Citation:
Christopher J. Turner, Windo Hutabarat, John Oyekan and Ashutosh Tiwari. Discrete event simulation and virtual reality use in industry: new opportunities and future trends. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems. December 2016, Volume: 46, Issue: 6, pp882-894
Abstract:
This paper reviews the area of combined discrete
event simulation (DES) and virtual reality (VR) use within industry.
While establishing a state of the art for progress in this
area, this paper makes the case for VR DES as the vehicle of choice
for complex data analysis through interactive simulation models,
highlighting both its advantages and current limitations. This paper
reviews active research topics such as VR and DES real-time
integration, communication protocols, system design considerations,
model validation, and applications of VR and DES. While
summarizing future research directions for this technology combination,
the case is made for smart factory adoption of VR DES as
a new platform for scenario testing and decision making. It is put
that in order for VR DES to fully meet the visualization requirements
of both Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet visions of digital
manufacturing, further research is required in the areas of lower
latency image processing, DES delivery as a service, gesture recognition
for VR DES interaction, and linkage of DES to real-time data streams and Big Data sets.