Abstracts of Workshops
Workshop 1 "VR/VE for Experiences and Life sciences"
Currently, Europe is still paying little attention to scientific applications of V&MR technologies. Although one of the first applications of VR was the virtual representation of complex molecules, the results obtained by VR molecular docking applications for pharmacology and medecine are below expectations. Furthermore, significant research is in progress in North America for surgery assistance or remote surgery with advanced approaches of Mixed Reality, but what is the state of the art in that field in Europe? Other applications, such as psychotherapy and research in cognitive and social sciences, are more and more interested by V&MR technologies, but don’t always use up-to-date solutions. Finally, some experiences for education and culture heritage are in progress, but their fallouts seem limited.
The aim of this workshop is to discuss only some of these V&MR applications, and for them, to establish a diagnosis of the European positioning, and to determine possible synergies and actions.
Workshop 2 "VR/VE technologies, User needs & Evaluation"
V&MR is a domain which continuously produces hardware and software innovations. Haptics is a typical example, but many innovations are also in progress in visual immersion (such as multi-stereoscopy), in 3D audio (such as Wave Field Synthesis), in Mixed Reality or in Collaborative Virtual Environments. However, applying such advanced solutions must be based on user needs analysis, and their relevance must be proved by psychophysical experiments and ergonomic studies.
The aim of this workshop is to address both aspects, by addressing up-to-date V&MR solutions, but with a particular attention on methods and methodologies for user needs analysis, and evaluation processes.
Workshop 3 "VR for Design, Engineering & Manufacturing"
With an emphasis on both technical and scientific aspects, discussions within this workshop should focus on:
- Virtual mock-up and/or virtual prototyping,
- Virtual simulation of assembling, maintenance, using or recycling procedures,
- VR integration with CAD and/or PLM systems,
- Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVE) for design activities,
- Mixed Reality for manufacturing and maintenance, and so on.
Many enhancements remain necessary, and new approaches are possible to better exploit the VR/VE technologies in a number of application fields (Aerospace, Automotive, Construction, Energy…). What are the real priorities in these fields, and what are the means to achieve them? On the other hand, what is the methodology to be applied, to develop and evaluate these new V&MR approaches within the complex PLM design process, while the manufactured product companies are so stressed by the market? These are some of the questions that this workshop should also discuss.
