Virtual seeing helps in lead students to treasure

Virtual seeing led to believing for nuclear engineering students recently when they compared simulated navigation to following a paper map.

For the last several years, Rizwan Uddin, a professor in nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering, and his students have been developing and improving upon a virtual and interactive 3D model of a nuclear reactor designed for teaching and professional training purposes. Using gaming software, Uddin’s group has mimicked the now-decommissioned University of Illinois TRIGA reactor and its operating equipment so that they can be accessed by ordinary PCs as well as by the Visbox system; a 3D, immersive, virtual reality display system.

Last fall Uddin designed an experiment for a total of 70 students of NPRE 100 (Orientation to Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering) to test how well the simulation experience works.

Each test required two small groups of about a half dozen students. One group was led to the Visbox laboratory where they were encouraged to play video games that familiarized them with the TRIGA reactor building’s layout. The other group was brought first to the actual building. The latter group right away was given a paper map showing six locations where candy was hidden in the building. The group led first to the Visbox lab also got the map, but not until after having experienced the simulation.

Each group was timed on finding the hidden treasure.

The students who played the videogame before searching for the treasure took, on average, 24.3 percent less time to find the candy. Those students rarely seemed to get lost in the reactor, but those who first used the map tended to be disoriented when they moved from the building’s entrance level to the bottom level. Those running the experiment concluded that the three-dimensional virtual view proved more useful than paper maps showing three floors.

“The results are in line with what we thought would occur,” Uddin said. “Having seen the location (virtually) helped significantly in knowing where to go to find the items.”

Uddin’s group plans to submit a summary of the work for presentation at an upcoming annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society. The next meeting will be in June in San Diego.
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Contact: Rizwan Uddin, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-4944.

Writer: Susan Mumm editor/alumni affairs coordinator, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-5382 (campus office), 217/821-6866 (cell) 217/347-2166 (home office).

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, editor.