The IBV has developed a new virtual reality technology for natural human interaction in real time
Virtual Reality enables companies to develop and test products, services or environments at any stage of the development cycle and validate their suitability based on the user’s virtual interaction with them. As a result, it has become a key tool for industry and business, significantly reducing the cost of physical prototyping, increasing early detection of design errors and shortening development and innovation timescales. It is also being increasingly used as a professional training tool, for example in the field of occupational risk prevention, sports, etc.
In all of these cases, it is essential that the person is able to interact virtually with the product/system, process/environment under investigation in a sufficiently realistic way, and that aspects such as ease of use, behaviour, functionality, accessibility, etc. can be adequately evaluated. However, the systems currently used do not always allow for a sufficient level of realism in the virtual experience compared to the real experience. This is because we do not all interact with application controls in the same way, either because we are unfamiliar with digital controls or because our interaction with the controls prevents us from performing the action in the same way as in real life.
This is the context in which the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) and its Human Extended Reality Lab are developing the HER project, a new virtual reality technology that allows a person to interact with the elements of his or her environment simply by capturing the movements of his or her body, without the need for controls.
In the words of Begoña Mateo, Head of the Human Factors department at the IBV; “Thanks to our advanced personal monitoring algorithm, the system is able to accurately capture a person’s movements and gestures, allowing him or her to interact with the virtual environment in a more intuitive and natural way, just as they would in the real world. This allows the user to pick up objects by making a natural grasping movement with their hand, rather than having to press a button on a control or lose fine motor skills by wearing gloves, having markers attached, etc.”.
Human Extended Reality Lab: a state-of-the art research environment for companies
This innovation has been developed in the IBV’s Human Extended Reality Lab, a state-of-the-art research environment that uses technologies such as virtual reality, mixed reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence to emulate any scenario in a person’s life. This facility enables companies and public authorities to test products, services or environments on the actual users themselves from the earliest design and development stages, to validate their suitability, to characterise the process or interaction and to assess their acceptance through a virtual experience.
With applications in sectors such as sport, industry, construction, occupational risk prevention , healthcare, the automotive industry, mobility of the design of the so-called smart cities, among others, the results obtained from HER position this IBV laboratory at the forefront of Europe in the field of extended reality, thanks to its level of immersion and realism in terms of human-virtual interaction.
José Solaz, Director of Innovation in Mobility and Smart Cities at IBV says: “This technology is a major leap forward in the evaluation of the interaction between people, products and systems, and is proving to be essential in the field of mobility, for example, thanks to how it facilitates the analysis of solutions that have an impact on the urban infrastructure, both in terms of aesthetics and functionality, from the very earliest design phases. It also enables the generation of high-quality, risk-free data on human behaviour, such as pedestrians in potentially dangerous environments. In short, it is an infrastructure that allows data-based decisions to be made, both by public authorities and by companies that design, develop or install elements of the smart city”.
Juan Carlos González, Director of Innovation in Sport at the IBV, points out that “it allows us to more accurately assess how athletes interact with sports facilities and equipment in a realistic virtual environment. As a result, we can optimise the design of pitches, courts and materials and ensure that they meet the needs of users before they are implemented in the real world.
Companies leading the way in innovation
Companies such as Padel Galis, Testea Padel, Torrescamara and Unimat Prevención have participated in this research, representing sectors such as sport, industry and construction, or occupational risk prevention and return to work.
Finally, the HER project is supported by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Autonomous Government of Valencia, through the IVACE+i programme, and receives funding from the European Union through the FEDER Community of Valencia 2021- 2027 Programme (IMDEEA/2024/28).
