Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality experiences used to protect and save lives.
Role
Lead UI/UX Designer
Animator
Concept Artist
VR and AR technologies unlocks the potential to create environments and experiences where it’s safe to explore, experiment and to fail, where the equivalent real-world experiences might hurt, injure or ultimately kill participants.
IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) have become one of the biggest threats to servicemen and civilians in recent war zones, accounting for approximately 63% of fatalities to coalition forces in Iraq, and 66% in Afghanistan. The key feature of IEDs is they’re difficulty to identify, even to the the most discerning of eyes, disguised as anything from bricks in a wall to buried under roads.
Artwork by Daniel Burns and Patrick Robert Doyle
By designing and building counter-IED training applications that can be played via VR kits (Oculus Rift, and Android Gear VR), or iPads, armed forces personnel are educated through the gamification of two types of immersive interactive experience:
- Petting Zoo – Using augmented reality to examine explosives safely
- Immersive 360º Scenario – Using virtual reality to test personnel in close-to-real-life experiences
AR Petting Zoo
Augmented Reality digital replicas of devices are used to educate personal to the appearance, construction, and function of the various types of IEDs.
Immersive 360º Scenario
The user must use their acquired knowledge of IED appearance to identify potential threats in an immersive 3D environment, by either using VR such as an Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR, or an iPad as a Virtual Reality ‘window’ into the 3D world.
Instructor Interface
Instructors are able to track real-time and historic data of class and individual progress using a highly intelligent and innovative designed analytics console; providing the ability to view a class and student’s screen, and metric data in real-time to identify any areas that require assistance.
The beauty of the solution is in it’s portability. A rugged Peli case houses 32 iPads, hardware for a portable private wireless network, a laptop for administering the virtual classroom, and a battery power supply allowing the portable classroom to be located anywhere from a training room the front-line.