Virtual Reality Demonstrator of an Advanced Boiling Water Reac

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

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
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
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
4. Our idea Nuclear Science Virtual Reality Excitement, Outreach, Engagement
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
11. Our Prototype (vDemo)
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)
13. We need your help! You have access to good quality 3D models (CAD, simulations etc.)? Please, get in touch!
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)
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