This study evaluates the feasibility and limitations of integrating low cost commercial off the shelf (COTS) virtual reality (VR) technologies into immersive maintenance training applications. The Oculus Rift DK2, Microsoft Kinect V2, and Unity 3D Game Engine were evaluated for positional accuracy and signal chain latency in two distinct studies. Furthermore, the integration between hardware and software was also assessed to determine the limitations and challenges of developing a low cost immersive VR training system. The positional accuracy results showed that the Spine Mid, Spine Shoulder, and Neck joints had the lowest mean error and standard deviation when considering all joints tracked by the Kinect. The signal chain latency results showed 173- 186 ms of delay from the time a user performed an action to the time the action was reflected in the virtual environment displayed to the headset. Overall, the integration of a low cost VR system including the Microsoft Kinect V2 and the Oculus Rift DK2 is feasible and could provide a realistic training environment that is deployable and reconfigurable.
['Courtney Mcnamara', 'Matthew Proetsch', 'Nelson Lerma']
Investigating Low-Cost Virtual Reality Technologies in the Context of an Immersive Maintenance Training Application