Transportation in UK may be made more efficient, thanks to a new facility that allows designers and engineers to test ideas and new services, even without the expensive prototypes of cities and towns.
This new facility lets users walk through a mock city or town, with the application of virtual reality technology.
The Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) announced July 23 the opening of its "Visualisation Laboratory," which includes the first omnidirectional treadmill commercially available in the UK that will help innovate UK's transport system and aid in overcoming related problems, through the technology of virtual reality.
Omnidirectional treadmill will allow engineers and other users to physically walk through virtually set up towns and cities. Here, it becomes possible to test new transport services, think of new innovations and study their possible impacts.
To make the VR system as immersive as possible, Visualisation Lab will be incorporating the Omnifinity Omnideck 6, which has a width of 6 meters, and combines it with an Oculus Rift DK2 head-mounted display (HMD), which was originally set up for military training, making it okay to crawl, walk and jump around the VR.
The lab is currently working on a joint project among TSC, Omnifinity and Virtual Viewing, which created a Virtual Milton Keynes that showcases pedestrians and Autonomous Rods from the Lutz Pathfinder project.
The project demonstrates a first person point of view in an environment that is accurately simulated. Humans sharing walkways with vehicles allow users to see the challenges one can face in public areas.
The Catapult believes that the tolls used in this demonstration will help them test and find answers to the development of its autonomous driving projects.
The Omnideck 6 is also expected to investigate and possibly sign off civil engineering and internal and external architectural projects. Mobility inside and out of a structure makes it easier to understand the context and scale of an engineered design. Problems that may arise, which are not visualized on screens or on paper, can actually be experienced in the VR, also making it easier to decide on whether or not to make changes on an existing structure or plan.
Program director for computer modeling and visualization at the site, Graham Fletcher says there are only three facilities that demonstrate the same function, and only one is open for use by innovators and research. The TSC looks forward to solving issues within the transport sector by working hand in hand with Omnifinity and applying VR technology, with knowledge applied in the military and gaming industries.
