Non-conventional interfaces for human-system interaction in nuclear plants' virtual simulations

This paper reports recent results achieved in a research and development (R&D) with non-conventional interfaces for human-system interaction in nuclear plants' virtual simulations. This R&D aims at developing applications based on virtual reality technology for simulations toward training, ergonomics evaluation, safety and security purposes in the nuclear engineering field. Two main applications are under development, one comprising a virtual control desk (VCD) for users' interaction with a computer-based nuclear power plant (NPP) simulator, and the other comprising multi-user navigation in virtual environments which in turn correspond to nuclear plants and other sites. Non-conventional interfaces mean more friendly and natural human-system interfaces, compared to computer keyboard and mouse, as speech-based command recognition and face tracking. Besides the benefits of using one or other of these non-conventional interfaces, a combination of them could further improve human-system interaction, through exploring each approach's advantages for specific corresponding tasks. A solution adopted for implementation with the navigation in the virtual environments' application is explained. Results are discussed and perspectives are given for future developments.

► Non-conventional human-system interfaces used toward virtual simulations.
► Speech recognition system implemented as stand-alone interface using Windows API.
► Speech recognition system now with RProp algorithm to improve convergence.
► Different face tracking approaches implemented and compared.
► Wii-mote and MS Kinetics -based interfaces also tested.