Vst

VIRTUAL SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY

Meera Danika N M*

Virtual Simulation Technology (VST) is a medium where a synthetic, computer generated world can be freely explored in real time. Virtual Simulation is not animation, it is participative. Many people think of complex headsets or computer games when they think of Virtual Reality (VR). Although the technology is similar to 3D computer games, the use of VR in a commercial environment is rapidly growing. This paper deals with use of VS as a tool to predict and assess the functionality of a structure at any stage of its operational life.

Keywords: Virtual Simulation Technology (VST), Virtual Reality (VR), Virtual Environment (VE), Head Mounted Display (HMD), visualization, tracking, rendering.

1.0 WHAT IS VIRTUAL SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY?

It is a synonym of ‘Virtual Reality’ (VR). The term VR is used in a variety of ways. Virtual

Reality is a high-end user interface that involves real time 3D simulations and interactions

through position and motion tracking, stereo audio and video, touch and force feedback

techniques. The user's personal viewpoint is completely immersed in the virtual world.

VST is more than a traditional medium since it introduces a new way of interacting with

multimedia information. VR is a hyper medium where a hyper medium can be defined as an

interactive (multi) medium in which information is stored and presented in a variety of ways. It

allows the user to view the world from infinite number of view points.

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Some of the multimedia packages, allow VR systems to be models of real world places or

objects, but can also be abstract worlds. So long as the model can be explored and experienced at

will in real-time, then it can be called a VR world.

1.1. Features of VST

The most common descriptions of "virtuality" relate to the technological devices used (such

as the data glove, head-mounted display, mouse, etc.), whilst explanations about human

experiences in the virtual worlds employ semiotical concepts (e.g. visual simulation, reference,

iconicity). Together with constructivist philosophy, the enactive theory can offer valid

conceptual tools for analyzing a VR technology apparently distant

* B.Tech Undergraduate student, Department of Civil Engineering , N.S.S. College of

Engineering, Palakkad.

from traditional mass media and other new personal media (e.g. Internet). These tools are

complementary and alternative to semiotic concepts. In other words, it is possible to explain

human knowledge of computer-generated synthetic worlds rendered accessible by VR

immersive systems in a complete and coherent fashion, on the basis of a biological theory of

cognition that puts man as a living being at the centre of the phenomenon of knowledge.

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A Virtual Environment (VE) is a computer generated, interactive 3D environment in which

a person is immersed and actually present. VE are mediated environments since they are

mediated by technology.

Immersion, presence and inclusion are peculiar features of VST (fig. 1) that draw it far away

from other representational technologies. These major qualities can give a better definition for

the VST. The features are described as follows:

Immersion: When we enter the medium, the medium disappears. The user is enclosed in

the VE, by filling his field of view, as well as by providing multi- sensorial information.

VST should deeply involve or absorb the user.

Presence: It includes the terms intensive, illustrative and intuitive. The user has the sense of

being in the environment specified by the displays and perceives the objects of the virtual

world as equally present. Virtual presence is a function of vividness (depending on the

number of sensory modalities involved and on the quantity and quality of information) and

of interactivity.

Inclusion: Inclusion in this context means interactivity. Process of control and feedback

between the user and the virtual environment (VE). The user can navigate and manipulate

the VE. Interactivity is determined by the time-lag between the actions and the response of

the VE, by the amount of changes that can be done on the VE and by the "mapping

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metaphor" i.e. the way in which human actions are coupled with the response of the virtual

world.

The main difference between VR systems and traditional media (e.g. radio, cinema or television)

lies in the three-dimensionality of the virtual reality structure and in the important role played by

the body, which acquires knowledge through action and interaction with virtual worlds

Figure 1. VR Qualities

1.2 Evolution of VST

The idea of VST has been around perhaps as long as man has daydreamed or imagined other

places and realities. However, daydreaming and books limit the individuals’ virtual experience-

omitting other sensory inputs such as sight, sound and touch.

The birth of VST can be tracked to the date when Mortan Heilig, developed a system called

“Sensorama” in 1956 a simulator that can be considered as an ancestor of VR video arcades. The

Sensorama used film loops, stereo sounds and smells, wind, vibrating handlebars and seat to

create the illusion of motor biking downtown Brooklyn and through Californian sand dunes.

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In 1965 Ivan Sutherland in his paper ‘The Ultimate Display’ envisioned VST as a

generalized simulation, with an artificial space within which the computer could control the

existence of matter. Sutherland created the first Head Mounted Display (HMD) in 1968.

Myron Krueger is the first artist who focused on computer interactivity as a medium for

artistic creation. He coined the term “Artificial Reality” in 1973. Artificial Reality is a VR that

has no antecedents in the real world.

The term VR was defined by Jaron Lanier (1983), founder of VPL Research, the company

which introduced a commercially available HMD and the first data glove.

William Gibson coined the term 'Cyberspace' in his novel ‘Neuromancer’ (1984). It is a

metaphor that allows us to grasp the place where we experience digital and virtual realities.

What made VR so exciting and powerful to researchers like Sutherland and Lanier was its

ability to make believe that the virtual environment (VE) was real by combining traditional

computer simulators with immersive displays. Thus, as the viewer and participant in the virtual

world, you would be willing to suspend your disbelief and accept that the components within the

virtual world were truly viable objects and actions.

VR today bears a striking resemblance to the early stages of computer graphics in the mid

1960’s to the early 1970’s. VST is growing at annual rates on the order of 60% about twice the

growth rate graphics experienced 30 years ago. As computer graphics and other component

technologies advance, VST advances at an exponential rate.

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2.0 ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY

2.1 System Architecture (fig. 3)

In VST at least two persons are involved. One is the user who uses the VST and enters the

VE and the other is the viewer who can interact with the user outside the VE, controls or instruct

the user.

VST architecture contains following fundamental parts.

1. Input devices: Several methods can be used to interact with the

virtual world. These ranges from conventional keyboard and

mouse, to 3D space mice, data glove, position tracking

devices and data capture devices used to monitor events in the

real world.

Figure 2. HMD

2. The virtual world itself: This is the computerized model of the VE.

3. The World database: in which the information on objects and the world are stored.

4. VS software: VS software can be divided into two categories:

a)The development software – used to design , build and programme the world

behaviour and

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b)The viewing software – allows the end user to visualize and interact with the virtual

world.

5. Computers: At least one computer is required to design or to view the virtual world. Some

virtual worlds are designed to be used by several users at a time.

6. The reality engine is used which is usually a graphic workstation that generates real time

images.

7. Output devices: Some kind of visual display will be used to show the view of the virtual

world, usually refreshed many times a second. Mostly these are conventional computer

monitors, but head mounted displays (fig. 2) can also be used. In addition sound is often a

part of a virtual world and sound card with speakers are common output devices.

Figure 3. System Architecture

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Some devices can serve both as input and output devices. Input and output devices are

globally called effectors. Effectors provide the user with an audio-visual feedback and

communicate to the system user's actions and motions.

2.2 Mechanism of a VST System

If you work with computers, you probably use a mouse and keyboard to input information.

When you move the mouse or type on the keyboard, you are telling the computer something you

want it to do. In this way you are interacting with the computer. Virtual Simulation Technology

is a major breakthrough in the way humans work with computers. It allows us to move beyond

computer keyboards and flat monitor displays to interact with a three-dimensional computer-

generated world. Though the exact definition of virtual reality is disputed by many researchers,

most would agree that virtual reality systems successfully convince the viewer that the virtual

world is believable. Using methods of display, tracking, and rendering, VST allows the user to

become immersed and interact in a virtual world. A VR system makes artificial reality look so

real in three ways:

1. Visual Display

2. Tracking

3. Rendering

These three elements are the main components of a VR system.

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1. Visual Display

When we want to step into a virtual environment we usually do so by putting on a head-

mounted computer display (HMD). The HMD acts as your eyes and ears when you’re in the

virtual environment by showing the computer world on two liquid crystal display (LCD)

screens. There are two LCD screens in the head-mounted display. Each screen shows the

virtual environment from a slightly different viewpoint, just like your eyes view the real

world. To see this difference in your visual points of view, hold one finger up and extend

your arm out directly in front of you. Close one eye, then the other. When you do this, your

finger appears to move. That’s because your eyes are spaced slightly apart and they see the

world from two slightly different vantage points. Each eye is sending information about its

unique viewpoint to the visual cortex in your brain. There it’s recombined and interpreted as

a 3-dimensional view. Likewise, there are two LCD screens in the HMD so that your eyes

will still have two slightly different visual sources of information, making it possible for you

to see the virtual world in 3-D.

Displaying the virtual environment is a very complicated component of a VR system.

Moreover, as a result of its sophisticated mimicking of human sight, the display device

masks its mechanical nature and creates an illusion of reality.

2. Tracking

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Once we’re comfortably immersed in the virtual environment, we need a way to move

around. You can traverse distances in two ways: by moving your feet and walking or by

pushing a button on a hand-held device, like a wand, and "flying".

First, the computer needs to know where you are in the virtual world; it does so by using a

tracking system to monitor your movements. We accomplish this by attaching a device to

the top of the HMD and to the wand. The device emits a signal that is picked up by the

computer’s sensor. In turn, the computer interprets the data from the sensor to calculate your

head and body position in the virtual environment. With this information the computer

changes the pictures or graphics of the virtual world to correspond with your position as you

turn your head from side to side or move forward. By tracking your movements, the

computer knows to redraw an object to appear closer to you as you move towards it. In turn,

you have a greater sense that this artificial world is real.

The tracking system must include not only the HMD, but the wand as well. The wand

functions like the HMD by signaling to the computer what you want the computer to do. In

the virtual world, it is an extension of you, allowing you to pick up and move objects, or to

propel yourself through space. Like the HMD, the wand also has a tracking device

embedded within its structure that communicates the position and actions of your hand to the

computer. As a result, you and the computer have an interactive relationship in which your

movements or commands are instantly acted upon by the computer. Because your actions

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have a direct impact and effect on the virtual environment, you have a compelling sense of

actually being in the virtual world.

3.Rendering

When you put on a head-mounted computer display, the first things you notice are the

pictures, or graphics, as computer scientists call them. It takes a lot of the computer’s power

to draw the graphics that you see.

Once the virtual environment is completed, there still remains the problem of redrawing

this world as you look or move around it. Unlike a video game, we need powerful

computing capabilities to draw or render images that correspond to your movements within

the virtual world. When the computer draws or redraws a graphic, we call this action

"rendering." In order to avoid a delay between your actions and the effect in the computer

world, the computer must work very quickly to redraw all the objects in the virtual

environment. In fact, the goal is for the computer to redraw the virtual environment you see

30 times a second. Some computers, such as flight simulators, are even faster and can

redraw the virtual world 60 times a second. All this work takes a very powerful computer.

3.0 APPLICATIONS OF THE TECHNOLOGY

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At the 1992 Meckler conference, a proponent of VST said, “VST is a very special field

where there are no experts in using it and every one can be one”. It implies that VST can be

applied to any field like training, engineering, science, medical science, entertainment etc.

Air Traffic Controls : To improve situation awareness for air

traffic controllers.

Aircraft Design : Prototyping and system evaluation.

Business : Experiential advertising, marketing.

Communication : Shared virtual environments, information

visualization.

Education/Training : Virtual science laboratories, virtual

museums, virtual planetariums.

Entertainment : Immersive games.

Industry : Design, testing, manufacturing.

Legal/Police investigations : Re-enactment of accidents and crimes.

Medicine : Training on virtual bodies, drug synthesis.

Scientific Visualization : Conceptual modeling, Molecular Modeling,

planetary investigations, aerodynamics or fluid dynamics

simulations.

Arts : Virtual museums.

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Acoustical Evaluation : Sound proofing and room acoustics.

Design/CAD : Design of complex objects with a high

degree of designer interaction.

Architectural Design : Design and visualization of buildings and

cities, Interior design, Virtual walkthroughs.

3.1 VST in Construction Engineering

The impact of CAD on the design process has been revolutionary. Just imagine the kind of

impact virtual simulation could have. The process of design in architecture is usually

consultative, and a ‘virtuconference’ between the architect, consultant and the client could be

conceivably carried out on the ‘virtual building site’.

In June 1992, Intel and Sense8 co-sponsored “designing a virtual house”, a two day

demonstration of a prototype architectural application. This two person “VR station”,

represented the architect working with the client. It includes helmets, joystick and a point wand

used to move surfaces and to change these appearances. Apparently, the screens “smoothly

reflected” the shifting orientation of the user’s head.

This example shows how virtual simulation in architecture could be an interactive tool in

the overlapping area of design, visualization, task integration, communication and marketing.

Following is an expansion of the effects of VST on these areas in the design process.

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1. Design

Virtual simulation technology could revolutionize the process of design, not only

because of its potential value as a communication and visualization tool, but because it

offers a ‘trial run’ in designing architecture.

It is far easier to recognize potential difficulties, or actual mistakes, when moving

around inside a design, rather than looking at 2D plane from the outside. Virtual reality

provides the opportunity to do one and exercise the other.

Furthermore, it is possible to repeat the virtual tours until there is a satisfactory

outcome. Another advantage of virtual simulation in design should be the case of use of the

computer as a design tool, due to a more intuitive and interactive interface than that which is

currently available with CAD.

2. Visualization

All architects, regardless of their visualization ability, innate or developed through

years of practice, will have a better chance to visualize when using virtual simulation.

Today, 3D computer modeled animations allow visualization using a two dimensional

screen. The architect /client can visualize the design fairly easily using computer-generated

animations. However, there are limits to “believability” (related mainly to display

techniques and power requirements) which VST attempts to overcome. Improved

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visualization through the use of virtual simulation in architectural practice will clearly

benefit both the architect and the client.

3. Task integration

Integration of the design process will be an overall aim of using virtual simulation

technology in architecture. For example, an office may want to integrate the following parts

for each project: VR walkthroughs, working drawings, specifications, estimates, and

construction programs. This will require setting up a system to link information in all of

these parts. This integration will lead to changes in office procedure from the creation of the

new tools to considerations such as time allocation for the optimum use of hardware.

4. Communication

The use of virtual simulation technology and increased use of computers in general,

could lead to several shifts in communication skills. Architects clearly benefit while shifting

from working with 2D data to working in 3D representations of that data. Architecture

students and students in general, may become more trained in abstract thinking and abstract

communication skills. Another change that might happen is that the manual dexterity once

needed for making models will become less necessary.

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5. Marketing

This is an area that has already benefited from the development of VS technology. In

India, prominent developers such as Tata Housing and state governments including those of

Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have brought out CD-ROMS and 3D graphics (also

referred to as “desktop VST”) to market their projects to overseas investors. London and

Hong Kong real estate agents regularly use highly powerful graphics computers to walk

their clients through expensive estates.

Two advantages of this, apart from the prestige of using a new technology, the

“walkthroughs” are not predetermined (and thus are better than videos), and can be user

guided. A client can define his own path while moving (virtually) through a building or

estate, which makes the presentation interactive and friendly.

Another example of VS technology in marketing is in America, where furniture

manufactures design furniture with the customer using a similar system to make exclusive

designs. The benefits are clearly greater prestige and presumably, a more personalized

service.

3.2 VST on the Web

Internet has become very popular in the last two years. A lot of architects have set up their

web sites as a new way to communicate with the public. The idea of 3D VST on internet was

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proposed in 1994. Now VRML (virtual reality modeling language) 2.0 is widely used to

introduce 3D environments on the web. Although its use is still largely limited, as compared to

its’ potential, which is imposed by the computer hardware technology; VRML shows

applications in great many fields.

For architects, virtual simulation technology on internet is a tremendous boon. The use of

VRML on the web-site enables thousands of visitors from across the globe to visit “virtual

architecture” through the internet even before the building is built.

As VRML model’s co-ordinate system is being animated with the moving view point of the

user, the viewer is able to move around and view the “building” by himself. However, the

character of virtual architecture may vary widely from the architecture of the physical world, and

rightly so, for it responds to a completely different context and set of constraints.

Due to its relative youth, it is difficult to pinpoint just how virtual architecture and its

context of cyberspace will be integrated into our society over the coming decades.

Be that as it may, it is certain that immersive, networked, real-time simulation technology-

popularly termed “virtual simulation technology” has gained a foothold in our society and will

only continue to grow in popularity. The technologies of “virtual simulation” and the Internet

continue to integrate, and the online culture is now the fastest growing demographic on the

planet. Designers are now turning to the virtual realm as an alternative, as the demand for three-

dimensional content in the virtual realm, on the internet and else where, continues to grow.

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4.0 VIRTUAL CITIES

Computer - based virtual cities are digital equivalents of cities that allow the user to

get a real sense of being in an urban place. This prospect helps people from anywhere

in the world at any time to visit their preferred place as they want.

Brian Pollack , a ‘transportation’ planner from Boston, USA , wanted to confirm his

design for a roadway system for Boston. So he decided to give it a final test before

submitting it to the authorities. Brian decided to recreate the entire system on computer–

simulated virtual environments and have the virtual traffic running on it . The work of

recreating an elaborate traffic system was out-sourced from India- based Build Zone

Networks. The entire highway was meticulously recreated for a block with all aspects of

roadways such as fire hydrants, power lines , sign boards, adjacent buildings, signals,

sidewalks etc designed with the help of 3D software.

With the help of sophisticated traffic planning software, several virtual traffic scenes were

created with various configurations. The end result was replacing an intersection with an

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overpass to increase the average vehicle speed and installing a signal system to avoid accidents,

making a two-lane roadway into four ways to take care of future traffic load.

Urban simulations have evolved as an innovative tool for interactive city planning. It offers

urban planners, designers, investors, policy makers or simply concerned citizens to experience

the built environment even before it is actually built. It allows effective visualizing and

analyzing the physical impacts of a development prior to construction or investment. Designers

have experimented with coloured map and site plans, card board models, rich architectural

renderings or a combination of those. However, none of these tools are complete or effective to

convey the past, present and future of a ‘place’ to the wide array of diverse players in the

planning process.

The technology includes experiencing of an environment which may simply be your

neighbourhood as it currently exists or as it existed ten years ago or as it might look in the future

after physical changes like removal of existing and replacement with land scaped parks or new

developments, changing the type and age of the foliage and trees etc.

All of this is possible using state-of-the-art VST. Previously, the use of this technology has

been primarily limited to the exclusive realms of military and aerospace applications. Now as the

technology has become more affordable, it becomes feasible for planners, designers, and

community groups to use it to visualize and evaluate proposed changes and new developments in

the urban environment.

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The basic tools for urban simulation are now within the reach of most architects and

planners. While more photo-realistic modeling still demands a high-end work station coating at

least Rs. 3, 00,000 – 4, 00,000, many architects can do less sophisticated work on a Pentium-

class computer with Rs.3000 64-MB graphics card. The software is more expensive. The

programs for building a 3D world (for ex: 3D Max 5 by Discreet, AUTOCAD 2002 by

AutoDesk Micro Station by Bentley Systems and Creator by Multi Gen-Paradigm) and for real-

time simulation (like Vega and GameGen by Multi Gen – Paradigm) costs about Rs. 2,50,000.

4.1 Applications of 3D VST in Urban Management

With the help of 3D models of the cities, planners can view the city scape from different

view points; the bird’s eye view gives survey information about the city and eye-level

perspective gives the vantage points of pedestrians and motorists. By linking GIS databases with

3D city models, planners can map on the site and its surroundings’ census data, land use and

behavioral diagrams, climate and pollution simulations and other data, which enhance the

experts’ assessments and most importantly increasing the familiarity of the site.

Furthermore, planners can use VST models to assess the impact of new housing schemes in

relation to transportation patterns, access to schools, shopping facilities, parks, and other

amenities. Lastly, 3D virtual city models could be handy in utilities management. Most urban

set–ups have a maze of utility lines running underneath them. Tracking these in a 2D set–up

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would not give a realistic picture of their positions relative to the many foundations of buildings.

2D presentations are incapacitated when it comes to slope representations. New utility lines can

be easily introduced in a simulation exercises in virtual city systems.

4.2 The Virtual Los Angeles Project

The UCLA Urban Simulation Team is in the process of creating a virtual model of the entire

Los Angeles basin. This area comprises well over 4000 sq. km. The model is extremely accurate

and provides a level of visual feedback to the user, which allows the immediate recognition of

the present location by virtual identification.

The creation of the Virtual Los Angeles database is a long-term project. The objective is to

build a virtual model, which can be used to help solve a multitude of urban design and planning

– related problems. Using commercial off-the-shelf modelers, such as Multi Gen, the Urban

Simulation Team is creating the database from city engineering maps, numerous site visits and

its own internally generated plant, tree and foliage libraries.

Rather than attempting to build one large model from scratch, the team has defined a

methodology, which allows multiple small models to be created and linked together. To date

more than a dozen separate area models have been built, ranging in size from one to twenty

square kilometres. This approach allows the team to work with various public and private

entities that have an interest in studying specific areas of Los Angeles. The approach also allows

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clients to commission models, which respond to their particular needs, while extending the urban

database. The methodologies that the team employs to build these models, have reached

satisfactory levels of cost efficiency and consistency. After creation, these individual high –

resolution urban models are inserted into a large area terrain database, which is currently

bordered by San Diego, Las Vegas and Santa Barbara.

Urban Simulation Team at UCLA

The Urban Simulation Team at UCLA is a research group developing applications for real-

time visual simulation in design, urban planning, emergency response, and education.

The Team’s primary focus is to build a virtual model of the entire Los Angeles basin which

can then be used to interactively fly, drive or walk-through the city. (Real-time technology

differs from animation, which uses a sequence of pre-determined and pre-rendered images to

create the illusion of movement. In real-time technology, the user interacts with the modeled

environment at will, controlling movement direction and speed with the mouse or keyboard

commands.)

The Virtual Los Angeles model already includes major sections of the city including

downtown, the Pico Union district, the Miracle Mile and Mid-Wilshire portions of Wilshire

Boulevard, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Westwood, UCLA, Hollywood,

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MacArthur Park, Playa Vista, and portions of South Central and Santa Monica. Negotiations are

currently underway for other areas.

The Team has developed an extremely efficient system that can be used for visualizing any

urban environment. This efficiency begins with the time and labor to construct a model and

includes the computer resources required to interactively render such large models. The model is

constructed by combining aerial photographs with street level imagery and three-dimensional

geometry to create a realistic visual simulation of the dense Los Angeles urban environment,

detailed enough for the graffiti on the walls and signs in the windows to be legible.

This approach has proven to be a useful tool for architectural design development and city

planning because it is possible to evaluate alternatives more rapidly and in more detail than

through traditional methods of analysis. Results of the planning/design process are illustrated

visually, allowing the client or community to view a proposed environment in a realistic fashion

and become informed participants in the decision-making process.

The strength of the simulation system is the elimination of complex blueprints, charts, and

other hard-to-understand traditional representational methods. Instead, viewers can easily ‘place’

themselves within a digitally accurate perspective representation of a proposed development and

better assess the project’s impact.

The Team has worked extensively with the Los Angeles City Council’s Chief Legislative

Analyst and the Office of Economic Development on projects across Los Angeles. Other

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principal clients include UCLA Capital Programs, Los Angeles World Airports, the

Metropolitan Transit Authority, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Figure 4. Virtual Los Angeles, DowntownThe Virtual Los Angeles model (fig. 4) also provides the environment for the Team’s

continued explorations into diverse applications for real-time virtual reality models of urban

environments including emergency response and community governance. One compelling

application is to use the model as a graphic reference to information via the World Wide Web.

This approach allows the association of a rich (and virtually infinite) assemblage of information

with the three-dimensional graphic entities located within the visual database.

4.2.1 Los Angeles Entertainment District (fig. 5, fig. 6, fig. 7)

The Los Angeles Arena Land Company, owners of the Staples Center in downtown Los

Angeles, used the Urban Simulation Team to visualize their plans for the L.A. Sports and 24

Entertainment District. The proposed District is to be built adjacent to the Staples Center in

downtown Los Angeles, and is slated to include a 1,200-room convention headquarters’ hotel,

entertainment facilities like stadiums, theatres, clubs, retail shops, restaurant and office space,

parking, and an outdoor plaza in its first phase.

Figure 5 Figure 6

In May 2000, the president of the L.A. Arena Land Co. and STAPLES Center, unveiled

plans for the development to the City Council by showing a video

walk-through of the real- time model on a projection system. By

situating the proposed development in the context of

downtown, the model allowed for both broad discussions of

urban planning issues and specific design questions such as the

District’s impact on the Figueroa corridor. The response was positive and public funds have

been committed to the development. Figure 7.

4.2.2 UCLA Physics / Astronomy Building.

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UCLA Capital Programs requires that all new construction at UCLA be analyzed in the

context of the Urban Simulation Team’s real-time model of the campus.

When the first design (fig. 8) was shown to the campus architects and administrative vice-

chancellor, the feedback was that the building was too massive and so the architects were

charged with producing a more subtle scheme. Subsequent designs were shown to interested

stakeholders and members of the faculty in group meetings in an auditorium with a large screen

projection system. The additional feedbacks developed in these meetings were provided to the

architects.

Throughout the process, changes were modeled and analyzed. One of the design challenges

was to create a dominant entryway to the building. Construction on the project has just begun.

Thus the final design is as shown below.(fig. 9)

Figure 8. Initial design Figure 9. Final design

4.2.3 Los Angeles International Airport26

In 1998, the Los Angeles World Airports commissioned a multi-disciplinary team led by

Ted Tokio Tanaka Architects to explore beautification opportunities at Los Angeles

International Airport (LAX).

The project was constructed in two phases. To record the existing condition of the airport,

the team first built a model of the Central Terminal Area (CTA) including the terminal buildings,

parking structures, roadways, operations facilities, and signage components. The second phase

of the project was to model the beautification team’s proposed changes. Architecturally, the

changes included a canopy to unify the primary elevations of the terminal buildings (fig. 10, fig.

11), sheathing for the bridges between the terminals and the parking structures (fig. 12, fig. 13),

and cladding for the underside of the elevated roadway. New landscaping was introduced

throughout the airport; the model focused on the changes to the primary airport entrance and in

the open areas surrounding

the Theme Building.

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Figure 10. Initial Condition Figure 11. Final Condition

Figure 12. Initial Condition Figure 13. Final Condition

The model was used to present the beautification team’s ideas to the Los Angeles World

Airport’s Board of Commissioners and at public meetings held throughout the process. Future

long-range airport planning and development efforts will also be able to use the model to explore

expansion alternatives as LAX grows to keep pace with the demands of the next century.

4.2.4 Wilshire Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Study (fig. 14, fig. 15, fig. 16)

The Miracle Mile section of Wilshire Boulevard was in 1999, added to the Virtual L. A.

model as part of a Bus Rapid Transit Study for Martha Welborne’s Surface Transit Project.

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Figure 14. Figure 15.

After modeling the existing street context using accurate street coordinates supplied by the

City of Los Angeles, the Team constructed alternative road configurations to analyze the impact

of a dedicated rapid transit bus right-of-way. Traffic patterns in the different road configurations

reflected projected density. The majority of vehicles were constructed specifically for the project

while landscape elements and street culture were pulled from the Urban Simulation Team’s

proprietary libraries. A special bi-articulated high-capacity bus was created for the project based

on those in Curitiba, Brazil.

The Team modeled the existing situation and three different alignment alternatives. Footage

from a real-time fly through of the model was then captured

and edited into a video illustrating the project. This video was

presented to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)

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Board and the proposed design was immediately selected. (At that same meeting, a different

project group presented four other proposed alignment

changes; the Board postponed those decisions, Figure 16.

saying that they did not have sufficient information.) The MTA is currently preparing an

environmental impact report on the new Wilshire Boulevard alignment.

4.2.5 An Orthopedic Hospital in Santa Monica (fig. 17, fig. 18)

Figure 17. Figure 18.

A video walk-through of the model was used at public forums to present the design to the

community. This strategy proved very effective. In a Sunday, June 27, 1999 L.A. Times article

about the hospital plans, the Santa Monica project team was commended for its commitment to

working with the neighborhood and sharing their plans in an open process that included

exploration of the project through the Urban Simulation Team model. Representatives from

neighborhood organizations who had previously been opposed to nearby Saint John’s Health

Center’s $270 million renovation plan, appeared to be somewhat pleased by Santa Monica-

UCLA’s plan. 30

4.2.6 El Pueblo de Los Angeles – A historical monument.(fig. 19, fig. 20, fig. 21)

El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument is the historic birthplace of the City of Los

Angeles. The park is now run by the City of Los Angeles and its museums and exhibits celebrate

the people of different ethnic groups who

have settled in Los Angeles.

Figure 19.

Figure 20.

The Urban Simulation Team was commissioned to model the existing park and

proposed rehabilitation efforts so that all of the development participants would have a common

understanding of the project and a single point of reference for design discussions. The proposed

changes included the rehabilitation of key buildings, new landscaping, and new urban features.

Of chief concern was the frontage along Arcadia Street where

the architects were proposing a large block wall and

landscaping. The City felt that the proposed wall would cut off the

area from the central business district. Landscaping in this area

was also a major issue.

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Real-time tours of the project were shown at meetings at the City and the architects were

immediately given feedback Figure 21.

on the design and the relative merits of the rehabilitation proposals. Subsequent changes to the

design were based on the information provided by the model.

5.0 CONCLUSION

Virtual simulation has been in extensive use in countries like the United States, where the

need for perfection eclipses the cost factor involved. But, in India the cost factor has played a

crucial role in limiting the use of Virtual Simulation Technology as effectively as it can be used,

if desired. With the realization of this fact, the domain experts are evolving attractive marketing

strategies to encourage its use in the Third – World countries like India. Thus, it seems that the

slow but steady emergence of VST in India will in the near future receive the much – needed

boost which will catapult the technological and functional performance levels of various

applications to new heights.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take immense pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to Mrs. N C Nirmala Devi Sr.

Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, NSSCE Palakkad for the valuable guidance and

constant encouragement she has rendered as the seminar guide. I am also thankful to Dr. A. K.

Raji, staff - in - charge of the seminar for her assistance during the entire process. I would also

like to thank Prof. T. Divakaran, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, NSSCE Palakkad

for his valuable help. Last, but not the least, I thank one and all of my friends whose contribution

led to the materialization and completion of this seminar. Above all I thank God Almighty for

his blessings.

REFERENCE

1)Prashant Telang, “Future Shock”, Indian Architect and Builder, Vol. 11, March 1998, pp. 126

– 131.

2)Prashant Telang, “The World of Virtual Cities”, Indian Architect and Builder, Vol 16, January

2003, pp. 38 – 42.

3)Prashant Telang, “Virtual Architecture”, Indian Architect and Builder, Vol. 12, March 1999,

pp 128 – 131.

4)“Evolving a perfect City Matrix”, The Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects, Vol. 69

(06), June 2004.

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5)Donald Hearn & M. Pauline Baker, “Computer Graphics”, Prentice Hall of India Private

Limited.

6)www.ust.ucla.edu.com

7)www.cs.unc.edu

8)www.beard.dialnsa.edu

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