Virtual Reality Based Digital Chain for Maintenance Training

This paper presents ongoing research about the use of Virtual Reality (VR) to facilitate training for maintenance. VR systems are now widely accepted as training platforms for complex and highly demanding training tasks. In this paper, we focus on the application of VR technology for designing and evaluating the actual training process that relates to maintenance operations. Despite the availability of increasingly many and mature VR devices, it is still difficult to achieve the level of realism needed for the effective training of particular manipulation gestures that are vital for specific assembly and disassembly procedures. We propose a systematic approach to create a VR-based experimentation environment that facilitates the selection, calibration, and evaluation of different VR devices for the training of a specific maintenance operation. We present a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of our concept, as well as the huge potential VR has to even replace the traditional physical mock-up training. Via virtual hands, users can interact directly with virtual objects via various devices (mouse, keyboard and Leap Motion). Maintenance gestures can thereby be executed as naturally as possible and can be easily recorded to prepare maintenance learning service.