New South Innovations (NSi), the technology commercialisation division of University of New South Wales (UNSW), has recently signed a multi-million dollar agreement to supply Virtual Reality technologies to Coal Services to support their on-going drive for increased mine safety.
Coal Services provides critical services to the NSW coal mining industry in the areas of occupational health and safety, workers compensation, welfare and mines rescue.
“Our role is to save lives. This technology enables us to teach and retrain new and experienced miners safe work procedures in a virtual mine before they are exposed to the hazards of a real mine environment” says Ron Land, Chairman of Coal Services.
Miners are immersed in a 3 dimensional virtual mine and taught emergency response and safety procedures. They navigate via a series of simulated underground emergency drills, including unaided self escape, hazard awareness, rib and roof stability, and truck and shovel operations. The training packages are all tailored to address the core competencies necessary for Australian mine worker accreditation.
Dr Phil Stothard, Chairman of the International Mining VR Group and Senior Research Fellow at the UNSW School of Mining Engineering, is responsible for creating the interactive group based virtual reality training scenarios for Coal Services that will run on the systems. “UNSW and Coal Services are leading the world in this field. There is no question that these technologies have the potential to save lives and their full potential will be fully realised through further Domestic and International Collaboration”.
4 AVIEs and 12 iDOMES will be installed into 4 purpose built virtual reality training sites operated by Coal Services across NSW.
AVIE (Audio Visual and Interaction Environment) is a 120 square metre space enclosed within a 4m high / 10m diameter circular screen enabling up to 20 people to be completely immersed in a 3D virtual experience. It is driven by six computers, 12 high-resolution digital video projectors and a 16-channel spatialised audio system.
The smaller iDOME offers a compact immersive visualisation environment for individuals. It is configured as a four meter diameter fibreglass hemisphere that stands vertically in front of the viewer, with a single high-definition projector, a computer, surround audio equipment and a user interface.
The world first AVIE and benchmark iDOME theatres were developed by the iCinema Centre for Interactive Research led by Professor Jeffrey Shaw, ARC Federation Fellow and the Director of the Centre. iCinema is a joint venture between UNSW’s College of Fine Arts, the Faculty of Engineering (School of Computer Science and Engineering and School of Mining Engineering) and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
iCinema offers the opportunity to create interactive “immersive” cinema experiences for audiences that will change the way audiences view and relate to cinema.
"Interactive cinema is a form of cinema that integrates all forms of media in an intelligent narrative landscape, allowing the audience to interact with and become part of the cinematic experience," says iCinema’s’ Chairman and Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, Dr Dennis Del Favero.
“It plunges audiences into an ‘immersive reality’ where there are no barriers between the virtual and the physical, and where narrative is created spontaneously and cooperatively.”
Professor Shaw, who conceived the AVIE project, is committed to the principle of artistic research leading industrial innovation: “As artists we search for enhanced modalities of communication and experience, and our achievements are of universal value. The interdisciplinary team at iCinema embodies a fusion of creative, scientific and technical skills.”
Professor Shaw says that Coal Services is being visionary in adopting iCinema’s technologies to enhance the effectiveness of mine safety training. “AVIE and iDOME are world leading Australian innovations. Coal Services has recognized their unique capabilities and are setting a precedent that other industrial sectors can follow.”
NSi expects the technologies to be rapidly adopted by other high-risk industries such as construction, policing and the military. “The investment by Coal Services is a wonderful endorsement of the technology and its application in training for high risk industries. We are now in the process of commercialising the technology to make it available across industry in Australia and internationally” says Alan El-Kadhi, Business Development Manager for NSi.
The technologies will be showcased in September 2007 at AIMEX, the largest mining technology, equipment and services trade show in Asia Pacific.
A video report on the project is available courtesy of Channel 9 News and can be downloaded (4.7 MB) and viewed. |
