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The mission - to take computer literac... BT Tech's pick of the high riders in SA... Get in on the race without getting even ... Brave the underground with a joystic... Cellphones the key to a whole new shoppi... Entrepreneur brothers get a Silicon lif... The facts depend on where you are coming... Intelligent agents emerge from ... SA group first through the library door...
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Brave the underground with a joystick
TRAINING
MINING engineer Andrew Squelch leads me along a dip gully 2 000m underground in a gold mine. The ground underfoot is littered with broken rock and the roof bolts provide scant comfort amid the incessant roar of rock drills. Suddenly tons of rock descend on us without warning. Trapped and injured miners scream for help. Fortunately, the only real casualty is personal pride. Squelch has been demonstrating a newly developed virtual reality application in the comfort of CSIR Mining Technology's Johannesburg laboratories. The rock fall was caused by our ignoring the danger of an unsupported section of roof. "The hostility of mining thousands of metres below the surface demands comprehensive training to reduce the risk of death or serious injury," says Squelch. "The virtual reality system has been developed as a training aid that will bridge the gap between the classroom and practical training underground. "The objective is to present hazardous scenarios that trainees must be able to identify, avoid and treat appropriately. By using virtual reality, trainers are able to reproduce the visual and auditory environment new recruits will experience underground."
The 3D graphics, touch screen and joystick-controlled motion, similar to shoot-'em-up games like Doom, allow anyone to be trained, irrespective of education, skills and language proficiency.
Without excessive prompting, the simulation gives hazardous situations with a range of appropriate reactions presented as easily recognised icons at the bottom of the screen.
The system also functions as a testing agent. A log file produced after each session scores the user's activity as they move through the mine and weaknesses can be corrected through retraining. To make it affordable, the system has been designed to run on a Pentium 200, which unfortunately compromises the smoothness and graphic density. "Although virtual reality helmets and suits would add greater realism, the costs are prohibitive so the simulation is either projected or viewed on a monitor. However, there is potential to use helmets in other applications such as designing new working practices," says Squelch.
The training module is a useful platform to develop related mining applications. But can the CSIR and Miningtek resist turning it into a game? A few nasties lurking at the end of tunnels and a miner equipped with excessive armoury would probably generate considerable revenue.
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