eViz
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Electronic, Electrical and Computer Eng
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Robert Stone (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Rafiq, R.
Applying Artificial Neural Networks to Promote Behaviour Change for Saving Residential Energy
in Artificial Neural Networks and Intelligent Information Processing
Stone, R.J.
(2014)
EXPLOITING GAMING TECHNOLOGIES TO VISUALISE DYNAMIC THERMAL QUALITIES OF A DOMESTIC DWELLING: PILOT STUDY OF AN INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL APARTMENT
in BEHAVE (Behaviour & Energy Efficiency) 2104
| Description | Our research and development contribution to this collaborative project the eViz Project has focused on the development of an interactive virtual apartment, exploiting a range of user interface styles, 3D models, physics and particle-based effects from the gaming community. The aim of this research is twofold: firstly to provide a toolkit enabling investigators to design a variety of techniques for visualising energy sources and flows within a typical domestic dwelling; and secondly to provide an experimental test bed supporting the rapid execution of usability and behavioural "modification" experiments. Early experiments have shown very strong engagement on the part of end users with this type of data visualisation technique (effectively making the "invisible visible") and the results have suggested a number of key usability modifications which are, at the time of this submiission being completed, prior to undertaking a new set of experimental studies. |
| Exploitation Route | We are demonstrating the eViz "Virtual Apartment" to a wide range of potential adopters, including those in the nuclear industry, where there is significant interest in visualising invisible processes. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Communities and Social Services/Policy Construction Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Energy Environment Healthcare |
| Description | The virtual apartment developed as a result of the eViz research programme has been taken for evaluation by EDF Energy plc, with the aim of considering future funding and support to convert the prototype into a tool for use by the company to increase awareness within their customer base. In addition, the eViz virtual apartment has inspired the development of a similar virtual environment, this time of relevance to a "Care in the Community" project, in collaboration with Torbay NHS Trust. The project sets out to visualise dwellings in differing conditions, representative of the health and well-being of occupants. An early pilot study is under way to investigate such environments for healthcare practitioner training. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Energy,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Use of eViz Virtual Apartment for Care in the Community Simulation |
| Organisation | Torbay Hospital |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | In addition to the free hardware and software we have provided the researchers at Torbay Hospital to investigate VR and rehabilitation within their own organisation, we are also providing them with the apartment 3D scenario and associated assets in a bid to secure a small grant to use the scenario as the focus for a future "Care in the Community" training package. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have been able to re-deploy our hardware and software test beds to conduct parallel research to ours in a smaller community hospital setting (when compared to, for example the QEHB in Birmingham). We hope to develop a small research and evaluation grant proposal soon to secure funding from the SW NHS Trust and other bodies interested in the application of VR to community nurse training. |
| Impact | None yet, although see: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/engineering/eese/news/2018/virtual-reality-helps-intensive-care-patient-recover.aspx |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Title | Virtual Apartment Energy Visualisation Concept Demonstrator |
| Description | The virtual apartment, developed using the Unity game development toolkit, interfaces with external datasets (appliance, lighting and heating usage). Ultimately the user must find the optimised energy usage for a particular scenario (e.g. day, night, winter, summer). The user has the ability to interact with doors, windows, appliances, lights and the boiler thermostat. They also have the ability to "buy" further upgrades to the home that will increase energy saving, such as double glazing, or wall, floor and roof insulation. Whilst understanding the amount of current energy use is important, the virtual apartment also helps explain to the user why there is energy loss by incorporating a virtual thermal camera and visualisations of heat and airflow based on computational fluid dynamics. The user can switch to a virtual thermal imaging mode designed specifically to give a thermal colour gradient representation of the apartment. In addition to interacting with the virtual apartment using a PC or laptop equipped with an appropriate graphics card, users can also experience the environment in a "immersive" style of engagement, as the software has been modified further to allow hosting (stereoscopically) on a SmartPhone (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Note 4, S6) using a Samsung GearVR head-mounted display and interactive controller. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | The concept demonstrator was presented as part of the 2014 BEHAVE conference in Oxford and formed a central part of end user evaluation trials being conducted in collaboration with University of Plymouth collaborators. The demonstrator has undergone a recent (November, 2014, Summer 2015) modification based on early user trials and a second, more game-like inplementation has been developed. The desktop and immersive versions of the eViz apartment were also demonstrated to representatives of SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy plc) at a special workshop hosted by the Edne Project in the Summer of 2015. |