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develops some software package, such as SafeVR, VRoom and 
so on. SafetVR allows a trainee to experience a “real accident” 
and the virtual environment can be modified to assess potential 
prevention strategies. The National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH) of America had used a game engine 
to create a portion of an underground coal mine. In this virtual 
mine, trainees have a first person vantage point as they walk or 
ride through the mine. 
Beihang University, Zhejiang University and Harbin Institute of 
Technology are the earliest research institute in VR 
technologies in China. The most research achievements have 
been applied into medicine, military, education, manufacture 
and much else. In mining industry, researchers of CUMT used 
to develop a Mine Fire and Gas Blast VR System based on 
MultiGen Creator and Vega(Wang Bing-jian, 2004). The 
system can simulate the real mining operation environment, and 
realistically display the dynamic process of fire or gas blast 
with the results of grid analysis and CFD simulation. 
Pingdingshan Industry Vocational and Technical Colleges 
developed a mining VR training system to help the miners 
learning the ordinary regulations in underground environment. 
The system was developed secondly based on Virtools 3D 
engine. The users must answer the various safety questions to 
move to the next scene. 
Although Chinese researchers have done much works to 
introduce VR into mine field, they are striving for breakthrough 
in technological innovation. Many coal mine enterprises have 
been looking forward the VR systems to help them manage 
mine safety production. Nowadays, various home-made 3D 
systems, developed for requirement of mining production, need 
to extend practicability of their functions. There are some 
problems needed to be resolved, shown as follows: 
1) During the mining process, the 3D spatial data are real-time 
and dynamic. The automatic and quick modeling of strata and 
laneways are very important for 3D visualization. Most VR 
systems, depended on statically pre-editing models, cannot 
create 3D underground laneway models and equipment 
dynamically and accurately. 
2) Most home-made 3D mining system provides simply and 
narrow functions such as geological modeling, reserve 
computation and 3D visualization. Actually, mine safety 
production needs more practical 3D functions. For example, 
applying VR in mine safety production can give supervisors 
more clearly decision-making information as well as provide 
vivid and strong feeling on underground virtual environment. 
3) From the standpoint of VR functions, the simulation and 
interactive roaming of underground scene are far from the 
expectations. The system needs to have functions of immersive 
experience, interactive operation, multi-user remote cooperative 
work, massive data dispatch and much else. 
3. SYSTEM DESIGN 
3.1 System design 
VRLane has a typical COM GIS configuration. It uses 
Microsoft SQLServer2000 in the server to manage basic 
geological data and monitoring data; uses Microsoft VisualC++ 
6.0 to code 2D GIS modules and 3D modeling modules; and use 
Microsoft VisualC++ 2005 and ORGE engine to realize VR 
module. 
This architecture can be divided into 3 layers, shown as Figure 
1. 
1) The basic layer is database management. The database stores 
geological, surveying, hydrological data and much else. Also, 
the database integrates the rock pressure data, gas monitoring 
data, fire monitoring data and video image from some industrial 
automation systems. Massive data management, multi-task 
transaction, multi-user concurrent control and data safety are 
the key technologies on the database system development. 
Geological model library, surveying model library, 
hydrological model library and equipment model library are the 
main contain of database management. 
2) The middle layer is a 2D&3D integrated professional GIS 
platform. The GIS platform have both CAD and GIS functions, 
which not only have ability to plot all sorts of engineering maps 
that required in mining process, to draw geological prospecting 
section map and contour map automatically, to draw roadway 
preparing map, excavation engineering plans, roadway section 
map, surface and underground contrast map semi-automatically, 
but also realize the input, manipulation, spatial analysis and 
query GIS functions. The platform also integrates the 3D 
modeling with 2D GIS platform. It can build various models 
quickly, such as terrain model, geological stratum model, 
laneway model, equipment model and much else. 
3) The top layer is VR application. The VRLane program can 
provide various immersive, operable and interactive VR 
services on the LAN or the WAN, for different user’s 
requirement. 
Application 
layer 
Platform 
laver 
Database 
layer 
Figure 1. The frame of VRLane system structure 
3.2 System function 
The function of VRLane can be divided into 3 parts: 
1) 3D modeling functions. Those functions, cooperating with 
database module and 2D GIS module, can realize all sorts 
modeling of 3D object, mainly including ground industrial 
square modeling, geologic modeling, laneway modeling and 
mine design modeling.