Discrete event simulation and virtual reality use in industry: new opportunities and future trends

This paper reviews the area of combined discrete event simulation (DES) and virtual reality (VR) use within industry. While establishing a state of the art for progress in this area, this paper makes the case for VR DES as the vehicle of choice for complex data analysis through interactive simulation models, highlighting both its advantages and current limitations. This paper reviews active research topics such as VR and DES real-time integration, communication protocols, system design considerations, model validation, and applications of VR and DES. While summarizing future research directions for this technology combination, the case is made for smart factory adoption of VR DES as a new platform for scenario testing and decision making. It is put that in order for VR DES to fully meet the visualization requirements of both Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet visions of digital manufacturing, further research is required in the areas of lower latency image processing, DES delivery as a service, gesture recognition for VR DES interaction, and linkage of DES to real-time data streams and Big Data sets

An Inertial Device-based User Interaction with Occlusion-free Object Handling in a Handheld Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology used to merge virtual objects with real environments in real-time. In AR, the interaction which occurs between the end-user and the AR system has always been the frequently discussed topic. In addition, handheld AR is a new approach in which it delivers enriched 3D virtual objects when a user looks through the device’s video camera. One of the most accepted handheld devices nowadays is the smartphones which are equipped with powerful processors and cameras for capturing still images and video with a range of sensors capable of tracking location, orientation and motion of the user. These modern smartphones offer a sophisticated platform for implementing handheld AR applications. However, handheld display provides interface with the interaction metaphors which are developed with head-mounted display attached along and it might restrict with hardware which is inappropriate for handheld. Therefore, this paper will discuss a proposed real-time inertial device-based interaction technique for 3D object manipulation. It also explains the methods used such for selection, holding, translation and rotation. It aims to improve the limitation in 3D object manipulation when a user can hold the device with both hands without requiring the need to stretch out one hand to manipulate the 3D object. This paper will also recap of previous works in the field of AR and handheld AR. Finally, the paper provides the experimental results to offer new metaphors to manipulate the 3D objects using handheld devices

Open Medical Gesture: An Open-Source Experiment in Naturalistic Physical Interactions for Mixed and Virtual Reality Simulations

Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) simulations are hampered by requirements for hand controllers or attempts to perseverate in use of two-dimensional computer interface paradigms from the 1980s. From our efforts to produce more naturalistic interactions for combat medic training for the military, USC has developed an open-source toolkit that enables direct hand controlled responsive interactions that is sensor independent and can function with depth sensing cameras, webcams or sensory gloves. Natural approaches we have examined include the ability to manipulate virtual smart objects in a similar manner to how they are used in the real world. From this research and review of current literature, we have discerned several best approaches for hand-based human computer interactions which provide intuitive, responsive, useful, and low frustration experiences for VR users.Comment: AHFE 202

GIFT: Gesture-Based Interaction by Fingers Tracking, an Interaction Technique for Virtual Environment

Three Dimensional (3D) interaction is the plausible human interaction inside a Virtual Environment (VE). The rise of the Virtual Reality (VR) applications in various domains demands for a feasible 3D interface. Ensuring immersivity in a virtual space, this paper presents an interaction technique where manipulation is performed by the perceptive gestures of the two dominant fingers; thumb and index. The two fingertip-thimbles made of paper are used to trace states and positions of the fingers by an ordinary camera. Based on the positions of the fingers, the basic interaction tasks; selection, scaling, rotation, translation and navigation are performed by intuitive gestures of the fingers. Without keeping a gestural database, the features-free detection of the fingers guarantees speedier interactions. Moreover, the system is user-independent and depends neither on the size nor on the color of the users’ hand. With a case-study project; Interactions by the Gestures of Fingers (IGF) the technique is implemented for evaluation. The IGF application traces gestures of the fingers using the libraries of OpenCV at the back-end. At the front-end, the objects of the VE are rendered accordingly using the Open Graphics Library; OpenGL. The system is assessed in a moderate lighting condition by a group of 15 users. Furthermore, usability of the technique is investigated in games. Outcomes of the evaluations revealed that the approach is suitable for VR applications both in terms of cost and accuracy

Vision based 3D Gesture Tracking using Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for Improved Learning Applications

3D gesture recognition and tracking based augmented reality and virtual reality have become a big interest of research because of advanced technology in smartphones. By interacting with 3D objects in augmented reality and virtual reality, users get better understanding of the subject matter where there have been requirements of customized hardware support and overall experimental performance needs to be satisfactory. This research investigates currently various vision based 3D gestural architectures for augmented reality and virtual reality. The core goal of this research is to present analysis on methods, frameworks followed by experimental performance on recognition and tracking of hand gestures and interaction with virtual objects in smartphones. This research categorized experimental evaluation for existing methods in three categories, i.e. hardware requirement, documentation before actual experiment and datasets. These categories are expected to ensure robust validation for practical usage of 3D gesture tracking based on augmented reality and virtual reality. Hardware set up includes types of gloves, fingerprint and types of sensors. Documentation includes classroom setup manuals, questionaries, recordings for improvement and stress test application. Last part of experimental section includes usage of various datasets by existing research. The overall comprehensive illustration of various methods, frameworks and experimental aspects can significantly contribute to 3D gesture recognition and tracking based augmented reality and virtual reality.Peer reviewe