An Immersive Virtual Prototyping Environment for the Design of Advanced Weapons System in the Battlefield Distributed Simulation Environment

Design of advanced weapons in the Battlefield Distributed Simulation environment requires construction and evaluation of physical prototypes before final production of the system. Faster, more efficient means of iterative construction and modification of weapon system prototypes may be accomplished in virtual, rather than physical environments. The current virtual prototyping technology may be imporved by constructing an immersive virtual environment (VE) in which the designer sees the visual and spatial characteristics of the system in a head-coupled display and interacts with the environment with instrumented gloves allows natural manipulations and gestures, and providng tactile and force stimulation representing interactions with the VE. Addition of a virtual auditory environment may enhance the kinesthetic experience. Current limitations of the hardware used in VE systems may adversely influence prototyping performance. We will conduct design task analyses and interative experimentation to determine which combination of VE system components will provide the best VE for the designer. The research is also important for determining the fidelity of the VE system necessary for optimal performance. The research and development team has extensive experience in creating rapid prototyping tools, designing and developing virtual environments and crewstations, and conducting experimental and human factorsresearch; it should prove to be a productive team.