Virtual Reality Demonstrator of an Advanced Boiling Water Reac

Boiling Water Reactor Conference, 12-14 February 2018, Bangor, UK

Transcript

1. Virtual Reality Demonstrator of an
   Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
   Panagiotis (Panos) D. Ritsos
   Gareth Henshall
   Jonathan C. Roberts
   Visualization, Modelling & Graphics - School of Computer Science, Bangor University
   BWR Conference, 12-14 February 2018, Bangor, UK
   

   View Slide

2. Overview
   § The VMG Group
   § Our idea, goals & motivation
   § Previous related work
   § Our prototype (& video demo)
   § Feasibility study outcomes & challenges
   § Future work
   We gratefully acknowledge the support of NVIDIA Corporation with
   the donation of a Titan XP GPU used for this research
   

   View Slide

3. The VMG Group
   § Information Visualization & Visual Analytics
   § Virtual and Mixed Reality
   § Human-Computer Interaction
   § Imaging & Segmentation
   § Artificial Life & Virtual Environments
   § Evolutionary computing
   § Medical physics
   § Mobile & Wearable Computing
   

   View Slide

4. Our idea
   Nuclear Science Virtual Reality Excitement, Outreach,
   Engagement
   

   View Slide

5. Motivation
   Virtual Reality (VR)...
   § has become one of the most discussed
   technologies,
   § allows us to be placed (immersed) in interactive,
   computer-generated graphical environments
   (simulations),
   § is an 'easily' customizable, interactive way to learn
   and explore our world.
   

   View Slide

6. Short-Term targets
   § Develop a prototype HMD-based, VR demo of (or part
   of) the ABWR.
   § Ensure the prototype is extendable and adaptable
   (e.g., to display data-driven information).
   § To evaluate its potential as an engagement tool, in a
   series of evaluations with stakeholders.
   

   View Slide

7. Long-term targets
   § To develop a complete, interactive VR demonstrator of the
   BWR, enhanced with data-driven information (analytics)
   § Work towards a Mixed Reality (MR) demonstrator where
   physical props and computer generated information co-exist
   § Both could be used as training and education environments
   (e.g., for School children), and public outreach.
   

   View Slide

8. Background & Previous Work
   The use of VR in nuclear industry has been discussed since the 90s' (Bricken, 1992).
   VR has been explored in the contexts of:
   § human-centred design and human factors review (dos Santos et al., 2009)
   § control-room design (Droivoldsmo and Loukam, 2016)
   § decommissioning (Rindahl et al., 2002)
   However, VR has not been used in the nuclear industry for outreach and engagement.
   

   View Slide

9. Background & Previous Work (example)
   HVRC VRdose® - IFE
   Source: I. Szőke et al. “Comprehensive
   support for nuclear decommissioning
   based on 3D simulation and
   advanceduser interface technologies”
   Journal of Nuclear Science and
   Technology, 52(3), 371-82, 2014.
   

   View Slide

10. Our Prototype
    § HTC VIVE head-mounted display +
    Unity3D (game engine) +
    Gaming-grade PC (with NVidia Titan GPU)
    § Our application allows co-presence of two collaborating
    participants in VR
    § Basic explorative interactions – can be easily extended
    § Basic informational overlays – can be easily extended
    

    View Slide

11. Our Prototype (vDemo)
    

    View Slide

12. Study Outcomes and Challenges
    ü Basic prototype functional and demonstrable
    ü Basic graphic models currently used (easily upgradeable)
    ü Full (extensible) interaction functionality
    § Evaluations to be held in 2018
    § Good quality 3D models required, in popular 3D formats (.obj, .fbx)
    

    View Slide

13. We need your help!
    You have access to good quality 3D models (CAD, simulations etc.)?
    Please, get in touch!
    

    View Slide

14. Future Work
    § Replace current basic models with higher-quality ones
    § Customize interaction to the fidelity of the new models
    (e.g., based on subcomponents, assemblies etc.)
    § Enhance models with data-driven information
    (immersive analytics)
    § Evaluations for stakeholders/public (availability TBA)
    

    View Slide

15. Thank you!
    For more info:
    @ritsos_p
    p.ritsos@bangor.ac.uk
    http://vmg.cs.bangor.ac.uk/
    Icons: Nuclear by Alex Quinto, Virtual Reality by Milan Gladiš and Excitement by Aneeque Ahmed - from the noun project:
    Photos by Samuel Zeller , Adam Birkett, John Jason and Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
    

    View Slide