STORM: a Generic Interaction and Behavioral Model for 3D Objects and Humanoids in a Virtual Environment

We present in this paper research focused on interaction and behavior specification for 3D objects in general, including humanoids. This research is conducted in the context of a collaboration with Nexter-Group (a French military manufacturer) in order to introduce Virtual Reality (VR) in maintenance training. The use of VR environments for training is strongly stimulated by important needs of training on sensitive equipment, sometimes fragile, unavailable, costly or dangerous. Nevertheless, for the development of such applications, the re-use of existing developments is a major issue. Our research is focused on models that have been designed to achieve this reusability and standardization for the efficient development of new virtual environments. In particular, we defined a new generic model named STORM, used to describe reusable behaviors for 3D objects in general, including humanoids, and reusable interactions between those objects.