Application of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is the projection of a fictional view such that it realistically can be viewed by the user in the environment with a real product. An application for the technology was found in design and build of industrial gas plants in China. The concept of the overall project was to design a standard gas cylinder filling plant with add on modules that could be replicated across China as part of an expansion plan. The project team was struggling to agree the best routes forward with the design, in particular with the layout. Additionally, the feedback on forecasted costs showed they were too high. In fact more than double that of expected local build costs.

A programme was identified in which virtual reality could be used in the design of a standard gas cylinder plant and enable a lower cost design to be explored. Virtual reality presents itself as an ideal tool for this work as a right first time approach is essential in this project to not replicate mistakes. Confidence in the design is important in this project due to the replication. Virtual reality can help achieve a consensus and ensure the design is reviewed thoroughly. Additionally, as a significantly lower cost design is sought, it is likely the design may challenge certain normalities. Virtual reality provides a mechanism by which ideas can be tested quickly and with limited costs (no physical models are required). Virtual reality is therefore highly applicable to the project identified.

A methodology for the project was then derived shown in Figure 34, which resulted in the following areas of work:

 Skills – as the work is being conducted as a trial the required skills should be found externally. Therefore a supply partner would be required, who could provide the necessary skills. Options were considered using a resourcing specialist or a design consultancy company. The latter route was taken as it did not require investment in computational software and hardware.  Equipment and Technique – as the work would be a trial there was no opportunity to invest

in the necessary virtual reality system. The University of Warwick was identified as an ideal partner who had the necessary equipment, skills to assist in conducting the design reviews and had worked previously with the identified design consultancy company, who could provide the main body of the work.

 Funding – in order to reduce the monetary risk exposed in the project, grant funding was sought. As the skills partner was an SME they were able to obtain a CATAPULT grant (Catapult, 2013). This reduces the risk of the project funding running out which was a concern as the required work hours could only be estimated at the start due to this being a first application necessitating an amount of learning as the project was executed.

In addition to the above, a road map was developed showing how to advance the project in a step- wise manner. The purpose of this was to develop a set of achievable technical goals. The road map was developed in conjunction with experts at the University of Warwick (Williams, Attridge, & Abulrub, 2013). The map was built to bridge from a known starting point to the end achievement of a fully immersive and realistic design review. The work is split into five phases, four of which need to be completed to achieve the aim, a fifth stage was also identified in which a photorealistic model could be adapted live during the design review. The last stage was reserved to be achieved with a second application of the technology in order to reduce the scope tackled in the first application; this improved the certainty of delivering the project on time. The road map is presented in Figure 34.

Figure 34: Virtual Reality Road Map for Industrial Gas Plants

A design work shop was held to create a lower cost plant using value engineering methods. This work identified, a more radical design with a single basic plant from which five options could be added to expand its capacity and/or capability. In the basic design two concepts of filling layouts were identified which were to be tested in the design review for preference. These options were covered by a total of seven layout plans which were developed first in two dimensional CAD. The proposed design reduced costs by 45% through a value engineering event, which was an excellent achievement. Details of the development activities are given in Appendix 9, Case Study 2: Virtual Reality.

Development of three dimensional models and the design review structure was worked on with expertise from the University of Warwick (Williams, Attridge, & Abulrub, 2013). A two day design review strategy was developed, in which the first day would use a team, who had been working on the development. This would act as a test run and identify any issues or necessary improvements of the model and method. The second day would involve a broad team from the decision makers on the plant design to the operational team of such plants. A technical bias was made to the second team to give some sensitivity to any problems with the technology

The feedback from the first review (with the development team) focused on a number of technical challenges such as the speed of guided walks and some wrong cylinder colours used. A number of plant layout improvements were identified for discussion at the second day of review. Capturing the changes was found to be more complex in the virtual environment. Whilst some could be done live

2D

• Plot plans • Define building

blocks • Issued out for

quotation • Used as the on going drawing 3D Parametric • Simple blocks • Colouring • No texturing/shading • Enables greater awareness

of space and flow • Can be presented on large

screens

• Can be distributed using viewer software

3D Parametric Live

• Real time adjustment to plant design • User drag n drop blocks • Require new method to

record the evolution • Enables plant process

and flow to be iterated in real time • Results distribution

using video format

3D Photorealistic

• Colouring and texturing to simulate real life • Real backdrops using

plot photos • Results distribution

using video format • Enables the final sign

off on the plant design • Final pictures and

videos to be used for • Construction

activities • Outward & internal

comms • Training

3D Photorealistic live

• Real time adjustment to plant design • User drag n drop life like

items

• User can operate FLT to pick and place cylinders • User can simulate fill process • Shading becomes dynamic • Enables off site training • Gives the highest level of

realism to the design review • Currently at the very edge of

in a three dimensional environment it was not possible to do this with a live photorealistic model. An option identified was to use A1 sized print outs of the two dimensional designs which could be placed on a wall and used to capture any necessary changes through sketches on the plan view. There was then an opportunity, during breaks, to perform minor updates to the photorealistic model.

The second design review was then conducted and it was observed that the participants interacted with the environment very quickly and made comments on very specific details. Discussions were raised freely and often contained a rounded view of all aspects from construction, to operation to maintenance. The two dimensional printouts and use of a scribe worked exceptionally well; the ideas were well captured and any conflicts of ideas were visualised on the layouts (with different colours). There was a high number of necessary changes requested, seventeen in total including some critical safety issues. One major issue was that the path assigned for delivery trucks passed too close to a frequently used door. The resolution of the issue resulted in a near complete change in the layout. Additionally twenty five improvement ideas were seen and fifteen future considerations highlighted. The feedback from the event was highly positive and is summarised below:

 All participants found the review resulted in an improved assessment of plant design (compared to 2D designs)

 All participants found the review gave a significant insights and that virtual reality identified necessary changes that would not have been found until the plant was in operation

 All participants recognised that virtual reality could provide significant time and cost savings  The review identified several significant safety issues that previous plot plan reviews had not

identified

 Participants who had no experience of virtual reality could quickly become assimilated to the environment

 Participants found the structure of the review gave a good balance of structure and areas of flexibility