XR Multi-Player Aerospace Simulation: Collaborative Training in Virtual Reality

The XR Multi-Player Aerospace Simulation, developed by Lucid Reality Labs, showcases how immersive multi-user virtual environments can revolutionize aerospace training, maintenance, and collaboration. This interactive prototype demonstrates the potential of XR Multi-Player solutions to deliver hands-on experience, precision, and teamwork in complex, high-stakes technical operations — all within a safe, controlled digital ecosystem.

At the heart of the simulation lies a digital twin of the CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108) turbofan engine, one of the world’s most widely used aircraft engines. The experience allows multiple users to explore, interact, and collaborate around the virtual engine in real time — visualizing, inspecting, and understanding its internal mechanisms as never before.

Purpose and Vision

Aerospace maintenance, repair, and technical education demand accuracy, situational awareness, and collaborative efficiency. Traditional training methods, involving limited access to physical engines or classroom-based instruction, often fall short in immersing trainees in realistic scenarios or enabling synchronous teamwork.

The goal of the XR Multi-Player Aerospace Simulation was to create a shared, interactive, and high-fidelity virtual environment that supports both individual and group learning. This simulation enables trainees to study engine anatomy, observe internal processes, and perform coordinated operational tasks — including a simplified engine start-up procedure — with precision and realism.

By merging extended reality (XR) with multi-user functionality, Lucid Reality Labs delivers a learning experience that reflects the complexity of real aerospace engineering while promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Immersive Engine Experience

The simulation centers on a hyper-detailed digital twin of the CFM56/F108 turbofan engine. The model can be viewed in multiple visual modes — including cutaway and see-through perspectives — allowing users to observe hidden components such as rotating rotors, compressor blades, fuel systems, and air flow dynamics inside the engine.

This access to otherwise invisible processes enables trainees to develop a deeper understanding of engine mechanics, improving both theoretical and practical knowledge. Complementing the visuals, authentic engine sound design enhances sensory immersion, creating a realistic training environment that fully engages users.

The simulation’s control panel is equipped with synchronized data indicators, live video feeds from multiple camera perspectives, and functional controls for throttle adjustment and engine startup procedures. Every element reacts in real time, mirroring the engine’s virtual performance and parameters.

Collaborative Multi-User Functionality

Designed as a multi-player XR environment, the experience allows several participants to occupy the same virtual space simultaneously. Each user can interact with the engine, communicate with teammates, and observe shared progress — supporting team-based learning, coordination, and communication skills.

This XR Multi-Player approach transforms how aerospace professionals train, allowing distributed teams — engineers, mechanics, or students — to collaborate from different physical locations while working on the same digital model. Whether used for technical briefings, virtual classroom demonstrations, or maintenance rehearsals, the system promotes shared understanding and synchronized action.

Technological Capabilities

Lucid Reality Labs integrated a range of cutting-edge technologies to ensure realism, interactivity, and performance:

• Digital Twin Technology — precise 3D model of the CFM56/F108 engine with functional systems and visual effects.

• Hand Tracking — enabling natural interaction with engine components and tools without physical controllers.

• Eye Tracking and Heatmap Analytics — collecting data on user focus, attention patterns, and learning behavior.

• Real-Time Data Synchronization — linking control panel indicators and system readings with live engine parameters.

• Multi-Camera Video Feeds — allowing users to observe the engine from external and internal viewpoints.

• Spatial Audio Integration — realistic engine sound and environmental acoustics enhancing situational immersion.

Together, these technologies form a seamless XR Multi-Player training platform that supports interactive, data-driven, and collaborative learning.

Applications and Impact

The XR Multi-Player Aerospace Simulation serves as a prototype for broader applications across aviation, defense, and engineering sectors. Potential use cases include:

• Maintenance Training: step-by-step repair and inspection procedures.

• Engineering Education: understanding complex mechanical systems through immersive visualization.

• Remote Collaboration: multi-site engineering teams working together on a shared digital twin.

• Safety Drills: rehearsing operational sequences without exposing trainees to real-world hazards.

By merging visual fidelity, interactivity, and teamwork, Lucid Reality Labs demonstrates how XR Multi-Player simulations can enhance learning retention, minimize training costs, and standardize procedures across organizations.

Outcome

The XR Multi-Player Aerospace Simulation redefines what is possible in technical and engineering education. It offers an immersive, interactive, and collaborative environment where trainees can safely engage with complex systems while developing both individual skills and collective awareness.

Through this prototype, Lucid Reality Labs continues to advance the boundaries of extended reality training, proving that immersive collaboration is not the future of aerospace learning — it is the present.