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Virtual Prototyping of Classrooms – Business School

Virtual Prototyping of Classrooms – Business School

The designing of architectural spaces provides unique challenges, especially when those spaces are intended to serve specific functions as well. The Ross School of Business recently constructed a new building which strived to meet the needs of the school’s faculty and students. Within the new construction was a plan for new U shaped classrooms. Since the design was unlike what many have used in the past and their effectiveness during daily classes was in question, the School of Business planned to construct test sites so faculty could experience the room before it was built. These test sites were typical of movie sets costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. If changes needed to be made, the site would need to be reconstructed to the new plans.

Dean Graham Mercer, approached the University of Michigan Duderstadt Center looking for a more cost effective solution to identifying problems in the design earlier on. Through the use of the Virtual Reality MIDEN, which has the distinct ability to display virtual worlds at true 1-to-1 scale, faculty from the School of Business was able to experience the proposed classrooms prior to the physical construction of the space and offer suggestions with confidence. This process cost the school a fraction of building physical test sites and allowed for rapid turn around on any additions they needed.

The new classrooms can now be seen in the Ross School of Business on Central Campus.

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Detroit Midfield Terminal

Detroit Midfield Terminal

Photo credit: University of Michigan Virtual Reality Lab

During the past years, Northwest Airlines designed and built a spectacular, state-of-the-art terminal at Wayne County’s Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The project included the construction of a new international/domestic terminal (the ‘Midfield Terminal’) with 97 gates, airfield connections via aprons and taxiways, a large parking structure with 11,500 spaces, a multi-level system of access roads to the new terminal, and a power plant. This 1.2 billion dollar expansion opened on February 24, 2002. The terminal was named after Wayne County commissioner McNamara.

In cooperation with Northwest Airlines, the Virtual Reality Laboratory (VRL) at the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan developed a virtual model for the Detroit Midfield Terminal Project to assist in design evaluation and to support a complex decision making process.

During the design phase, a three-dimensional computer model was developed at the University of Michigan and continuously updated as the design progressed. Once the terminal was created digitally, functionality was added allowing Northwest Airlines to test line of sight for their proposed control towers, obstruction and planting strategies for nearby trees, as well as traffic patterns for visitors of the terminal.

Original Project Page: Detroit Midfield Terminal

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Virtual Football Trainer

Virtual Football Trainer

Imagine watching the U-M football team playing in a sold out Michigan Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon. But instead of cheering from the bleachers, you are being transposed right down to the field next to the quarterback. You are in the middle of the action. You can move to any position and experience the game from the player’s point of view. You feel like being a participant, no longer a spectator.

The technology of immersive virtual reality makes this amazing scenario possible. as you are fully surrounded by the virtual players on the field, the players are presented in full scale and in stereo. It seems that you can touch them. You can look and walk around, hover over the quarterback, or even fly to cover distances quickly.

The simulation of football plays in immersive virtual reality has a most useful and very promising application in the training of football players for specific aspects of a game. The University of Michigan Virtual Reality Laboratory has developed the concept for such a “Virtual Football Trainer” and has implemented a demo version that illustrates the potential in an already convincing way.

The original idea for the Virtual Football Trainer was inspired by the Lloyd Carr, head football coach at the University of Michigan. Generous funding for the development of the system came from the Graham Foundation and equipment support from Silicon Graphics Inc. The Michigan football staff provided continuous guidance and valuable expertise for the design and implementation of the Virtual Football Trainer.

Original Project Page: Virtual Football Trainer

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Medical Readiness Trainer

Medical Readiness Trainer

This ongoing project is an interdisciplinary effort at the University of Michigan involving the Medical Center, the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Digital Media Commons (formerly the Media Union), and the Virtual Reality Laboratory at the College of Engineering. The objective is the development of a “Virtual Reality-Enhanced Medical Readiness Trainer” (MRT) that integrates advanced technologies like human patient simulators, immersive virtual reality MIDEN systems, next generation Internet technology, virtual video conferencing, and more in the context of distributed and shared virtual environments for the training of emergency personnel in a variety of common as well as extreme situations.

One such example of the collaboration is the design and organization of an Operating Room (OR) in fully immersive virtual reality. This particular application allows a physician or hospital administrator to configure a virtual operating room for optimal efficiency and safety.

Another example of efforts originating from this collaboration is the development of the sick bay application for the Virtual Reality MIDEN. This application places the individual in a sick bay on turbulent waters. Our peripheral vision plays a large role in our orientation and balance. Performing medical procedures as the room appears to move and shift around you is a difficult task that is better prepared for in advance. The MIDEN‘s wide field-of-view and immersion allow for a effective and nauseating experience perfect for training medical personal on naval vessels.

Original Project Page: Medical Readiness Trainer