VIRTUAL VISIT TO THE IEA-R1 NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63026/acertte.v6i1.298

Keywords:

Nuclear Research Reactor. Virtual reality. Game Development. Virtual Visit. Unity 3D. Game Design.

Abstract

With the increase in energy demand, there is an expectation of growth in the number of nuclear reactors worldwide. Although Brazil has two power reactors and four research reactors, visits to these facilities are practically unfeasible due to security and distance constraints. The objective of this work was to develop a user-friendly and educational navigation tool through virtual reality. Using a pair of Google Cardboard–type goggles and a smartphone, the aim was to enable user immersion in the facilities of the IEA-R1 research reactor at the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN), in São Paulo. Thus, this work seeks to contribute to the dissemination of the beneficial applications of nuclear technology in schools and in society. To achieve the proposed objectives, documentation techniques from the virtual game development market were employed, as well as several free-use tools for 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, programming, Artificial Intelligence (AI), animation, and audio processing. As a result, a user-friendly application was developed that allows users to take a virtual tour of the IEA-R1.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Leandro Gusmão de Mello e Silva, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN)

Technologist in Precision Mechanics - Mechatronics from the Faculty of Technology of São Paulo (FATEC-SP). Master of Nuclear Technology at the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research of São Paulo (IPEN-USP).

Arthur Pires Julião, Faculdade de Tecnologia de São Paulo (FATEC– SP)

Bachelor of Mathematics Pure by the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of USP (IME-USP). Bachelor of Physics for Research at the USP Institute of Physics (IF-USP). Master in Mathematics Pure by the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of USP (IMEUSP). Full Professor III, Faculdade de Tecnologia de São Paulo (FATEC-SP).

Patricia Andrea Paladino, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia (IFSP- SP)

Architect and Urbanist (FAU-USP). Technologist in Civil Construction (FATEC-SP). Graduated in Mathematics (IME-USP). Art-educator - Fine Arts. Master, PhD and Post Doctorate in Science from the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research of São Paulo (IPEN - USP). Full Professor III of the Faculty of Technology of São Paulo (FATECSP). Professor of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo (IFSP Campus São Paulo) - DCM Mathematics.

Gaianê Sabundjian , Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN)

Bachelor's degree in physics from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). Master of Nuclear Technology at the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN-USP) and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic School of São Paulo (POLI-USP). Senior technologist at IPEN/CNEN.

References

ADAMS, L. Visualização e realidade virtual. São Paulo: Makron Books, 1994. p. 255-259.

ARAÚJO, R. B. Especificação e análise de um sistema distribuído de realidade virtual. 1996. 144 f. Tese (Doutorado em Engenharia de Computação e Sistemas Digitais) – Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 1996.

AUDACITY. Download Audacity. 2022. Disponível em: https://www.audacityteam.org/. Acesso em: 10 jan. 2025

AUTODESK INC. 3ds Max Free Trial. 2022. Disponível em: https://www.autodesk.com/ . Acesso em: 10 jun. 2025.

AZURE. Crie gratuitamente na nuvem com o Azure for Students. 2022. Disponível em: https://azure.microsoft.com/ . Acesso em: 10 jan. 2026.

BEGAULT, D. R. 3-D sound for virtual reality and multimedia. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press, 1994.

BIATY, F. P.; JULIÃO, A. P.; PALADINO, P. A.; SABUNDJIAN, G. Perspectivas sobre a construção de reatores nucleares no Brasil. Revista Científica Acertte, v. 5, n. 11, p. e511285, 2025. Disponível em: https://acertte.org/acertte/article/view/285 . Acesso em: 24 fev. 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.63026/acertte.v5i11.285

CNOP, A. C. Simulação virtual de visita técnica no reator Argonauta para fins de divulgação científica. 2016. Dissertação (Mestrado) – Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear, Rio de Janeiro, 2016.

FREESOUND. Footsteps_Squeaky Sneakers on marble tile.wav. 2022. Disponível em: https://freesound.org/ . Acesso em: 10 jan. 2025.

GITHUB. GVR SDK for Unity v1.200.1. 2022. Disponível em: https://github.com/googlevr/gvr-unity-sdk/releases. Acesso em: 24 fev. 2026.

GOOGLE INC. Google Cardboard. 2022. Disponível em: https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/. Acesso em: 12 dez. 2025.

GRADECKI, J. The virtual reality construction kit. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1995. 340 p.

GUDILIN, V.; SLABKIY, L. Ракетно-космические системы (История. Развитие. Перспективы). 2017. Disponível em: <https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Sputnik%201>. Acesso em: 10 out. 2020.

INSTITUTO DE PESQUISAS ENERGÉTICAS E NUCLEARES. Reator IEA-R1. Disponível em: https://www.gov.br/ipen/pt-br/centros-de-pesquisa/centro-dos-reatores-de-pesquisa . Acesso em: 20 out. 2022.

INSTITUTO DE PESQUISAS ENERGÉTICAS E NUCLEARES. Áreas de Pesquisa. 2025. Disponível em: https://www.gov.br/ipen/pt-br/pesquisa-e-desenvolvimento/areas-de-pesquisa. Acesso em: 20 fev. 2026.

INSTITUTO DE PESQUISAS ENERGÉTICAS E NUCLEARES. Visitas Técnicas. 2026. Disponível em: https://www.gov.br/ipen/pt-br/assuntos/visitas-tecnicas/copy_of_agende-a-sua-visita . Acesso em: 20 fev. 2026.

JPL-NASA. NASA, Microsoft collaboration will allow scientists to “work on Mars”. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. California, 21 jan. 2015. Disponível em: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4451 . Acesso em: 20 jan. 2026.

KALAWSKY, R. S. The science of virtual reality and virtual environments. Wokingham: Addison-Wesley, 1993. 405 p.

KIRNER, C.; TORI, R. Realidade virtual: conceitos e tendências. São Paulo: SBC, 2004.

KRITA. Download Krita 5.0.2. 2022. Disponível em: https://krita.org/. Acesso em: 24 fev. 2022.

LATTA, J. N.; OBERG, D. J. A conceptual virtual reality model. IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, 1994. p. 23-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/38.250915

LESTON, J. Virtual reality: the IT perspective. The Computer Bulletin, v. 38, n. 3, p. 12-13, 1996. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/combul/38.3.12

MIXAMO. Mixamo animations. 2022. Disponível em: https://www.mixamo.com/ . Acesso em: 10 jan. 2022.

MORIE, J. F. Inspiring the future: merging mass communication, art, entertainment and virtual environment. Computer Graphics, v. 28, n. 2, p. 135-138, 1994. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/178951.178973

PALADINO, P. A.; BIATY, F. P.; JULIÃO, A. P.; SABUNDJIAN, G. PLATAGAM: a videogame structured as a didactical material for divulgation of some of the benefits of the Gamma Radiation produced in the Cobalt-60 Multipurpose Irradiator at IPEN’s facilities. Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences, v. 10, n. 3A, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15392/2319-0612.2022.1851

PENTEADO, S. O mundo da quinta dimensão. Informática Exame, n. 111, p. 55-56, 1995.

PIMENTEL, K.; TEIXEIRA, K. Virtual reality – through the new looking glass. 2. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995.

RHEINGOLD, H. Virtual reality. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

SILVA, L. G. M. Visita virtual ao reator nuclear de pesquisa IEA-R1. 2023. Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia Nuclear) – Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2023.

STATISTA. AR & VR – Worldwide: Revenue. 2024. Disponível em: https://www.statista.com/outlook/amo/ar-vr/worldwide#revenue . Acesso em: 24 fev. 2026.

STEAM. Fuse. 2022. Disponível em: https://store.steampowered.com/ . Acesso em: 12 dez. 2022.

UNITY. Comece a criar hoje com a versão gratuita do Unity. 2019. Disponível em: https://unity.com/ . Acesso em: 15 dez. 2024.

VINCE, J. Essential virtual reality fast. Berlin: Springer, 1998. 174 p. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1263-1

WATSON, B.; SPAULDING, V.; RIBARSKY, W. Evaluation of the effects of frame time variation on VR task performance. In: IEEE Virtual Reality Annual Symposium (VRAIS 97). 1997. p. 38-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/VRAIS.1997.583042

Downloads

Published

2026-03-20

How to Cite

Silva, L. G. de M. e, Julião, A. P., Paladino, P. A., & Sabundjian , G. (2026). VIRTUAL VISIT TO THE IEA-R1 NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR. ACERTTE SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL, 6(1), e61298. https://doi.org/10.63026/acertte.v6i1.298

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLES

Section

article

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2026 ACERTTE SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Os direitos autorais dos artigos/resenhas/TCCs publicados pertecem à revista ACERTTE, e seguem o padrão Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0), permitindo a cópia ou reprodução, desde que cite a fonte e respeite os direitos dos autores  e contenham menção aos mesmos nos créditos. Toda e qualquer obra publicada na revista, seu conteúdo é de responsabilidade dos autores, cabendo a ACERTTE apenas ser o veículo de divulgação, seguindo os padrões nacionais e internacionais de publicação.