Transforming reality into photorealistic Virtual Reality with laser scanning

Author:Reka Vasszi

While Virtual Reality (VR) is commonly associated with video games, it is shaping many industries by opening a vast array of new possibilities to sell products, experience places or train employees. VR has multiple applications based on the ability to immerse users in a safe virtual world and fully experience a different environment by involving most senses.

Reality in Virtual Reality Ltd.（RIVR）是英格兰VR经验的开发商，正在通过为所有行业提供身临其境的培训和教育计划来增强人类学习的方式。基于VR的培训计划可以将用户沉浸在现实情况下，例如犯罪或火灾场景，在现实生活中无法轻松复制。

The immersive experience RiVR offers is ideal for applications in the public safety sector where VR provides students a way to gain valuable experience of dangerous or life-threatening environments from the safety of a training room. The Fire and Rescue Service and the Department of Science and Technology Laboratory in the United Kingdom both requested RiVR to produce a hyper-realistic recreation of fire and crime scene scenarios based on real-world events to develop virtual training programmes for their trainees. The goal of the training isto prepare students for the appropriate behaviour and actions in stressful situations。RIVR开发的虚拟现实监视器（VRM）允许培训师观察候选人如何与场景互动，并全面概述培训课程。

使用Leica RTC360laser scanner, in combination with photogrammetry, RiVR was able to developlife-like virtual environmentswhere thefire and police officers of the future can be trained。

Virtual firefighters and detectives

该公司凭借其第一个产品RIVR调查的开创性，正在补充对消防员，警察和犯罪现场调查员的现实培训，具有沉浸式的逼真的VR经验。RIVR调查允许新的新兵以受控且一致的方式获得曝光。首次将受训者暴露于真正的火灾和危险情况下，可能会给工作带来压力和恐惧。VR技术还允许警察和调查人员进行一系列模拟和recreate any murder scene that would not be possible otherwise。

In RiVR Investigate training solution trainees get access to six different fire investigation scenarios, two hazardous material incidents, and two crime scenes. The RiVR software also records all the actions taken by the trainee for review. The team of developers is looking to work with more fire services and police forces to increase the VR scenario library year on year.

但, how are these real-life situations transformed into virtual simulations?RiVR partnered with Leica Geosystems and uses theLeica RTC360to produce大型场景的高分辨率拓扑。The高度可容纳和自动化RTC360 empowered the team to记录并捕获犯罪现场以及燃烧的建筑物快速，并获得最好的细节。

“当我们扫描不适合摄影测量的大环境时，我们会使用RTC360。然后在扫描上，我们覆盖了高分辨率图像，以产生任何大小的毫米精确的照片真实环境。我们还发现RTC360在很难进行摄影测量扫描的环境中非常有用，例如主要是白色实验室，该实验室没有太多随机性[参考点]，”explained Alex Harvey, creative director at RiVR.

Capturing reality to enhance learning

首次体验新的具有挑战性的环境，例如谋杀现场或火灾，提供了宝贵的背景和locational awareness候选人的情况，否则很难在没有大量费用的情况下复制。具有镜子毫米精度the通过激光扫描现实世界，专业人士可以create engaging real-life experiences对于多个应用程序，包括公共安全的影子化VR培训。

In a BBC Click episode featuring VR applications, Paul Speight, watch manager at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, states students trained in a VR environment are more engaged. According to a recent report by the National Training Laboratory in the United States, retention rate of learning using VR scored75 per cent。In contrast, other lecture-style methods were at 5 per cent.

通过激光扫描和摄影测量制作的VR可以将用户置于许多不同的地方，情况或环境中，并且可以部署以教授意识，建立技能并为那些冒着生命来帮助他人的人提供宝贵的经验。

This article first appeared in the May 2019 issue ofxyHt magazine。