The Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) has completed the sale of a virtual reality studio to the Department of Natural Resources and Civil Engineering at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China.
"By providing a turn-key system, including hardware, software and training, MIRARCO has created a virtual bridge between China and North America," said Andrew Dasys, start-up director and project systems manager.
The official opening of the studio coincided with the 9th China National Rock Mechanics Symposium, which was attended by approximately 400 delegates. MIRARCO's director of Asia projects, Dr. Ming Cai, presented the keynote speech and demonstrated how MIRARCO has pioneered the use of collaborative visualization to improve complex data interpretation.
"We desired a technical solution to better understand the geomechanics of our region's metal and coal mines," said Dr. Chunan Tang, a professor at Northeastern University and director of the university's Centre for Rock Instability and Seismicity Research.
The visualization infrastructure supplied to Northeastern University can also pave the way for future research collaboration, said Dr. Peter Kasier, MIRARCO president and Chair for Rock Mechanics and Ground Control at Laurentian University.
"Building on the past 20 years of research, MIRARCO's Geomechanics Research Centre is unlocking some of the keys to seismic hazard qualification in underground mines... Sharing and evolving this knowledge with researchers around the world is very rewarding."
MIRARCO is working with a partner company to define the needs for additional VR facilities in China.
