{"id":16552,"date":"2023-07-11T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T15:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=16552"},"modified":"2023-12-15T10:55:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T16:55:14","slug":"rojas-munoz-to-explore-adaptable-virtual-reality-environments-through-ascend-research-fellowship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2023\/07\/11\/rojas-munoz-to-explore-adaptable-virtual-reality-environments-through-ascend-research-fellowship\/","title":{"rendered":"Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz To Explore Adaptable Virtual Reality Environments Through ASCEND Research Fellowship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Edgar Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz, assistant professor in the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, was recently selected for Texas A&M University\u2019s inaugural ASCEND research seed grant initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Research Leadership Fellowship aims to turn junior faculty into research leaders, and it comes with a $75,000 award for a one-year project. Twelve researchers<\/a> were selected within the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz<\/a> leads the interdisciplinary research team that also includes Patrick Suermann<\/a>, interim dean in the School of Architecture, and Xin Li<\/a>, visual computing professor in the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The project aims to explore the artificial generation of virtual environments, specifically targeted to urban planning and room modifications. The goal: accelerate content creation for virtual reality applications, making it more flexible and adaptable for nonexpert users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz explains this in the context of firefighter training. A virtual environment can be designed, and the interactions can be programmed. The finished product, however, is not able to be altered or scaled by the client. So a firefighter can experience only what is present. After repeated use, a virtual building\u2019s floor plan is understood and anticipated. This reduces efficiency, Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz said, because firefighters encounter new and unfamiliar floor plans during an emergency. That then requires rehiring the company that produced it for modifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s the business model,\u201d Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz said. \u201cIt\u2019s not sustainable for everybody, which means a lot of people don\u2019t want to take on the initial commitment to VR because they know that it will be unsustainable for them. They\u2019re not going to have the flexibility they require.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project aims to solve this through a two-step process. First is using camera devices to scan and capture the environment, which is commonly used for 3D experiences. But instead of acquiring the static representation of the room, a semantic interpretation will be created. This requires interpreting the characteristics of the room, such as the roof, windows, floor and furniture. Afterward, a second step will allow users to go inside a virtual reality rendition of the environment and modify it intuitively. Through this immersive editing, users can generate new virtual models from existing real ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou put on the goggles and you\u2019re able to walk inside,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd while immersed there, you have access to the defining characteristics of the room. You can easily say, \u2018OK, I like this window and I want to put another one in that wall.\u2019 So I grab this window and boom \u2014 it\u2019s there. But maybe it\u2019s too big for that wall. So I\u2019ll shrink it a bit. Or the material that this floor has, you want to have it in the ceiling. Since it\u2019s one of the defining characteristics, you can copy it and now the ceiling has the same material.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For firefighter training, Rojas-Mu\u00f1oz said the dimensions of a room \u2014 making a wall longer, reducing the size of the windows \u2014 could be altered, thereby changing the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A second example is from health care, with a surgeon who relocates to a new hospital but wants to duplicate the surgery room from the previous location. A scan of the room acquires the defining features, which can then be adapted to fit within the new location, e.g., room constraints, lighting and building position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople can have more intuitive and easy-to-use control over this type of room modifications inside of VR,\u201d he said. \u201cEssentially, someone who has no skill set on building the models or programming VR applications can re-create existing rooms and modify them to whatever they want, and then save them and use them later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n