Virtual Walking in a Synthetic World through an Low-Cost Interaction Device

Those who work in risky areas need to have proper training which may allow them to know how to behave in case of need. The training needs to mimic risk scenarios, where the individuals may exercise proper procedures. It is also necessary that such individuals get to know the surrounding of their specific work place, so that they can be able to use proper escape routes, even under stress. Virtual Reality, and the related Virtual Environments, have been shown to be quite effective in training applications. Good examples range from Flight Simulators to more recent efforts in various training scenarios. This work introduces a low-cost offshore oil platform training simulation, which allows a user to exploit the synthetic environment through free walking in the environment. The system uses a Nintendo Wii Fit Plus Balance Board to allow a user to walk in the system using natural leg movements. The 3D models of the offshore oil platform are presented in a low-cost CAVE setup in a Collaborative Virtual Environments, which includes avatars that represent other users of the system, both bots and those representing other real users.