2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Successes and Challenges in Applying M&S beyond the research lab
Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira
LITE Chief Scientist
W. Hansen Hall and Mary Officer Hall/BORSF Endowed Super Chair in Telecommunications
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Background
• Early 90’s (Illinois)– Developer of 1st CAVE– Worked with NCSA and Argonne National Lab to introduce CAVE in scientific
research– Worked with GM to introduce CAVE in industry
• 1995-2006 (Iowa)– Academic:
• Many projects with industry on the use of M&S (VR) for training applications
• Research on educational applications
– Entrepreneur:• Launched several companies/spin-offs focused on deploying M&S in industry (manufacturing)
• Consulted for major Fortune 500 companies on good practices for M&S
• 2006-Present (Louisiana)– Using M&S for economic development through research– Several M&S projects for training/ understanding effects on training
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 1: Deere & Company
• Develop and deploy virtual prototyping and immersive collaboration tools used in designing, analyzing, and evaluating John Deere products, manufacturing processes, and facilities completely within virtual environments.”
• 1996 No M&S(VR) in company. Today over 30 installations world-wide across most activities in company
• Standardized with VRJuggler enterprise-wide, as well as underlying hardware
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 2: P&G
• Phased development– Phase 1 (2000-2002): Academic investigation– Phase 2 (2002/03): First Immersive VR System– Phase 3 (2005): Global Deployment
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 3: Higher Education
• Training For Field Experiences:– Use M&S (VR) to place students in the field– Perform activities to understand real phenomena as if they
were in the middle of it– Phase 1: 2002-2006 – Meteorology:
• Followed a class for 3 years evaluating learning outcomes• Groups using M&S showed significant learning improvements,
as well as retention– Phase 2: 2007-present – Volcano education– Phase 3: 2008-present – Field experiences for Civil
Engineering students
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 3-II
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 4: Higher Education/Cultural Understanding
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 5: Safety Training in Rigs
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 6: Fire Safety Certification
• Combine M&S with Supercomputing to create a design and evaluation environment for building design and fire codes
• Long-term goal: use these environments for fire safety certification
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 7: Welder training
• After Katrina: Louisiana has still today over 14,000 welding jobs open.
• Community colleges can graduate approximately 800 welders/year
• Physical equipment needed: 10-16 welding stations per school. Each station costs $100K to acquire plus $10K/year in operations plus specialized space in building
• M&S utilized in early training: $3K to $5K per station. Minimal operation costs. Can be set in classrooms. Reduce training timeline, increase number of students
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Example 7: Welder Training
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
State of Louisiana Support for Tech-Transfer
• Workforce Development Department:– Specialized grants towards improvement on workers
training and advanced certifications• Louisiana Board of Regents:
– Seed funding towards research projects that can lead to economic development
• Louisiana Information Technologies Initiative:– Seed funding to incentivize faculty to collaborate with
industry partner in Information technology. Majority of grants at the University of Louisiana are for M&S
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Other efforts
• Lafayette hosting IEEE VR 2009:– http://conferences.computer.org
• Lafayette Digital Entertainment Day– More geared towards games, but also focused on
education and training opportunities.• Louisiana Digital Entertainment Initiative• Digital Technologies & Creative Processes
Initiative: State-funded review of current Gaming curricula in State and make recommendations on improvements based on industry needs.
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Challenges in Advancement of M&S
• There is a lot of work to be done to deploy and make efficient use of M&S. Most of it is applied research
• Who does this applied research? – R&D in industry is being reduced– Academics challenge to get funding from traditional sources
for applied work• Not much efforts happening on developing some
guidelines or standards to unify work and leverage a wide range of technologies
• What do I buy?? Narrow solutions, targeting one problem, hard to expand to other problems
• Finding talent for M&S
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Areas for Potential Congressional Help
• Develop incentives that support medium- and large-scale collaboration between academics and industry
• Incentivize academic programs to incorporate skills needed for M&S, in particular STEM areas:– Universities need to understand that computer
science is much more than enterprise computing• Incentivize development of domestic talent• Keep in mind small companies and
entrepreneurial initiatives
2009 M&S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Successes and Challenges in Applying M&S beyond the research lab
Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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