigid interconnected bodies, and a new and novel approach developed by the authors based on particles dynamics. Both implementations have been tested and compared on a mechanism application under the same computing conditions. The research applications presented demonstrate the practicality, flexibility and versatility of the visualisation in virtual environment in design evaluation and modification. However, the computer efficiency whilst carrying out real time dynamic simulation is limiting the range of applications to models of moderate size; however, this is an improvement on previous similar applications.     

Holistic methodology using computer simulation for optimisation of machine tools

Virtual machine concepts supporting optimisation of machine tools have been developed in earlier work. The virtual machine concept is a tool that can describe the behaviour of a machine tool while considering the interaction between mechanics of the machines and the control system. Considerable amount of work has been done proving the concept and showing the potential of such a design tool in different contexts. Several studies have shown the potential of using the virtual machine concept, although, no work has been found that is exploring the potential of a full optimisation study.     

Design and development of system level software tool for DCS simulation

This paper contributes the knowledge base in the context of applicability of simulation environment (analogous to virtual reality) in the Distributed Control Systems (DCS) domain. A simulated platform has been designed and developed considering the advanced features of DCS. The design and development of such simulation tool is considered to be generic in nature while advocating the System Level Software Tool (SLST) for DCS. The idea emphasizes that before designing a real DCS network/system for a target platform (e.g. machine, plant, automation system, etc.) the designer designs and tests a virtual DCS network containing the image such as control code, logical connectivity, control network database, event information, etc. of the target. Once the virtual design is over such image is transferred to the real DCS network/system. Not only DCS validation is achieved with such simulation-based design approach but also a considerable amount of design and installation time can be saved. Although, such ideas are not new in the engineering field but there are no SLST accommodating such features are available either in the DCS technology marketplace or in the research fields.     

Participatory design in interactive media design education for the solution of unfamiliar design problems: a case study on a disabling environment and an emerging technology

This paper investigates the effectiveness of participatory design study in rendering the students' capability of producing innovative design solutions to problems with uncertainties with which the students have no prior experience. At the project, the students were given a case to work on augmented reality technology with which they had no previous experience and design a tactical interface for sailing boats, a field they had no competence in. While the students were asked to develop proposals for this design problem with which they were inexperienced, a two-stage study was conducted to enable them to produce ideas on the topic. This paper discusses the impacts of such a participatory method in terms of design education. At the end of our study, it was observed that the students were positively influenced by the process in which they worked collaboratively with an expert user group.     

Do virtual worlds create better real worlds?

Over the last years, virtual reality (VR) has been said to offer promise for design visualisation and has started to be included in participatory design methodology. This research provides an overview of the use of VR in architectural design and organizational space design, and explores how this application can be integrated with participatory design. The effects of the proposed integration of participatory design, VR, architecture and organization were studied in two pharmaceutical case studies. It was assessed whether the participants actually changed the design and to what extent this affected staff satisfaction and construction costs. The results show that the design was changed, staff satisfaction improved, and costs were reduced.     

基于ARToolKit工具的增强现实交互操作研究

增强现实是把计算机生成的虚拟图像或其它信息叠加到用户所看到的真实世界中的一种技术。ARToolKit为增强现实技术的应用提供了一种方便快捷的开发工具,但多针对于浏览展示方面。本文在ARToolKit工具下针对AVI录像文件进行增强现实的应用开发,增加了用户和现实以及虚拟物体的交互操作,通过计算机视觉的方法着重解决把虚拟物体放置到用户在视频帧上指定的点。这些将为用户使用增强现实技术进行设计和规划提供方便。     

Virtual reality and its role in removing the barriers that turn cognitive impairments into intellectual disability

Early expectations of the contribution that virtual reality (VR) could make to education far exceeded actual applications. This was largely due to the initial immaturity of the technology and a lack of evidence base on which to base design and utilisation. While the early developments in computer based learning largely concentrated on mainstream education, leaving those with special needs behind, the potential of VR as an educational tool was exploited for those with intellectual disabilities right from the start. This paper describes the empirical evidence that has contributed to the development of educational virtual reality for those with intellectual disabilities: studies on transfer of learning from the virtual to the real world; how teachers might support those using VR; the design of virtual environments and what input/control devices best facilitate use of desktop VR. Future developments and ethical issues are also considered.     

基于VR技术的防震安全教育软件的设计与实现

本文分析了虚拟现实技术应用于防震安全教育的优势,设计了虚拟场景的开发方案,利用3DS MAX,Virtools等软件工具设计开发出了防震安全教育软件。为了验证虚拟现实技术在防震安全教育中的有效应用,还对该软件作了测试与评价。     

Evaluation of Internal and External Validity of a Virtual Environment for Learning a Long Procedure

Virtual reality is a frequently used tool in vocational training. Nevertheless, its efficiency has not been systematically tested. The main goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a virtual environment (VE) for learning a complex procedure in the biomedical domain. Two experiments were performed. The first one assessed internal validity of the VE, which is the effectiveness of using a VE in the process of learning a new procedure. The second one tested external validity of the VE, which is the participants’ ability to reproduce the acquired skills in a real context. We find that internal and external validity must be evaluated before using a virtual environment in long-term procedure learning. The results of such evaluations are a basis for future experiments aiming to optimize learning conditions in a VE and transferring the acquired skills in a real context.     

PETRA: participatory evaluation through redesign and analysis

Compared with single user-computer interactions, evaluating multi-user-computer interactions is much more complex. We argue for multiplicity — of theory, method and perspective — in the evaluation of computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW). This allows us to address both theoretical concerns and practical design issues, and to incorporate the expertise and experiences of both researchers and participants. We propose the PETRA framework, incorporating a theoretically-driven evaluators' perspective to investigate the collaborative activity, and a design-based, user-focused participants' perspective to evaluate the supporting tool. Our study investigated collaborative writing, both in a face-to-face context, and supported by a computer-based group editor. In our instantiation of the PETRA framework, we used distributed cognition and a form of breakdown analysis to investigate the development of shared understanding in the two different mediating settings; and devised a rapid prototyping session (inspired by participatory design) to elicit participant reactions to and redesigns of the tool interface. Our findings show that computer-supported shared understanding develops technologically, using social coordination as a repair mechanism; and that the collaborative tool must be particularly sensitive to issues of awareness, communication, focus and ownership.     

Situated learning with co-operative agent simulations in team training

The paper describes pedagogic aspects of the theory, design, analysis techniques used and implementation experience acquired during the development of a team training simulation system with a virtual reality interface for learning from emergencies. In particular we demonstrate: the desirability of team training strategies; the value of using training scenarios for constructing shared mental models with intelligent agents, and the use of a virtual reality interface. We present a tool designed and developed to reify the communication acts of team members that demonstrates support for reflective learning. An evaluation tests the acceptability of the simulation and provides feedback from an observation study. The paper then shares some of the emergent questions raised through the project particularly those relating to the management of errors, the fidelity of simulations for training and communications between agents, and the organisational context of integration.     

CAVEAT Exemplar: Participatory Design in a Non-Profit Volunteer Organisation

This paper reports a university course-based case study undertaken with a volunteer organisation. Our goals were to explore the use of participatory design in a non-profit volunteer setting; to reflect on the experience of learning and applying participatory methodologies; and to create a prototype, using off-the-shelf database software, that could become a sustainable organisational information system. We found system design methodologies that stress cooperation and consensus especially appropriate when working with volunteers, who expect control over their work in exchange for their time and effort. The Future Workshop was particularly valuable in developing group insight into work and consensus around system priorities. The study resulted in a prototype which has evolved, through in-house refinement, into a working system.     

基于虚拟现实技术的航空涡扇发动机仿真系统

利用虚拟现实技术的优势和特点,研制成功一大型航空燃气涡轮风扇发动机仿真系统.系统采用了多种虚拟现实的关键技术,创造了一个具有强烈沉浸感和真实感的虚拟实验环境,并利用此环境结合航空发动机的专业知识开发成功了三大功能模块,直观生动地揭示了发动机原理,发动机构造,发动机试车等航空燃气涡轮风扇发动机的主要部分专业理论知识,为航空发动机领域相关从业人员带来了一种全新的学习研究工具.     

Use of signaling to integrate desktop virtual reality and online learning management systems

Desktop virtual reality is an emerging educational technology that offers many potential benefits for learners in online learning contexts; however, a limited body of research is available that connects current multimedia learning techniques with these new forms of media. Because most formal online learning is delivered using learning management systems, it is important to consider how to best integrate the visually complex and highly concrete desktop virtual reality into more text-driven and abstract environments such as those found in learning managements systems. This review of literature examines recent signaling literature within the context of multimedia learning and hypermedia learning. Signaling is a technique that involves using cues to emphasize important information in materials (Mayer, 2009, pp. 108–117). The analysis concluded that the depth and breadth of signaling literature is severely lacking. While certain related bodies of literature can be used to inform signaling research in desktop virtual reality and online learning management systems, no studies were found that directly address these topics. This article makes several important contributions to the body of signaling literature. First, based on what is known through literature, this article is a first attempt at examining signaling as a technique for integrating desktop virtual reality with online learning management systems. Second, this analysis resolves an important gap in literature by differentiating between signaling and cueing. Third, this article provides a survey of recent signaling-related literature and identifies specific areas that inform future work with desktop virtual reality delivered using online learning management systems. Finally, a taxonomy for classifying multimedia and hypermedia is presented as a tool for more effectively describing interventions used in signaling research.     

Distributed virtual reality: supporting remote collaboration invehicle design

Gathering a group of remotely located engineers to design a vehicle can be difficult, especially if they live in different countries. To overcome this obstacle, we-a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in the US in partnership with Germany's National Research Center for Information Technology (GMD) developed a collaborative virtual prototyping system for Caterpillar. The Virtual Prototyping System (VPS) will let engineers in Belgium and the US work together on vehicle designs using distributed virtual reality. The system supports collaborative design review and interactive redesign. Integrated real-time video transmissions let engineers see other participants in a shared virtual environment at each remote site's viewpoint position and orientation. Any number of remotely located sites may join in the shared VE, communicating via multicast. The system has been tested with three sites at NCSA     

Use of signaling to integrate desktop virtual reality and online learning management systems

Desktop virtual reality is an emerging educational technology that offers many potential benefits for learners in online learning contexts; however, a limited body of research is available that connects current multimedia learning techniques with these new forms of media. Because most formal online learning is delivered using learning management systems, it is important to consider how to best integrate the visually complex and highly concrete desktop virtual reality into more text-driven and abstract environments such as those found in learning managements systems. This review of literature examines recent signaling literature within the context of multimedia learning and hypermedia learning. Signaling is a technique that involves using cues to emphasize important information in materials (Mayer, 2009, pp. 108–117). The analysis concluded that the depth and breadth of signaling literature is severely lacking. While certain related bodies of literature can be used to inform signaling research in desktop virtual reality and online learning management systems, no studies were found that directly address these topics. This article makes several important contributions to the body of signaling literature. First, based on what is known through literature, this article is a first attempt at examining signaling as a technique for integrating desktop virtual reality with online learning management systems. Second, this analysis resolves an important gap in literature by differentiating between signaling and cueing. Third, this article provides a survey of recent signaling-related literature and identifies specific areas that inform future work with desktop virtual reality delivered using online learning management systems. Finally, a taxonomy for classifying multimedia and hypermedia is presented as a tool for more effectively describing interventions used in signaling research.     

Height effects in real and virtual environments

The study compared human perceptions of height, danger, and anxiety, as well as skin conductance and heart rate responses and postural instability effects, in real and virtual height environments. The 24 participants (12 men, 12 women), whose average age was 23.6 years, performed "lean-over-the-railing" and standing tasks on real and comparable virtual balconies, using a surround-screen virtual reality (SSVR) system. The results indicate that the virtual display of elevation provided realistic perceptual experience and induced some physiological responses and postural instability effects comparable to those found in a real environment. It appears that a simulation of elevated work environment in a SSVR system, although with reduced visual fidelity, is a valid tool for safety research. Potential applications of this study include the design of virtual environments that will help in safe evaluation of human performance at elevation, identification of risk factors leading to fall incidents, and assessment of new fall prevention strategies.     

Diagnosing attention disorders in a virtual classroom

The virtual classroom provides an efficient and scalable tool for conducting attention testing. The University of Southern California integrated media systems center and digital media works have partnered to develop virtual reality technology applications for the study, assessment, and rehabilitation of cognitive and functional processes. This work primarily focuses on the development of systems that address the special needs of clinical populations with central nervous system dysfunctions such as brain injury, learning disabilities, or neurological disorders.