Roundtable: Virtual Reality and Immersive Learning for Nuclear Security and Safeguards

There has been much progress in Virtual Reality technologies with increased features and lower costs. This creates many opportunities for the use of VR technologies in professional training applications in Nuclear Security and Safeguards. Virtual Reality involves a human computer interface which is realistic enough to make a user believe s/he is inside (i.e., immersed) a given real-world environment. Realism is useful for simple walk-arounds where the user gets acquainted to an environment (e.g., a nuclear site or plant), to how to operate existing instrumentation as well as how to make measurements in the best conditions. These make-believe exercises and environments can be made very realistic and provide immersive interfaces for effective training activities. This round-table complements the presentations at the special session on VR applied to Nuclear Safeguards and aims at an open, informal and experience-sharing discussion on the technologies and the inter-operability of dedicated models and software. A specific topic of interest is the cognitive aspects of learning via virtual environments.