What’s next? — VR scientists talk!
It’s an exciting time at the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department IIT Kharagpur as they get their very own Virtual Reality and Safety Analytics Laboratory. We caught up with the men at the helm, Prof. Jhareswar Maiti and Prof. Pabitra Mitra to talk about the future of VR, what they intend to do with the facilities they received and whether virtual reality is gradually blurring the lines between the real and the virtual.
Q: From the very first Head Mounted Display System (the famed Sword of Damocles) created at MIT’s Lincoln Lab which was so heavy it had to be attached to a mechanical arm suspended from the ceiling of the lab to modern-day Oculus Rift VR headsets which feel like a pair of glasses, VR headsets have come a long way in becoming smaller, portable, more immersive and more and more user-friendly. What’s the next step ahead?
Ans: The next step is definitely to shift focus on improving the reality aspect rather than the virtual one. Currently, VR technique is limited to users’ visual and auditory senses. Therefore, sense of temperature, smell, fatigue and other biological aspects are to be addressed in this domain to make it more immersive. Moreover, classification of input and output information as required in different applications and enhancement of connectivity and interchangeability of input information provided by different information and communication technology tools are very essential to reduce the latency in the VR technology.
Q: 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 VR lab at IIT Kharagpur, for instance, does a lot of work on accident scenario development, virtual prototyping, testing and control of industrial operations etc. Can you elaborate a bit on that?
Ans: The Virtual Reality (VR) Laboratory is dedicated to the purpose of accident modelling, simulation and analysis for improved hazard identification, safety training & education, safety inspection and instruction, and will ultimately help in a big way hazardous industries like iron & steel, oil & gas, coal and power, etc. in implementing the concept of ‘prevention through design (PtD)’. Since accidents cannot be created on the shop floor, experiments need to be conducted virtually. At the VR Laboratory, accident scenarios are generated and modelled on the computer, and all hazards and accident paths are identified. Users experience various hazardous scenarios as seen on a realistic plane through the use of sensors. The laboratory also deals with other subjects, such as work system design, ergonomics, and product development. VR lab at IIT Kharagpur has already started providing consultancy to industries such as integrated steel industry on VR based hazard identification, training and PtD for their ongoing operations and upcoming expansions.
Q: In your opinion, what other fields are there in which VR application can be a big thing in the future?
Ans: Mining, aviation, automobile, manufacturing, education, business, and healthcare are some of the fields where VR will have huge impact in the future. Along with VR, augmented reality’s (AR) evolution has been significant which focused on improving the level of realism. AR integrates the image of a virtual objects into the real world and creates an augmented scene which improves users’ perceptual and cognitive view point. Blending of reality and virtuality are often termed as mixed reality (MR). The next big thing in the technological advancements will be the integration of AR and artificial intelligence (AI) in social networking platforms and marketing researches for developing user friendly and interactive applications, application of AR for training in various domains, and development of AR based dashboard mounted display for vehicles in automobile industries. A common platform for VR, AR and mixed reality (MR) is extended reality (XR). Mobile XR is the future mobile computing platform which will converge smartphones, VR headsets, and AR glasses into a single platform. XR will have huge contribution in the field of entertainment, emergency preparedness and marketing and advertising.
Q: There’s been a spurt of VR start-ups in India recently, from Grey Kernel which creates gamified VR content to SmartVizX which builds VR solutions for architecture. What do you think is the future of VR in India and what does it mean in terms of our development and Economy?
Ans: We must say future of VR in India is bright. The amount of effort put by educational institutes, marketing agencies and start-ups towards VR lab development and incorporating its applications in day to day work are growing rapidly. This can significantly boost the collaboration of foreign institutes/companies for research and businesses. Further, increase in global investments because of VR/AR solutions, has created job opportunities for the students. Internet of things (IoT) and AR has collaboratively helped in generating huge amount of real time and geo specific data to accelerate the process of achieving the dream of smart cities in India. Moreover, most of the manufacturing and healthcare industries are tending towards increase in automation in the era of Industry 4.0, so start-ups are getting more opportunities from these industries to provide improved solutions. So, it has created a win-win situation for both industries and start-ups to boost the development and economical aspect.
Q: How do you intend to use VR Lab IIT KGP to promote education and research at the Institute?
Ans: We have included VR as a theoretical and practical module in subjects such as Engineering Systems Safety Design and Control, Work System Design, Safety Analytics and Machine Learning and in laboratories like work system design and product development, respectively. Our laboratory is currently upgraded with server based framework for storage, maintenance, and analysis of XR data and eye tracking facility for cognitive studies. Students from different departments such as Industrial and Systems Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture, Architecture and Regional Planning, and Mining Engineering are utilizing our facility for their summer internships, B.Tech, and M.Tech projects. From the research point of view, the developed facility is providing platform for a wide variety of research topics like data visualization, accident modelling and simulation, human factors and ergonomics, situational awareness and human cognition modelling, human emotion modelling, human gesture recognition, industrial safety training, product design, emergency preparedness and 3D reconstruction.
Q: Where does the technology and equipment at KGP’s laboratory stand with respect to other VR labs at leading institutes like the MIT Media Lab?
Ans: The Virtual Reality (VR) Laboratory is equipped with requisite hardware and software for modelling, simulation, data visualization, and hands on training in the areas of accident modelling and analysis, design of man-machine interface, cognitive studies and design of production and assembly. The available hardware are high end workstations, 3D laser scanner, 3D projector, Head mounted displays, Data gloves, hand and head trackers, Motion tracking systems, eye tracker, and Leap motion. The software used for development purpose are Solid Works, 3DS Max, Unreal engine, Blender, Faro Scene, UE4, Unity, Vizard 5.0, Tobii Pro Lab, and Tobii Pro controller. We are now entering into the domain of augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) by upgrading our lab with equipment like Microsoft HoloLens, Google glasses and haptic devices. We will be catching up with advanced lab facilities in leading institutes in every possible aspect very soon.
Q: How do you feel about using VR in the classroom and creating simulations of laboratories to provide students a more immersive safer environment to learn and make mistakes? Do you think that’s a better way to learn than old-fashioned classroom teaching?
Ans: Traditional classroom teaching involves imparting knowledge to the students through visualization by chalk and blackboard or projection systems. Visualizing the 3D perspective of a system and its components in 2D results in decrease in attention of students over longer periods of time, whereas 3D interactive learning platform can improve the student engagement and effectiveness of teaching and learning, particularly for the functional subjects in engineering and complex real time case studies. Laboratory experiments are often costly (e.g., in biotechnology) and hazardous (e.g., in biotechnology, chemistry and chemical engineering). Even a small mistake by students during experimental activities can result in significant monetary loss and safety & health issues. VR based training provides a platform for the students to get acquainted with the laboratory environment along with the different equipment present, practice various experiments in the virtual environment (VE) before they start working in the actual laboratory set up, identify difficulties involved in the operating procedures along with the hazard potential of the experiments. Some of the examples are training simulator for school children to teach them about traffic rules and finding safe exit points in any emergency situations, simulator for learning experimental procedures in chemistry laboratories and mechanical workshops, and providing walkthrough experiences to the students in heritage as well as archaeological sites in the classroom itself.
Q: How do you think immersive reality devices will transform our daily routine? How do you think these devices will get integrated into our lives?
Ans: Immersive reality devices have become a trend recently because of advancement of artificial intelligence. AR dashboard for real time activity monitoring, improvement in knowledge retention in domains like healthcare, workplace safety, and product design; VR/AR walkthrough in museums and heritage structures including the tourist places; interactive experiences in news broadcast though AR platform; AR based facial recognition in social networking platforms for security concerns; collaborative project meetings through XR platform; safety and emergency evacuation training through VR; and surgical simulations are some of the technological impact VR/AR is having in our day to day lives.
Q: VR makes us excited about what the future is going to bring. What are the limitations that VR scientists are facing right now to get us there?
Ans: Development of a multiuser immersive platform for assimilation of different modules of a complex project, introduction of work packages into VR/AR technique to make it more fool proof and reducing the latency in virtual environment (VE) for improvement in performance measures are some of the limitations in which researchers are currently working on. Excessive use of VR/AR headsets are resulting in nausea, oculomotor disturbances, disorientations, and dizziness effect. Researchers are putting constant efforts to overcome these issues in the headsets to have a better immersive experience.
Q: Do you feel people will lose touch with reality because of these devices? What do you think is the dark side of this technology?
Ans: Improvement in hardware devices and interfacing mediums, the gap between actual reality and virtual reality is getting thinner. Hence, we feel the optimum use of these devices can set a balance between the two realities. Loss of spatial awareness, dizziness, vomiting, eye strain, and seizures after excessive use of these technologies are some of the dark sides. Another important limitation could be the artificial happiness particularly among children, which in reality fades away over time.
For more information, contact Prof. Maiti or Prof Mitra. You can also read more on the lab page.
Koushiki Dasgupta Chaudhuri is a second-year undergraduate in Mathematics deeply interested in its application based areas. Besides writing about upcoming research in her field, she also writes fiction, dabbles a bit in journalism and is a bathroom slam poet. She plans to contribute significantly to research that redefines her professional field while forever escaping definitions in her personal one.
