Virtual reality-an industry user´s perspective

Rolls Royce and Associates Limited (RRA) have been a committed early user of virtual reality (VR) technology for resolving complex engineering problems, within their role as Design Authority for the Nuclear Steam Raising Plant, in support of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme. Initial RRA research concluded that the main benefit of using VR would be in reducing the accumulated dose experienced by personnel operating in a nuclear environment. This would be accomplished through the techniques of high fidelity geography training, operating and maintenance procedure training, simulation and accurate dose prediction. RRA has adopted an application-led approach to providing VR solutions, based on through-the-glass and immersive systems. This paper discusses a number of issues associated with the development of three Superscape-based applications: maintenance procedure training aid; radiation dose management tool; and synthetic environment simulation