User interaction in a power-wall based virtual reality environment

The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department at Wichita State University is developing an integrated set of virtual reality models of a manufacturing line of Boeing Wichita. The purpose of this research is to help Boeing and other aerospace manufacturers improve their manufacturing operations. In our virtual environment, a fully immersed person is working on a specific task and several (up to 20) outsiders (participants) observe the fully, immersed person and would like to comment and affect the fully immersed person's work. The lack of interaction between the fully immersed person and the participants is the most critical issue. The current communication technique used is vocal instruction, which is distracting to everyone. This paper presents a technique in which the fully immersed person and the participants can interact using a second camera directed for a third person's view of the environment. This technique attempts to provide the best of both worlds (first and third person views) so the formerly passive participants can become more immersed in the environment.