Virtual Reality - Disaster Simulation from Microsoft

Microsoft is currently working on training for evacuations as part of a new VR project.

A research team from the software company Microsoft is currently working on an extension of the depiction of real environments in virtual reality. The aim of the project is to copy entire buildings as part of a simulation in order to allow users to practise certain evacuation scenarios.

To recreate a specific building in a VR simulation, the researchers use a camera that can produce panoramic images of the real environment in 4k resolution. This is supplemented by an RGB depth camera and a mobile robot with a laser sensor that can measure distances and scan objects in the room.

VR simulation should offer the same learning effect as real practice

If the user of a corresponding VR headset is then inside the simulation, the real environment can be manipulated in various ways to simulate different disaster scenarios such as fires, earthquakes or floods. In this way, the user can then train their behaviour in an emergency in their own daily environment under simulated real conditions.

The Microsoft research team assumes that training for emergencies could definitely keep pace with or even surpass the effectiveness of corresponding training in a real environment.

Source: Gamestar