Virtual training is estimated to make up $14 billion of the US military budget annually, with most going towards virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications. Advancements in commodity VR and AR head mounted displays (HMDs) have driven much of this recent growth by making virtual training solutions more practical and cost-effective. However, these training applications create a disparity in virtual environment perception between a trainer and a trainee. A trainee is in the HMD while a trainer is usually not, creating a barrier for collaborative communication. One solution is to display a trainee’s viewpoint on a 2D display, but this makes it difficult for a trainer to have adequate situational awareness of a trainee. Another option is to place a trainer inside the virtual environment. This offers improved perception of a trainee’s progress but removes a trainer’s real-world situational awareness, which can be vital when facilitating training on complex processes or equipment. Neither of these options provide an adequate solution to bridge this visual communication gap.
User studies have shown that asymmetric collaboration between VR and AR users results in improved performance and engagement during collaborative tasks. These findings show the potential of applying asymmetric collaboration for commercial and military VR training. This paper introduces a prototype AR mobile application that establishes a new method for asymmetric collaboration within a training scenario. The approach uses body tracking to identify a trainee and align the VR scene around them in real-time. Using AR, a trainer can view a trainee in the real-world with augmented content around them replicating the virtual environment. Occlusion of the trainee’s body accurately portrays their depth within the scene. Evaluation of this application found that the implementation of real-time body tracking and networking on a mobile device can maintain an operable framerate.
Keywords
3D,AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY (AR/VR),COLLABORATIVE,HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS,IMMERSIVE,INTERACTIVE,MILITARY LEARNING,MIXED REALITY,MOBLIE TECHNOLOGY,REAL-TIME,SIMULATORS,TRAINING,VIRTUAL ,VISUALIZATION
Additional Keywords