TechViz - Blog - AR / VR for engineering

Are you tired of viewing your 3D data on a computer screen, unable to fully grasp the potential of your designs? Look no further than VR prototyping. With VR technology, product design process can become more efficient and accurate, by allowing designers and engineers to visualize and test designs in a virtual environment.

Collision detection is an essential aspect of AR / VR simulation. Does this new Ikea sofa you have an eye on really fit into that funky-shaped corner of your living room? This really is the question you would like answered when using the AR app on your tablet. Well, sometimes other industries have the same question when fitting machine-tools in factories.

In industries such as engineering, manufacturing and architecture, some of the biggest benefits of testing designs in VR is to assess the integration of different 3D elements or integration of the human factor with the CAD model. Collision detection can also enhance the realism of the VR experience, making it more effective for training and evaluation. In this article, we will define what 3D collisions are and how they can be used across many industries.

Augmented Reality has appeared in many of our daily uses, at a personal and professional level. We’ve come a long way since phone games like Pokemon Go in 2016. AR is not a passing trend. Especially in business. Adding a layer of information to the reality we experience offers many use cases in a wide variety of sectors: automotive industry, aerospace, healthcare, education, construction…

The energy sector is in the midst of a tremendous shift as it embraces the use of virtual reality software (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology on a global scale.

Using this technology has improved processes for engineers, resulting in better decisions, higher efficiency, and reduced costs. Traditionally, product designs have been rendered in 3D on a computer. After approval, a prototype is created to determine whether the physical rendering fits together well, is ergonomically sound, etc. With advances in virtual reality and augmented reality, a new product can be viewed in the early stages of the design process. Companies can focus on correcting errors at this stage before moving on to production.

Imagine that you are in the market for a new equipment, but instead of looking into catalogues or websites, you want to see how it fits in your workplace. Layering virtual objects and other digital mediums into our daily lives can sound like something out of a Science Fiction movie. But with smartphones and other devices becoming a huge part of our daily lives, Augmented Reality (AR) has already changed our daily lives, and our businesses.

As manufacturing grew more complex, the need to find and fix errors before production has become crucial, hence the need for design reviews. But let’s be realistic a moment: if it happens with the 3D model of an airplane or a manufacturing plant, good luck finding it! This is where Virtual Reality (VR) intervenes (and especially VR collaboration). VR design review enables you to be immersed in your 3D data, see your product at full-scale and simulate its operation.

A few years ago, there was a lot of hype around Virtual Reality. 2016 was supposed to be the big breakthrough year, then 2017, then 2018… There were talk about VR being the next entertainment/work platform, just like Radio, TV, Computers, Phone were. But it never actually materialized. Hyperbolic growth numbers did not happen as promised. Many VR companies have come and gone and a lot of projects, including from Silicon Valley big names, have been scaled down. Companies promising massive customer deployment have pivoted into niche professional use cases.

It has become quite common for industries to rely on 3D models to design their products. Things get more complicated when it comes to process-design. VR takes manufacturing a step further, making it possible to visualize or simulate assembly process, maintenance scenario or quality control. Virtual reality offers many benefits for manufacturing.

Let’s see how VR can be a game-changer for manufacturing plants, through 4 real-life situations in which Virtual Reality has helped engineers optimize the design of a virtual assembly line