Primary Activity 1:
Curriculum Enhancement and Material Development
Primary Activity 2:
Curriculum Evaluation
Primary Activity 1
- Curriculum
Enhancement and Material Development
This step entails
developing the VR model of the aircraft inspection and maintenance
process for use in the aircraft maintenance technology curriculum,
ordering project equipment, and installing and piloting the completed
model at Greenville Tech. Support documentation for the virtual
process will include laboratory activities that incorporate the VR
software application into courses.
The virtual environment
will enable students to access realistic inspection and maintenance
situations and conduct “what if” scenarios; instructors can tailor
these scenarios based on student need, enabling students to see the
results of their responses and discuss potential solutions. This
type of engagement is not possible with other pedagogical techniques.
The Virtual
Environment – Our operational and
deployable VR inspection simulator features a binocular eye tracker
built into the system’s Head Mounted Display (HMD), shown in Figure
1a, which allows the recording of the user’s dynamic point of regard
within the virtual environment (Figure 1b) (Duchowski et al., 2001).
User gaze
direction, as well as head position and orientation, are tracked to
enable navigation and post-immersive examination of the user’s overt
spatio-temporal focus of attention while immersed in the environment.
Tracking routines
deliver helmet position and orientation in real-time, both of which
are then used provide updated images to the HMD. User gaze direction
is tracked in real-time (Figure 1c), along with calculated
gaze/polygon intersections, for subsequent off-line analysis and
comparison with stored locations of artificially generated defects in
the inspection environment (Figure 1d) (Duchowski et al.,
2002).
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Figure 1: (1a) Binocular eye tracking optics, (1b)
User immersed in VE, (1c) Real time gaze tracking in VR, (1d)
Corrosion defects highlighted for simulation operator |
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Figure 2: (2a) Physical aft cargo bay, (2b)
Captured fixation in virtual environment, (2c) Use of flash-light
in aft cargo bay, (2d) Eye movement acceleration analysis |
The VR-based inspection environment enables us to simulate the
complex aircraft maintenance/inspection environment, and
support classroom instruction and capstone design projects.
The goal of the construction of
the virtual environment is to match the appearance of the physical
environment, similar to the example shown in Figure 2a (Vora et al.,
2001). Eye movements, following fixation analysis, captured in the
existing prototype VR environment are shown in Figure 2b.
During immersion, users have
access to tools similar to those used by a technician on the aircraft
hangar floor (e.g., flashlight, mirror- Figure 2c), albeit these are
virtual in our environment. The system captures process data
(eye movements of the subjects as seen in Figure 2b) and performance
data (speed and accuracy) for use as feedback to the subjects (Nair et
al., 2001). Several defect scenarios have now been developed
(e.g., enabling visual search for corrosion, cracks, broken conduits),
augmented with user-adjustable parameters. The same graphical
user interface, shown in Figure 2d, is used for on-line user immersion
and off-line eye movement analysis.
Hardware
Platform: Since initial funding from NASA (Ames) in 1999, we
have successfully migrated our system from
our primary supercomputer
rendering engine (a dual-rack, dual-pipe, SGI Onyx2® InfiniteReality™
system with 8 raster managers and 8 MIPS® R10000™ processors) to a
personal computer. Our PC platform, running Linux and equipped
with an NVidia GeForce4 TI4600 graphics card, attains rendering
performance comparable to our former SGI platform at a significant
reduction in cost, from approximately $500,000 to $3,000.
Multi-modal hardware components include a binocular ISCAN eye tracker
mounted within a Virtual Research V8 (high resolution) Head Mounted
Display (HMD). The Clemson research team, working closely with
Greenville Tech and industry partners, will transfer the existing
prototype VR simulator produced under the auspices of previous FAA-
and NASA-funded research efforts into a deliverable for use by
Greenville Tech. Following purchase of equipment, software will be
available from Clemson’s publicly accessible web-based software
repository (a CVS web site serving the latest version of the code; for
an example, see:
http://www.vr.clemson.edu/~acnatha/ienasa/ByName.html).
Support documentation for the VR inspection and maintenance process
will include laboratory activities that integrate VR applications as
part of the following three courses – ACM 130, Sheet Metal Layout and
Repair; ACM 174, Airframe Inspection; ACM 226, Power Plant Inspection.
A description of the Clemson system as a case study can be found in
Duchowski (2003).
Implementation of a
Portable VR System for Demonstration:
While we expect the above
simulation strategies to be suitable for gaze-based interaction in VR,
the project will also implement a simpler interactive portable system
more suitable for stand-alone installation at remote sites. This will
facilitate in demonstrating the use of VR as pedagogical tool in high
schools and colleges and at other distant locations. Window-VR
is a state-of-the-art, flat-panel interface allowing hand-pointing
selection through a built-in touchscreen. Although not worn on
the head, the Window-VR device operates in a manner similar to the
Head Mounted Display. The device contains a Flock Of Birds
sensor which records the panel’s position and orientation in
three-space. Using this device, we will be able to display an
identical environment to the user as in our HMD, except for the eye
tracking components. Omitting these requirements, the proposed
standalone VR system instead focuses on performance aspects of the
system, namely (1) ease of navigation through the environment and (2)
the usability of the Virtual Reality hardware itself. Although the
chief advantage of the HMD, the traditional device used for Virtual
Environment display and navigation, is the promise of immersion
in the environment, its primary disadvantage is its awkwardness.
That is, the HMD must be fitted to and worn on the head of the
individual. Furthermore, the currently used eye tracking system
requires calibration of the optics each time a user dons the helmet.
This procedure is often cumbersome, especially if the user must
complete other tasks outside the environment, for example, filling out
progress reports. The Window-VR device, on the other hand, is an
innovative flat-panel display mounted on a movable arm similar to the
Fakespace BOOM device (Figure 3).
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Because the Window-VR interface is a simple flat-panel, it does
not need to be fitted to the user. Furthermore, the user can
simply let go of the display to perform easily any required tasks
outside the environment. Its electromagnetic
position/orientation sensor, screen touchpad, and joystick
controls work together to allow navigation and selection in the
three-dimensional world. |
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Primary Activity 2 - Curriculum Evaluation
Comprehensive measures are
planned to ensure ongoing assessment of program planning, development,
implementation, and both internal and external evaluation. The overall
purpose of this assessment will be to promote the successful
development and implementation of the program through continuous
feedback of the data to the investigators and to assess the
effectiveness of the college in meeting the educational objectives for
the program in the following areas: curriculum,
faculty, constituents, processes, outcomes, assessment and
dissemination. The researchers have integrated the NVC personnel and
evaluation plan as part of the assessment process. The NVC
personnel were consulted during the final stage of the proposal
development. They will be actively involved during the project
planning phase and will visit Indian Hills during each project year to
conduct evaluations and provide feedback. The core NVC members are Ms.
Peggy Weeks, Dr. Manoj Patankar, Dr. Robert Jacob, and Dr. Jim Wood.
The research will employ the classic closed loop program assessment
methodology. This methodology will apply qualitative, quantitative,
attitudinal, and behavior/performance measures. In addition to
developing the integrated curriculum application using virtual
reality-based technology, research will be conducted on the learning
effectiveness of this method. A systems approach model focusing on
content, methods, and delivery system will be used. Progress
reports will be filed after the completion of each project milestone,
including quarterly, semi-annual and annual progress reports, and a
final technical report will be submitted on completion of the
research.
