Abstract: For some of today's simulations very expensive, heavy and large equipment is needed. Examples are driving, shipping, and flight simulators with huge and expensive visual and motion systems. In order to reduce cost, immersive `Virtual Simulation' becomes very attractive. Head Mounted Displays or Computer Animated Virtual Environments, Datagloves, and cheap `Seating Bucks' are used to generate a stereoscopic virtual environment for a trainee. Such systems are already in use for caterpillar, submarine, and F15-fighter simulation. In our approach we partially simulate an Airbus A340 cockpit. All interaction devices such as side stick, pedals, thrust-levers, knobs, buttons, and dials are modeled as 3D geometry. All other parts and surfaces are formed by images (textures). Some devices are physically available such as sidesticks, pedals, and thrust-levers. All others are replaced by plastic panels to generate a forced feedback for the pilots. A simplified outside visual is available to generate immersive flight simulations. A virtual Primary Flight display, Navigation display, and a virtual stereoscopic Head Up Display are used in a first approach. These virtual displays show basic information necessary to perform a controlled flight and allow basic performance analysis with the system. All parts such as physical input devices, virtual input devices, flight mechanics, traffic, and rendering run in a distributed environment on different high end graphics work stations. The `Virtual Cockpit' can logically replace an also available conventional cockpit mockup in the flight simulation.!24
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