VirDe: a new virtual reality design approach

Virtual reality (VR), even if it does not represent any more a novel technology, is one of the most powerful tool to help designers during the development of new projects. This is proved by very numerous research activities related to this field. In this research, we have studied a new way to approach the development of a product. We present the ongoing development of a system, called VirDe, acronym of virtual design, which can allow the designers to perform the whole design process, from the modelling phase to the finite element method (FEM) simulation analysis, in a virtual reality environment. This new method allows remarkable time and money saving in the overall product design process, but the most important contribution of VirDe is that, as far as we concerned, there is no known similar approach which has been studying the simultaneous combination of CAD, FEM and virtual environment (VE).     

仿真外科训练系统在微创外科的应用

目的 通过比较计算机模拟仿真训练和传统训练模型的训练效果，对模拟仿真训练的有效性和可行性进行评价。方法 17名低年外科医生和24名医学生被随机分成4组，分别受到计算机模拟仿真训练或传统训练模型的训练1h。在接受训练后，他们将在传统训练模型中接受连续缝合测试30min，根据完成缝合的数量和准确性来评价被测试者的能力。结果 无论接受何种训练，低年外科医生的测试结果都优于医学生，尤其在缝合速度方面，无论低年外科医生还是医学生，接受计算机模拟仿真训练的测试结果优于传统训练。结论 计算机模拟仿真训练将可能在腹腔镜外科训练中发挥重要作用。     

A new product design method based on virtual reality, gaming and scenarios

Through the years, many methods and tools have been developed that support designers in creating good products. Current trends, for example, are to use virtual reality (VR) simulation, gaming principles, and scenario based techniques during product design processes. Each of these methods and tools contributes to the potential effectiveness and efficiency of product design processes. However, in current practice, they are often applied in an ad-hoc manner. This paper presents a new product design method that integrates elements of a number of important trends in contemporary product design processes. Using VR simulation, gaming principles and scenarios, the new product design method gives non-designers (e.g. users, production engineers, marketing managers, maintenance workers) a proactive role in the design process. Within a dedicated design environment, all stakeholders are allowed to create their own designs and immediately test these in a wide variety of use scenarios. By letting stakeholders realistically interact with their personal creations, designers can quickly and reliably pinpoint their needs and preferences. At the same time, good designs are generated. The new product design method was applied to the design of a lane change support system; a system that supports the driver of a vehicle in performing lane change maneuvers. Using the design environment that was established for this case, the designer was able to get a consistent image of everyone's preferences as well as to draw a reliable conclusion about what would be a good design.     

A taxonomy for the design and evaluation of Networked Virtual Environments: its application to collaborative design

Networked Virtual Environments (NVEs) are virtual environments that are distributed across two or more physical locations and connected over a network, thereby forming one virtual shared workspace. In the past decade, research in the field of networked virtual environments has become active, quickly growing out of infancy into a diversity of applications. As is common in any new field, this growing assortment of applications lacks an overall classification, making the design of NVEs cumbersome and the comparison of existing environments difficult at best. The goal of this paper is to provide a means of classification through the development of a taxonomy of NVEs. First, an extensive literature review is conducted investigating the characteristics of virtual environments in general, as well as issues specific to networked virtual environments. This search leads to the development of a taxonomy for describing NVEs, which is used to compare current NVE systems and applications and find weak areas in which future work might be most beneficial. Finally, the taxonomy is used for the development of networked virtual environments for collaborative mechanical engineering design.     

Virtual reality simulation applied to a numerical control milling machine

Simulation of Numerical Control Machine-Tools (NCMT) based on Virtual Reality allows us a previous visualization of the different processes performed on a manufactured part. Moreover, simulation permits inexperienced workers to learn how to control the machine in a safe way even from a remote location through the web. The development of a NC milling machine commonly used in the aeronautical industry is presented here. The machine architecture and its environment are based on object oriented programming, which makes possible upgrade and modularity. Each machine element is represented by a C++ class, as well as the compiler that interprets the NC program code lines.     

虚拟现实技术结合注意力训练法促进脑卒中功能康复的研究

目的探究虚拟现实（VR）技术与注意力训练法相结合对脑卒中患者的功能康复及生活质量的影响。 方法选取2017年12月至2018年9月丽水市第二医院康复科门诊及住院的40例脑卒中偏瘫患者,采用随机数字表法将患者分为治疗组和对照组,每组20例。所有患者采用常规药物治疗,对照组采用传统康复训练结合认知训练（包括注意力训练）,治疗组患者在此基础上增加VR康复训练,每次训练30 min,1次/d,每周6 d,共持续8周。采用简易精神状态量表（MMSE）评分、Fugl-Meyer运动功能评分（FMA）、Barthel指数（BI）评分对2组患者干预前后的运动功能及日常生活活动能力进行评定比较。 结果2组患者治疗后与治疗前相比,MMSE评分、FMA评分和BI评分均有明显改善,差异具有统计学意义（P<0.05）;治疗组患者与同期对照组相比,MMSE、FMA和BI评分均显著提高,差异具有统计学意义（P<0.05）,生活质量明显优于同期对照组。 结论使用VR技术与注意力训练法结合对脑卒中偏瘫患者的功能康复效果显著,能够进一步提高患者的日常生活能力,改善生活质量。     

Recording augmented reality experiences to capture design reviews

During design reviews, multiple stakeholders convene to reflect on the quality of intermediate results and to decide upon following steps. As prior research indicates, such design reviews are only partly a structured, rational process; often aspects as trust, hidden agendas or lacking commissioning skills influence this activity. Furthermore, a wide range of media is being used during these meetings, which are difficult to recollect in their context after the event. This research project attempts to improve design reviews in the domain of Industrial Design Engineering by two means: (1) by providing a specific prototyping and annotation device employing physical mockups, (2) by recording both communication between stakeholders and interaction with the prototype to produce comprehensive coverage of the review session. Based on literature and additional case studies, an analysis of the information streams is presented. Furthermore, an Interactive Augmented Prototyping solution is devised. Early verifications show that the recording resolution still requires a lot of fine-tuning, which will be the primary focus prior to a comprehensive evaluation in practice.     

虚拟现实技术应用于脑卒中康复治疗的研究现状及进展

虚拟现实技术自20世纪80年代问世至今,已融入经济、教育、娱乐甚至军事等各个领域,为用户提供各种逼真体验。虚拟现实可以为操作者提供身临其境的沉浸感,在反复场景交互中,使操作者强化互动中所带来的感官刺激及场景中功能的学习。在近年各种疾病的临床康复治疗中,虚拟现实凭借以上优势,日益得到重视并已广泛应用于运动、平衡及认知等康复治疗中。脑卒中后肢体运动功能康复一直是康复领域的难点及热点,本文对比传统康复手段,综述了虚拟现实技术对脑卒中患者康复的优势、特点和不足,并展望虚拟现实技术对促进脑卒中患者康复的前景。     

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applied in dentistry

The OSCE is a reliable evaluation method to estimate the preclinical examination of dental students. The most ideal assessment for OSCE is used the augmented reality simulator to evaluate. This literature review investigated a recently developed in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) starting of the dental history to the progress of the dental skill. As result of the lacking of technology, it needs to depend on other device increasing the success rate and decreasing the risk of the surgery. The development of tracking unit changed the surgical and educational way. Clinical surgery is based on mature education. VR and AR simultaneously affected the skill of the training lesson and navigation system. Widely, the VR and AR not only applied in the dental training lesson and surgery, but also improved all field in our life.     

Virtual concepts and experiments to improve quality of train interiors

The paper aims at providing a methodological contribution to the concept design of train interior in order to improve the quality perceived by users in compliance with railway standards. Indeed, the combined use of advanced CAD tools, experimental statistical methods and Virtual Reality tools allows developing, selecting and experimentally evaluating new concepts. The design cycle starts both from designers’ proposal and the identification of user’s needs; then, it makes use of datum-based CAD models in order to generate virtual concepts that satisfy railway standards; the cycle proceeds with the immersive evaluation of virtual prototypes, performed by potential and expert users in Virtual Reality. The identification of the optimal concept closes the design process. This procedure can be iterated in order to improve the quality of train interiors, evaluated thanks to the user’s involvement in the design cycle. In this work a case study on seat design of a regional train is presented, developed at the Virtual Reality laboratory, named VRTest, of the Regional Centre for the qualification of transportation systems set up by Campania Regional Authority.     

Virtual reality simulators for gastrointestinal endoscopy training

The use of simulators as educational tools for medical procedures is spreading rapidly and many efforts have been made for their implementation in gastrointestinal endoscopy training. Endoscopy simulation training has been suggested for ascertaining patient safety while positively influencing the trainees' learning curve. Virtual simulators are the most promising tool among all available types of simulators. These integrated modalities offer a human-like endoscopy experience by combining virtual images of the gastrointestinal tract and haptic realism with using a customized endoscope. From their first steps in the 1980s until today, research involving virtual endoscopic simulators can be divided in two categories: investigation of the impact of virtual simulator training in acquiring endoscopy skills and measuring competence. Emphasis should also be given to the financial impact of their implementation in endoscopy, including the cost of these state-of-theart simulators and the potential economic benefits from their usage. Advances in technology will contribute to the upgrade of existing models and the development of new ones; while further research should be carried out to discover new fields of application.     

Virtual reality simulators for gastrointestinal endoscopy training简

The use of simulators as educational tools for medical procedures is spreading rapidly and many efforts have been made for their implementation in gastrointestinal endoscopy training. Endoscopy simulation training has been suggested for ascertaining patient safety while positively influencing the trainees’ learning curve. Virtual simulators are the most promising tool among all available types of simulators. These integrated modalities offer a human-like endoscopy experience by combining virtual images of the gastrointestinal tract and haptic realism with using a customized endoscope. From their first steps in the 1980s until today, research involving virtual endoscopic simulators can be divided in two categories: investigation of the impact of virtual simulator training in acquiring endoscopy skills and measuring competence. Emphasis should also be given to the financial impact of their implementation in endoscopy, including the cost of these state-of-the-art simulators and the potential economic benefits from their usage. Advances in technology will contribute to the upgrade of existing models and the development of new ones; while further research should be carried out to discover new fields of application.     

Mixed reality system for evaluating designability and operability of information appliances

In the product development process, designability and operability are evaluated using physical mock-ups which require high costs and a long time to build. In this paper, virtual mock-ups (3D digital models) are used instead of physical mock-ups to solve these problems of cost and time. Given that designers want to touch and operate the designed product in the evaluation process, to cover the disadvantage of virtual mock-ups which do not allow this, this paper proposes a system for evaluating designability and operability of products under development using mixed reality technology. With the proposed method, a physical mock-up covered with a designed virtual mock-up can be touched and operated to evaluate the design being developed in the mixed space of virtual and real ones from the viewpoint of designability and operability.     

Interactive virtual assembling in augmented reality

In this paper, a computer-aided methodology based on augmented reality to manipulate and interactively assemble virtual objects is presented. The developed system, based on both hardware and software implementation, allows the user to be immersed in an augmented scene (real world and virtual objects) by means of an head-mounted display and interact with the virtual components using a glove with sensors. The author presents the implementation of the system facing the problems concerning the interpretation of user’s intent to grasp and move the objects and the computer-aided assembly based on a novel approach concerning active features dynamic recognition. An example of implementation is herein reported and discussed.     

消化内镜模拟机对学习者内镜操作经验的评估价值

目的 探讨消化内镜模拟机评估学习者内镜操作经验可能的应用价值.方法 50名学习者按照内镜工作经验分成初级组、中级组、高级组和专家级组,应用消化内镜模拟机中的手眼协调训练评估各组学习者的内镜操作技能,评估参数包括完成总时间、两次触击的间隔时间和触壁次数.结果 以胃镜操作经验分组时,学习者手眼协调训练完成总时间分别为(302.43±108.96)s、(188.00 ±59.88)s、135.00(40.00)s、150.00(69.00)s,两次触击的间隔时间分别为(14.29 ±5.47)s、(8.82 ±3.28)s、6.00(2.00)s、7.00(4.00)s,上述两个指标除了高级组与专家级组组间比较差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05)以外,其他各组间比较差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.01).以结肠镜操作经验分组时,学习者手眼协调训练完成总时间分别为220.00 (91.00)s、127.00(28.25)s、155.50 (81.00)s、150.00(58.50)s,组间比较差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.01);两次触击的间隔时间分别为10.00(4.00)s、5.50(1.50)s、7.00(3.75)s、7.00(3.50)s,除了初级组与高级组比较以及中级组与专家级组比较差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05)以外,其他各组间比较差异均有统计学意义(P ＜0.05或P＜0.01).在触壁次数这一指标上,除了以胃镜操作经验进行分组的初级组与高级组间差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05)外,其他以胃镜操作经验进行分组的各组间以及以结肠镜操作经验分组的各组间差异均无统计学意义(P＞0.05).结论 消化内镜模拟机手眼协调训练的完成总时间可能可以作为实际操作内镜前陕速区分学习者内镜操作经验的一种方法,但对于高级与专家级的精确评估仍需其他指标进行补充.     

Teaching ultrasound-guided peripheral venous catheter placement through immersive virtual reality: An explorative pilot study

Introduction:Immersive virtual reality (IVR)-based training is gaining ground as an educational tool in healthcare. When combined with well-established educational methods, IVR can potentially increase competency and autonomy in ultrasound (US)-guided peripheral venous cannulation.The aim of this study was to examine the impact of adding IVR training to a course in US-guided peripheral venous cannulation.Methods:Medical students (n = 19) from the University of Southern Denmark with no former standardized US education were recruited to voluntarily participate in a pilot study, designed as a randomized controlled trial. The primary outcome was the proportion of successful peripheral venous cannulations on a phantom. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of surface punctures on the phantom and procedure time. Participants received e-learning on the basic US before randomization to either IVR (n = 10) or no further training (n = 9). The additional IVR training comprised 10 virtual scenarios for US-guided peripheral venous catheter (PVC) placement. Students were subsequently evaluated in peripheral venous cannulation by a blinded assessor.Results:The proportion of successful peripheral venous cannulations was significantly higher in the IVR group (P ≤ .001). The proportions of successful cannulations were significantly higher in the IVR group compared to the control group for the 1st and 2nd PVC (P = .011, P = .023), but not for the 3rd PVC (P = .087). Similar results were found for the proportion of surface punctures (1st: P ≤ .001, 2nd: P = .001, and 3rd: P = .114). No significant differences in procedure times were found between the groups.Conclusion:This pilot study showed that adding an IVR-based training simulation to an existing e-learning curriculum significantly increased the learning efficacy of US-guided PVC placement for medical students.     

Significant applications of virtual reality for COVID-19 pandemic

Background and aimsDuring COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are using innovative technologies for fast-tracking the development to end this menace. Virtual Reality (VR) also offers an imperative role for fighting this pandemic, through audiovisual-based virtual communication.MethodsA brief study on Virtual Reality and its applications for the COVID-19 pandemic is carried out by employing keywords as Virtual reality or VR and COVID-19 from the databases of SCOPUS, Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of science Academia and ResearchGate.ResultsVR is beneficial for remote sites for exploring telemedicine, planning, treatment, and controlling of the infections by providing proper awareness to the people regarding this disease.ConclusionsVR technology develops a platform to reduce the face to face interaction of doctors with the infected COVID-19 patients. Through live video streaming, it helps to improve surveillance systems on the ongoing situation.     

虚拟现实导航技术在胸腔镜下肺段切除中的临床应用

目的探讨三维虚拟现实导航技术(VR)对于胸腔镜下肺段切除术中及术后的影响。方法选取解放军总医院2016年10月至2017年2月中8例胸腔镜下肺段切除手术作为研究对象,随机分为VR辅助组和传统组,对比术中出血量、手术时间及术后恢复时间的差异。结果 VR组术中出血量较传统组明显减少(12.25±2.22 vs.60.25±9.74)ml,VR组手术时间较传统组显著缩短(84.50±5.57 vs.116.50±6.61)min;VR组术后恢复时间较传统组略有缩短(4.25±0.96 vs.8.00±0.82)d。(P0.05)。结论利用虚拟现实导航技术进行术前评估,详细制定手术计划,规划手术路线,术中实时导航,预显示重要解剖结构,切实减少了肺段切除手术的难度,对于肺段切除手术的普及具有重大意义。