CIREVE (the Centre Interdisciplinaire de Réalité Virtuelle, or Centre for Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality) is at the heart of the University of Caen Normandy’s technology centre, created in 2006 and, since 2012, part of the training and research unit for humanities and the social sciences (the Unité de Formation et de Recherche, or UFR Humanités et sciences sociales). Today, CIREVE boasts the largest immersive VR room in any university in France. From training to teaching via scientific research, this dedicated facility once again places Caen and Normandy at the forefront of innovation. Discover the story…
From model to virtual model
Entering the University of Caen’s Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines (MRSH, the centre for research in human sciences), you can’t miss it – on the floor, a large model of ancient Rome takes pride of place in the heart of the building. ‘It may seem odd, but CIREVE was born from this,’ explains the beaming Director, Philippe Fleury. This plaster model made by Paul Bigot on a scale of 1/400th – one of three that exist in the world – is an exceptional piece of heritage, listed as an historic monument. ‘When the MRSH was built in 1994, the University of Caen asked the architects to place this model at the centre of the building. In parallel, the Director at that time wanted to propose a digital project based around this plan of Rome, as a symbol of the modernity of the human sciences,’ recalls Philippe Fleury.
Others thought we were crazy, but we believed in it, and it worked!
Philippe Fleury
Philippe Fleury, Director MRSH and Sophie Madeleine, Engineer
No sooner said than done. A small team was put together very rapidly, with the rather crazy challenge of making a virtual reality model – not simply a reconstitution of Rome in the 4th century AD, but something offering walks along Rome’s streets… with the added difficulty of having to develop this digital model by hand. ‘It was expensive and complex, as the physical model and the virtual model weren’t directly linked. The plaster model dated back to what was known in the interwar period and couldn’t be modified; and scanning a dated piece wouldn’t have made scientific sense,’ adds Sophie Madeleine, a research engineer at CIREVE.
Office of the CIREVE, Caen
Two completely new facilities
It was doubly complex, as VR, that interaction in real time with a three-dimensional digital environment, requires very fast calculators, powerful graphics cards and numerous skills… Nine years later, in response to all this, Philippe Fleury, then university Vice-President, launched a piece of research to work out which university sectors might be interested by virtual reality. Medicine, sports, geography, neuropsychology and more… ‘Around a dozen university teams responded and, through that, the idea was born to create an interdisciplinary centre.’ In 2006, the team initially dedicated simply to the plan of Rome was replaced by the greater CIREVE project.
To ensure the setting up of interdisciplinary VR, two facilities have been put in place in the heart of the building completed in 2015. The first is a lecture hall with 220 seats, equipped to carry out VR sessions directed by a science mediator, that’s to say, a person who leads others into the virtual environment. ‘Using stereoscopy and 3D glasses, the audience is passive; it’s the mediator who decides what to show,’ emphasises Sophie Madeleine. The second facility is an immersive room measuring 5m by 10m, the largest in a French university. It’s used, in particular, for carrying out experiments. ‘For training purposes, we insisted that we wanted to have the two facilities side by side, so that the computers and graphics systems of the two could be shared, making it possible to have a person undergoing a live experiment in the immersive room and the people in the lecture hall alongside following the experiment directly,’ Philippe Fleury adds.
We’re the only ones to have put together these facilities with the notion of doing training in VR.
Philippe Fleury
CIREVE in action in Caen
Research and education
There are three ways of moving about in the immersive room: in the real space, but that space is of course limited; thanks to a flystick, a wireless joystick allowing the user to move about in three dimensions as far as the limits of the virtual model allow; or on a latest generation treadmill on pneumatic cylinders. ‘In this case, the environment is regulated by the user’s walking and adapts to the individual’s choices. It can, for example, simulate rough surfaces, especially useful in the context of teams working on old people’s issues of balance or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (when people have exceptionally flexible joints),’ specifies Sophie Madeleine. Geography studies of coastal phenomena with flooding simulations, crossings for old people to ensure road safety… along with such examples of its uses, the team led by Francis Eustache from Inserm [a French public research organisation dedicated to human health] is employing it in the context of work on Alzheimer’s disease: ‘Using virtual reality, no one is disturbed and we can study developments via various sensors that constantly follow a patient’s gaze and trajectory. The researchers have realised that they’ve been detecting 10% more cases of early-onset Alzheimer cases this way than by using paper-based tests.’
While these unique facilities attract researchers from across the world, CIREVE also gets the general public involved. Several times a year, the Nocturnes du Plan de Rome, that’s to say virtual tours of ancient Rome using 3D glasses and accompanied by a science mediator, are organised in the Daure lecture hall at the University of Caen. ‘Last season, almost 220 people on average came to each show,’ Sophie Madeleine is delighted to say. To meet the strong demand, CIREVE is now considering a project for touring schools, in order to be able to present directly the virtual model in establishments that have the necessary facilities. In parallel, the CIREVE team has also developed an app aimed at individuals, called Roma in Tabula: ‘The idea is to present a dozen ancient Roman buildings interactively that can be downloaded onto a smartphone, tablet or computer. The buildings appear in augmented reality and users can wander around inside them, as well as accessing related documentation.’
The idea is to share our virtual models and to impart to others the research that allows us to reach our results.
Sophie Madeleine
CIREVE – A Quick Overview
The CIREVE (Centre Interdisciplinaire de Réalité Virtuelle – Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality Centre) is aimed at a range of different groups: scientific research, the public, schoolchildren, students, and individuals.
The technical equipment is paired up: an amphitheatre and an immersion room, the largest in France in a university setting. This is reinforced by the Rome Map Room in the Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines (the Human Sciences Research Centre), which offers teaching visits of Ancient Rome.
The scientific projects based around the CIREVE are organised into three strands: representation, that is to say the restitution of the environment and sounds of the period, based on ancient sources, validated by the scientific community, and used to extend knowledge and understanding as well as presenting the results to the public; experimentation to analyse and define the spatial properties of gests, observe the behaviour of patients with different medical conditions in virtual environments and to test hypotheses as well as the cultural memory; the creation and development of tools to test navigation methods in a virtual world, as well as the restitution of reality.
A few examples of work produced: the layout of Ancient Rome; the University of Caen prior to the Second World War; the church of Our Lady of Saint-Lô before the Second World War; the Caen Memorial Museum in Virtual Reality; the ancient site of Vieux-la-romaine in the 2nd century; pre-war Caen…
9 members of staff work in the CIREVE, which brings together a whole range of skills, around 360 researchers regularly use the facilities, as well as the Universities of Rouen and Le Havre…
Rome in 3D
The model of the layout of Rome, which was the original starting point for CIREVE, is located in the heart of the MRSH building, and is one of only 3 of its kind in the world. It was produced between 1901 and 1942 by the Norman architect Paul Bigot, born in Orbec on 20th October 1870 and died in Paris on 8th June 1942.
CIREVE regularly organises ‘Nights in Rome’ for the public in the Daure amphitheatre in the University. These conferences are from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, are free and no booking is required.
For more information, contact: sophie.madeleine@unicaen.fr – 00 33 2.31.56.62.38
CIREVE (the Centre Interdisciplinaire de R\u00e9alit\u00e9 Virtuelle, or Centre for Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality) is at the heart of the University of Caen Normandy\u2019s technology centre, created in 2006 and, since 2012, part of the training and research unit for humanities and the social sciences (the Unit\u00e9 de Formation et de Recherche, or UFR Humanit\u00e9s et sciences sociales). Today, CIREVE boasts the largest immersive VR room in any university in France. From training to teaching via scientific research, this dedicated facility once again places Caen and Normandy at the forefront of innovation. Discover the story\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
From model to virtual model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Entering the University of Caen\u2019s Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines (MRSH, the centre for research in human sciences), you can\u2019t miss it \u2013 on the floor, a large model of ancient Rome takes pride of place in the heart of the building. \u2018It may seem odd, but CIREVE was born from this,\u2019 explains the beaming Director, Philippe Fleury. This plaster model made by Paul Bigot on a scale of 1\/400th \u2013 one of three that exist in the world \u2013 is an exceptional piece of heritage, listed as an historic monument. \u2018When the MRSH was built in 1994, the University of Caen asked the architects to place this model at the centre of the building. In parallel, the Director at that time wanted to propose a digital project based around this plan of Rome, as a symbol of the modernity of the human sciences,\u2019 recalls Philippe Fleury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\nPhilippe Fleury, Director MRSH and Sophie Madeleine, Engineer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
No sooner said than done. A small team was put together very rapidly, with the rather crazy challenge of making a virtual reality model \u2013 not simply a reconstitution of Rome in the 4th century AD, but something offering walks along Rome\u2019s streets\u2026 with the added difficulty of having to develop this digital model by hand. \u2018It was expensive and complex, as the physical model and the virtual model weren\u2019t directly linked. The plaster model dated back to what was known in the interwar period and couldn\u2019t be modified; and scanning a dated piece wouldn\u2019t have made scientific sense,\u2019 adds Sophie Madeleine, a research engineer at CIREVE.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOffice of the CIREVE, Caen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Two completely new facilities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It was doubly complex, as VR, that interaction in real time with a three-dimensional digital environment, requires very fast calculators, powerful graphics cards and numerous skills\u2026 Nine years later, in response to all this, Philippe Fleury, then university Vice-President, launched a piece of research to work out which university sectors might be interested by virtual reality. Medicine, sports, geography, neuropsychology and more\u2026 \u2018Around a dozen university teams responded and, through that, the idea was born to create an interdisciplinary centre.\u2019 In 2006, the team initially dedicated simply to the plan of Rome was replaced by the greater CIREVE project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To ensure the setting up of interdisciplinary VR, two facilities have been put in place in the heart of the building completed in 2015. The first is a lecture hall with 220 seats, equipped to carry out VR sessions directed by a science mediator, that\u2019s to say, a person who leads others into the virtual environment. \u2018Using stereoscopy and 3D glasses, the audience is passive; it\u2019s the mediator who decides what to show,\u2019 emphasises Sophie Madeleine. The second facility is an immersive room measuring 5m by 10m, the largest in a French university. It\u2019s used, in particular, for carrying out experiments. \u2018For training purposes, we insisted that we wanted to have the two facilities side by side, so that the computers and graphics systems of the two could be shared, making it possible to have a person undergoing a live experiment in the immersive room and the people in the lecture hall alongside following the experiment directly,\u2019 Philippe Fleury adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\nCIREVE in action in Caen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Research and education<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are three ways of moving about in the immersive room: in the real space, but that space is of course limited; thanks to a flystick, a wireless joystick allowing the user to move about in three dimensions as far as the limits of the virtual model allow; or on a latest generation treadmill on pneumatic cylinders. \u2018In this case, the environment is regulated by the user\u2019s walking and adapts to the individual\u2019s choices. It can, for example, simulate rough surfaces, especially useful in the context of teams working on old people\u2019s issues of balance or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (when people have exceptionally flexible joints),\u2019 specifies Sophie Madeleine. Geography studies of coastal phenomena with flooding simulations, crossings for old people to ensure road safety\u2026 along with such examples of its uses, the team led by Francis Eustache from Inserm [a French public research organisation dedicated to human health] is employing it in the context of work on Alzheimer\u2019s disease: \u2018Using virtual reality, no one is disturbed and we can study developments via various sensors that constantly follow a patient\u2019s gaze and trajectory. The researchers have realised that they\u2019ve been detecting 10% more cases of early-onset Alzheimer cases this way than by using paper-based tests.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While these unique facilities attract researchers from across the world, CIREVE also gets the general public involved. Several times a year, the Nocturnes du Plan de Rome, that\u2019s to say virtual tours of ancient Rome using 3D glasses and accompanied by a science mediator, are organised in the Daure lecture hall at the University of Caen. \u2018Last season, almost 220 people on average came to each show,\u2019 Sophie Madeleine is delighted to say. To meet the strong demand, CIREVE is now considering a project for touring schools, in order to be able to present directly the virtual model in establishments that have the necessary facilities. In parallel, the CIREVE team has also developed an app aimed at individuals, called Roma in Tabula: \u2018The idea is to present a dozen ancient Roman buildings interactively that can be downloaded onto a smartphone, tablet or computer. The buildings appear in augmented reality and users can wander around inside them, as well as accessing related documentation.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
CIREVE \u2013 A Quick Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The CIREVE (Centre Interdisciplinaire de R\u00e9alit\u00e9 Virtuelle<\/em> \u2013 Interdisciplinary Virtual Reality Centre) is aimed at a range of different groups: scientific research, the public, schoolchildren, students, and individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The technical equipment is paired up: an amphitheatre and an immersion room, the largest in France in a university setting. This is reinforced by the Rome Map Room in the Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines<\/em> (the Human Sciences Research Centre), which offers teaching visits of Ancient Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scientific projects based around the CIREVE are organised into three strands: representation, that is to say the restitution of the environment and sounds of the period, based on ancient sources, validated by the scientific community, and used to extend knowledge and understanding as well as presenting the results to the public; experimentation to analyse and define the spatial properties of gests, observe the behaviour of patients with different medical conditions in virtual environments and to test hypotheses as well as the cultural memory; the creation and development of tools to test navigation methods in a virtual world, as well as the restitution of reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few examples of work produced: the layout of Ancient Rome; the University of Caen prior to the Second World War; the church of Our Lady of Saint-L\u00f4 before the Second World War; the Caen Memorial Museum in Virtual Reality; the ancient site of Vieux-la-romaine in the 2nd<\/sup> century; pre-war Caen\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9 members of staff work in the CIREVE, which brings together a whole range of skills, around 360 researchers regularly use the facilities, as well as the Universities of Rouen and Le Havre\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n","post_title":"Virtual Reality (VR) at the service of research","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"virtual-reality-vr-at-the-service-of-research","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-04-02 15:27:34","post_modified_gmt":"2024-04-02 13:27:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.choisirlanormandie.fr\/?p=10040","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"themeUrl":"https:\/\/www.choosenormandy.com\/app\/themes\/theme_customer","ajaxUrl":"https:\/\/www.choosenormandy.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","markerImageUrl":"https:\/\/www.choosenormandy.com\/app\/plugins\/iris_collection_plugin_core\/public\/images\/markers\/marker.11041dafc34a2bb0.svg","easepickStyleUrl":"https:\/\/www.choosenormandy.com\/app\/plugins\/iris_collection_plugin_core\/public\/styles\/lib\/easepick.e37b6adfc06f1243.css","coreUrl":"https:\/\/www.choosenormandy.com\/app\/plugins\/iris_collection_plugin_core","serverUrl":"https:\/\/www.choisirlanormandie.fr","contentHelpfull":{"thisContentIsHelpfull":"https:\/\/www.choosenormandy.com\/wp-json\/iris-collection-plugin-core\/v1\/this-content-is-helpful","translate":{"helpfull":"Useful: You have already chosen this option","useless":"Not useful: You have already chosen this option","confirmation":"Thank you, your reply has been taken into account.","error":"An error has occurred while sending your response to the server. If the problem persists, please contact an administrator"}},"cookieNameOfHelpfulPreviousVote":"iris-any-is-helpful-previous-vote_post_10040","cookieNameOfEcoMode":"iris_eco_config","carbonApiUpdateViewRoute":"https:\/\/carbon.iris-interactive.com\/update-view-by-url?url=","config":{"ecomodeActive":false,"GTMActive":true},"data":{"kml":null},"translate":{"noBookingOffer":"The offers displayed below have not communicated their availability, please contact the provider.","noResult":"No results found for your search.","successForm":"The message has been sent successfully. Thank you","slider":{"prevSlideMessage":"Slide pr\u00e9c\u00e9dente","nextSlideMessage":"Slide suivante","firstSlideMessage":"Vous \u00eates au d\u00e9but du slider","lastSlideMessage":"Vous avez atteint la fin du slider","paginationBulletMessage":"Aller sur la slide {{index}}","slideLabelMessage":"Slide {{index}} sur {{slidesLength}}"}},"travelLogActive":"","coordinates":{"latitude":"48.862725","longitude":"2.287592"},"blogInfos":{"blogName":"Choisir la Normandie","blogUrl":"https:\/\/www.choisirlanormandie.fr"}};
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