Grant: College - University Idea to Innovation Grants

Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies are potentially transformative for the aerospace and aviation industries. Among the potential benefits are increased productivity through increased accuracy and precision, leading to fewer errors, upgraded processes, as well as improved health and safety. These technologies also provide the potential to foster closer collaboration within teams, leading to better decision making. There is also a significant opportunity with the widespread adoption of AR/VR to upgrade the skills of personnel employed in aviation. Combined these benefits will result in increased competitiveness in the global marketplace. Centennial College will undertake a project to investigate and assess the application of AR/VR in aviation in collaboration with Ryerson University, Bombardier Aviation and OVA Gestion Conseil. The goal will be to investigate the practical applications of AR/VR in two separate areas of importance to the aviation industry: training and operations. VR technology will be developed to provide new ways to train aviation professionals in the aircraft operating procedures. This training will be focused on the safety inspection that flight crews must undertake prior to every flight of an aircraft and on the test procedures that technicians must carry out when aircraft cockpit systems are thoroughly checked. AR technology development will leverage the procedural training capacity of VR to provide real-time assistance to flight crews and technicians undertaking these detailed aircraft work tasks. AR will combine real-time step-by-step guidance through the task work-flow with artificial intelligence and machine learning capability. This will give the user the ability to efficiently complete work tasks and at the same time reduce the chance of error. The results will be integrated technologies that can be successfully demonstrated in practical, real-world environments. Researchers engaged in this project will be able to expand their research capabilities in AR/VR in the directions of technology and machine-human interface research in complementary areas of aviation and related industries. The collaborative nature of this project where the technology is researched and evaluated in an educational environment also provides an innovative method of instruction to college and university students in the aerospace discipline. The students will have the opportunity to be trained in AR/VR technologies leading to an in-depth understanding of systems, operational processes and technical procedures. This will give them additional knowledge and skills so that they will be able to successfully compete in the employment marketplace to launch their careers in Canada