The West Yorkshire region recently held an event at the Rose Bowl in Leeds on the subject of augmented and virtual reality technologies in industry. 

The event, which highlighted the use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in industry, attracted interested members of the public, IET colleagues, and professional engineers from companies such as BAE Systems, NG Bailey, and global design firm, Arup. 


Leeds Beckett University CCTE Senior Lecturer, Balbir Singh gave an exciting presentation describing a work in progress - an ongoing project that makes use of both AR and VR technologies in the construction industry. Together with contributions from developer (and former LBU student) James Fenwick, Balbir also discussed some of his successful knowledge transfer partnerships (KTP) that employ AR, VR, and computer games techniques in both the public and private sectors. The lecture concluded with a vibrant question and answer session, including many enquiries from engineers currently working in industry. 


Noting that AR had been around for many years, and that there remain many challenges to its use in some industries, Dr Steve Wilkinson delivered an excellent presentation on ways that AR may be used to promote the benefits of using autoclaves to recycle refuse. Such benefits include the use of methane, produced from processing the refuse, to heat the autoclave, which in turn can reduce Green House Gases (GHG). The talk looked at how the model was created in 3D and how the functionality of the autoclave was developed using a scripting language. The control of the system model was also introduced and discussed. Steve then detailed some of his other successful AR and VR projects, including one that uses AR techniques to provide information to medical practitioners. 


Acknowledging the success of the event, and the level of interest from industry, event organiser, Dr Mark Judge, CCTE Course Director, Dr David Love, and IET West Yorkshire Network Chair, Dr Crinela Pislaru, commented that such events show, not only the importance of technologies such as robotics, AR, and VR, but also the significant and growing contributions made in these areas by Leeds Beckett University’s CCTE engineering group.