Researchers in the CAES Applied Visualization Lab (AVL) recently published a study sharing experiences and lessons learned during the lab’s 15 years in operation.
Inside the lab, you’ll find the CAVE, a Cave Automated Virtual Environment. Using technology similar to virtual reality headsets, the CAVE offers a three-sided surround experience which utilizes a high-quality projection system to transport to other worlds users with only a simple pair of glasses. And in the immersive virtual environments, users experience a virtual world as if they were actually in it.
One of the main benefits of the system is the capability to experience a space that you couldn’t do so safely in the real world. One example is AVL’s virtual model of the core of the world’s premier nuclear test reactor, the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). By creating a digital twin of the core, reactor operators were able to complete training virtually to accurately and safely learn the essential skills needed to handle the ATR fuel rods and perform maintenance such as changing out the reactor’s core.
The researchers found a crucial element of the lab’s operations is interdisciplinary collaboration. Using visualization technology allowed the researchers to connect with a diverse body of users and purposes. Some of the projects, such as the ATR core model, have become the hallmarks of demonstrating the CAVE’s capabilities and have paved the road for collaboration between CAES and academic and industry partners.
You can read the full study at https://direct.mit.edu/pvar/article/doi/10.1162/pres_a_00422/120471.
