Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
LE11 3TU
+44 (0)1509 263171

Advanced VR Research Centre

What Motivates Us?

Established in 1995, AVRRC research involves transforming the development and application of advanced modelling, simulation and visualization techniques. The emergence of increasingly complex interconnected systems has significantly raised the importance the role humans play in the design, development and use of these systems. Our over-riding goal is to fully understand highly complex system behaviour (involving people, processes and technology) in a way that allows us to predict and control system performance whilst managing undesirable emergent properties.  

Tackling these challenges requires a paradigm shift from traditional engineering approaches. Almost a decade ago we moved away from a single model/simulation environment to one where a model based engineering environment, involving a heterogeneous mix of closely coupled models and simulations are employed (often across global and institutional boundaries) to allow specific domain experts to collaborate (who are themselves often geographically dispersed) in order to deal with multi-disciplinary design problems. Our resulting, underpinning model based systems engineering research has led to us winning major research grants and involving international partners.  

Consequently, the AVRRC has built up an extensive, and probably unrivalled virtual engineering facility to support the development and use of virtual and immersive visual computing (AR and VR) environments, where real-world problems can be modelled and simulated to a very high degree of fidelity. Underpinning our exciting research has been the recognition of the importance of human interaction with future systems and so our research addresses human factors issues such interaction, performance and cognition.

Human in the loop evaluations feature in almost all our research projects. Also we have  developed various prototype systems resulted from our research that have been deployed in various companies and organisation. These have involved wearable computers, handheld medical imaging systems, systems for use in aircraft cockpits, performance assessment tools for athletes, and MBSE transformation tools for engineering, etc.

Systems engineering approaches have played a huge part in formulating and framing our research activities.

Our funding track record has impacted and benefitted the following: aerospace/defence, automotive, construction, energy, healthcare, medical technologies, sport, transport and the utility sectors.