New Simulators Improve Maritime Training and Research

VIOSO is helping maritime research and training at the Seven Oceans Simulator centre (SOSc) in the Netherlands, where its advanced projection technology is helping to recreate the high seas in immersive, lifelike detail.

Located at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN), one of the world’s leading institutes for hydrodynamic and nautical research, the SOSc was officially opened by His Majesty King Willem Alexander late last year. Capable of ultra-realistic simulation of the behaviour of vessels, as well as other interactions between maritime structures, the environment and people, the facility is designed to be the most realistic simulator centre for maritime operations in the world.

The SOSc facility comprises two flagship simulators – the Large Motion Simulator (LMS) and Full Mission Bridge (FMB) – and several smaller multipurpose solutions, all of which can simulate the full range of maritime operations, from simple ship handling to high-risk, multi-player offshore operations. VIOSO’s automatic calibration and alignment technology was instrumental in realising the SOSc’s immersive visual environments, including the LMS’s 16m-diameter spherical dome and the FMB’s 14m-wide cylindrical display.

In close partnership with German system integrator VISCON, VIOSO delivered precision blending and warping solutions, ensuring seamless image alignment across the facility's complex projection surfaces. Both the Large Motion Simulator, which boasts a six-degrees-of-freedom motion platform and immersive 360° projection dome, and the Full Mission Bridge, which offers forward or backward views on a 240° × 42° cylindrical screen comprising two 6m-diameter domes, benefit from VIOSO’s projection expertise, allowing the SOSc to realistically simulate the lifelike environments essential for advanced maritime training.

To calibrate and align the Large Motion Simulator and Full Mission Bridge simulators, VISCON took advantage of VIOSO’s specialist warping and blending software for simulation applications, VIOSO 6 SIM (formerly Anyblend), which was integrated directly into the MARIN simulation software. The use of VIOSO 6 SIM, which supports a virtually endless number of projectors, cameras and image generators, offered the integrator perfect control over the complex multi-projection set-ups: five cameras and 30 channels for the LMS dome and a total of 13 cameras and 22 channels (1 + 6 + 6 cameras/10 + 6 + 6 channels) for the FMB complex.

In addition to functioning as standalone solutions, the two flagship simulators, along with the SOSc’s other smaller simulators, can be interconnected to replicate scenarios involving multiple ships navigating challenging sea conditions.