Humans and robots will interact in a virtual environment in the new ActiveCube that Virtual Reality (VR) and advanced visualisation company Virtalis (www.virtalis.com) has supplied to Bielefeld University. It is thought that this type of interaction has never been attempted before anywhere in the world.

When the University planned a new research building for the Centre of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) in 2011, Assistant Professor Dr Thies Pfeiffer and his colleagues envisaged a four-sided VR environment featuring a rear-projected floor.

The CITEC building was completed last year and Virtalis has just finished the installation of its 3 x 3m ActiveCube.

Dr Pfeiffer says: “We will use our ActiveCube to facilitate Cognitive Interactive Technology deploying robots and motion capture techniques to analyse what goes on in the brain when movement occurs. Psychologists will work with robotic vision specialists to help the robots develop strategies for movements such as grasping.

"Linguists will study the subtleties of language learning to help robots overcome misunderstandings and learn more readily, while hardware specialists and software specialists will collaborate to solve fundamentals such as how to maximise efficient power consumption.

“Our ActiveCube has been designed to operate in different configurations, so it is flexible when being used by different research projects. One of the first projects to use the ActiveCube will be research into developing individualised sports coaching.

"Motion Capture will be translated into virtual movement via an avatar. Its performance can then be assessed in three dimensions and feedback given within an individual’s movement ranges. The same technology could also be applied for rehabilitation purposes.”