Virtual Reality Lab at IIT Kharagpur
-Koushiki Dasgupta Chaudhuri
Until fairly recently, the dream of donning a headset and disappearing into a virtual world belonged purely to the realm of science fiction. In this race towards the most genuine duplication of perception, IIT Kharagpur has not lagged behind. With the inauguration of the Virtual Reality and Safety Analytics laboratory in its Industrial and Systems Engineering department, the VR dream is perhaps a bit more within grasp as the best minds of the country work on it. As Prof. Jhareswar Maiti says, “The major objective of establishing the Virtual Reality laboratory is to bridge the gap between the rapidly advancing technological developments and the safety management systems of organizations through integration of virtual reality and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, internet of things and machine learning based competency building, predictive analytics and prevention through design.”
VR nowadays is no longer restricted to the gaming industry, its applications are as varied as healthcare, retail, entertainment, automotive, education and much more. The lab at KGP,for instance, does a lot of work on accident scenario development, virtual prototyping, testing and control of industrial operations etc. Their main focus is on accident modelling, simulation and analysis for improved hazard identification, safety training & education, safety inspection and instruction which will ultimately help hazardous industries like iron & steel, oil & gas, coal and power etc. in implementing the concept of ‘prevention through design’. They collaborate with industries and the government of India to implement projects on workplace safety improvement such as a Prevention through Design project in collaboration with Tata Steel Limited, Jamshedpur, India.
They use VR and AR to successfully address the issue of human machine interaction (HMI). Complex operating procedures, work incompatibility, and inadequate training are some of the major issues in HMI. Appropriate design of human-machine-material interactions plays a significant role in improving workplace safety. The VR system uses sensors specifically designed for motion capture to implement human-machine-material seamless 3D interaction which points out improved interface design and depicts unsafe acts caused by human and unsafe conditions prevailing in a job.
Apart from its industrial utility, the laboratory also serves as a research platform for a wide variety of topics like data visualization, human factors and ergonomics, situational awareness and human cognition modelling, human emotion modeling and human gesture recognition.
As the lab works on expanding the boundaries of what’s real, let’s hope it turns many of KGP’s dreams into reality!
For more information, contact Prof. Jhareswar Maiti, Prof In-Charge of Safety Analytics and Virtual Reality Lab, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering IIT Kharagpur.
