AVRA: a Architecture for VR-based Applications

The most fundamental ingredients of computer simulations are the analytical or experimental models and their visual representations (views). This paper presents AVRA, a framework that receives the simulation models and the description of the view as XML files and dynamically generates a VR (Virtual Reality) application that corresponds to those specifications. The result consists of a 3D scene with configurable graphical elements that are animated based on the numerical outputs of the simulation models. The task of managing the communication between the model and view components as well as their construction and destruction is automatically handled by AVRA. In essence, this framework allows developers to quickly construct the simulation components of a VR application through XML descriptions and view plug-ins thereby allowing developers to focus their efforts on implementing the higher level functionalities of the application.