Intuitive User Interface for the Virtual Reality Responsive Workbench

摘要

The Naval Research Laboratory has been involved in research and development efforts in the areas of (1) automated routing of strike aircraft 1) (2) advanced 3D displays and interaction technologies, and (3) collaboration tools and protocols. This research has been conducted in order to advance the state of the art in each technology area, particularly for military command and control applications. This paper will concentrate on the research conducted in item (2), the results of which been incorporated in the STrike Optimized Mission Planning Module, STOMPM. The STOMPM testbed allows the user to load various terrain data, create strike related routing scenarios consisting of threats and targets, test the various routing algorithms and assess their performance, and visualize this information and interact with it in a natural setting. Two versions of STOMPM currently exist, version 1.0 (v1.O) and version 2.0 (v2.0). The STOMPM v1.O was primarily developed to test auto-routing technology, and does not include technology needed to run on advanced displays such as the Virtual Reality Responsive WorkBench, VRRWB (i.e ., STOMPM v1.O operates best on a computer monitor with a mouse/menu interface). The STOMPM v2.0 also includes autorouting technology (specifically autorouting algorithms which take into consideration fuel and tum constraints which are not included in STOMPM -v1 .0), but also includes a user interface that is well suited to running on more advanced displays such as the workbench. This paper will provide a high level description of both versions of the STOMPM testbed. Foil owing this discussion, we will describe state-of-the-art technologies in visualization, advanced displays and scene interaction capabilities that have been incorporated within STOMPM v2.0. We will conclude with a discussion of the advantages associated with the use of the workbench and also the interface that has been developed within STOMPM for the workbench.