Challenge

Wind turbine generators (WTG) are a central component of a renewable energy supply chain. However, residents often protest against the construction of new wind turbines: They fear that the turbines could lead to unacceptable noise pollution or destroy the landscape. To base preliminary discussions on realistic values, it would be helpful to simulate the visual impression and the expected noise situation (i.e. artificially making a noise situation audible through auralization). For the realistic recreation of certain situations, the possibilities of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have been existing for several years. For many VR and AR applications, relevant technologies are available at reasonable prices. If optics, auralization, and VR and AR techniques could be combined, the effects of planned WTG would become comprehensible in advance through visual and acoustic experience.

Goals and procedure

The X-Eptance-Explore project aims at two developments for WTG: firstly, a mobile acoustic VR system (MAVR) for the virtual walk-through of WTG, and secondly, a mobile acoustic AR system (MAAR) for the on-site assessment of the visual and acoustic effects of planned WTG. Both developments are to be based on measured data, the analysis of which will form the basis for the acoustic simulation. The MAVR is to be implemented as a quasi-mobile solution with a portable visual output device (head-mounted display). This can be installed as a transportable solution at any location; the target group is authorities and those responsible for the planning approval process. The 3D visualization is to be generated largely automatically on the basis of georeferenced data in order to make the project results transferable for similar situations with little manual effort. The MAAR is to be implemented as a fully mobile solution that allows users to explore the WTG on site. The main target group of this solution are the affected residents.

Innovations and perspectives

With the MAVR, the X-Eptance-Explore project aims to create a mobile acoustic VR solution that simulates the noise emissions of wind turbines as realistically as possible. A soundscape typical for the environment is to facilitate the acoustic assessment for the listeners. The systematic technical validation of the acoustic parameters is an important novelty in which measurement data are correlated with simulated data in order to continuously and systematically improve the quality of the simulation solution. MAAR is one of the first fully mobile AR solutions with integrated acoustic data that presents and develops WTG as realistic 3D models. The X-Eptance-Explore project picks up on the work of the X-Eptance-Impulse subproject with the aim of opening up new application areas for the results obtained from sensor technology, actuator technology and signal processing. In the future, the time series determined with conventional measurement technology can be transferred to planning situations for road construction or airport expansion at the end of the project.