Development of Virtual Equipment for a Hydraulic Mechanics Experiment

Laboratory class is very important in the education of hydraulic mechanics. However, it usually requires a high expenditure on equipment purchase and maintenance. Virtual equipment that renders the equipment in a virtual world and provides an interactive interface for users can be an ideal solution to reduce costs. In this research, we focus on developing virtual equipment for a Venturi tube experiment. We em-ployed multiple paper-prototypes to gather user feedback on the preliminary design. Following the final pro-totype, we then implemented the virtual equipment on computers. Interactive functions have been built into the virtual equipment. Users are able to manipulate the equipment and obtain real-time feedback as if they were using actual equipment. The results show that the development of the virtual equipment is technically feasible.