An interactive virtual environment inhabited virtual agents for oil-field safety operation training

This paper presents an interactive, virtual reality-based training environment specifically developed for training of oil-field safety operation, in which it allows operators to experience situations that would be difficult, costly, or impossible in the real world. We have introduced a semi-autonomous virtual agent, analyzed the different training modes that allow for adapting the training environment to the trainee’s knowledge and determined the level of interactivity. The development framework of the interactive virtual simulation is given, four phases of which are discussed. The virtual human basic actions are abstracted for behavior defining and re-availability. Hand shapes of virtual human are also classified and described. Scene driving engine consists of a behavioral control, a motion control, a path planning, and a collision detection module, coordinates the interactive action between the virtual human and the operated objects and controls the changes of the virtual scene. The effect for the training of oil-field safety operation can be effectively improved by application of our framework.