Controlling a Bomb Disposal Robot in Virtual Reality
Of all the areas in which virtual reality is showing its potential, perhaps one of the most mind-blowing is one that we haven’t talked much about. Truth is, it’s easy for many to think of how VR can create a new world, a video game, or even perhaps a recreation of a historical landmark. But there’s another application in which virtual reality is demonstrating real value, and it’s in a manner most of us probably haven’t even thought about.
SRI International, a nonprofit research institute, has taken its brilliant bomb disposal robot Taurus and has made it better, all by using the same kinds of controls you’d likely find in a virtual reality arcade. By using Oculus Rift controllers as the manipulators for its robot, SRI International is allowing bomb disposal experts, when paired with a headset, to feel as if they are physically taking control of the robot itself. Combined with haptic feedback, an immersive heads up display, and the kind of real-time operational capacity required when dealing with something as touchy as an explosive device, Taurus and its creators have found a way of taking a virtual reality experience and making it not just feel real, but well, be real.
When you think about it, it’s pretty revolutionary. VR has long been thought of as a way to either escape the world, create a new world, or to visit a different part of our world, all without leaving the comfort of home. But now, with this kind of technology, we’re giving humanity a different way to interact not only with robots, but potentially with all of our physical surroundings. Not only is it a different way to think about the future of VR, it’s also a way to think of how the future around us is going to not just look, but feel.
As the world continues to become more and more automated, it’s hard not to imagine humans moving other kinds of robots around. Whether it’s to trim trees or paint a house, there are probably many ways we’ll be using this kind of technology in the future that are less dramatic than diffusing a bomb.
It may not quite be the future that was in the movie Pacific Rim, but if we are forced to fight against giant monsters from another dimension, it’s good to know that we may have begun building the type of tech we’re going to eventually need.