TechViz - Blog - AR / VR for engineering

Some companies spend countless hours building prototypes in real life and conducting tests on physical products. CAD software like SolidWorks have helped many engineers and designers by enabling them to work with 3D models. What if you could go even further with virtual reality?

Imagine being able to step into a virtual world from anywhere, using any device. No bulky VR headset, no expensive equipment - just pure, immersive virtual reality at your fingertips. That's the promise of Cloud XR, a cutting-edge technology that's revolutionizing the way we think about VR. With the power of the cloud and the speed of 5G networks, the future of virtual reality has never looked brighter

Immersive technologies play a crucial role in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry worldwide. According to a report from Statista, the market for augmented and virtual technology in medicine and pharma will grow by $4.64 million by 2025 thanks to many advancements in the healthcare industry in recent years.

Many industries are adopting AR and VR technologies inside their processes. For most use cases, traditional handheld controllers are more than enough in product-design and production processes. But for some precise use cases, adding VR finger tracking and haptic feedbacks is a real game-changer.

The history of VR has often been influenced by the defense industry. One of the first VR projects was developed in the 1960s for a US military combat system. Virtual reality has always played a significant role in the military field and was adopted by all services: army, navy, and air force. It is mostly used for army training purposes, but there are other use cases where VR is a powerful tool.

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…

Many companies have yet to rely on VR for their process: AEC companies are still using 2D plans, engineers and designers are still working with CAD software developed 20 years ago, companies are still making many physical prototypes to compromise between engineering and design… Those methods are still usable but they entail many constraints and costs.

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.

While Industry 4.0 affects production lines and machines, it is also a challenge for operators. With the happening of modern plants, the increase in automation and robotization, their environment has become more and more complex, and they must adapt fast. To keep working efficiently, not only they need new skills and tools and so they need to be trained, but also solutions to improve their decision-making processes. With the ability of virtual technologies to provide 1:1 scale virtual machines that you can interact with, it is possible to be trained as if being in a real plant, interacting with real machines. Decision makers can visualize and analyze every step of an operation and improve them without having to go through the whole physical prototype making process. Thus virtual reality appears to be the adequate solution to improve field operators efficiency.

More and more engineers are relying on Augmented Reality (AR) and  Virtual Reality (VR) in their jobs. Yet, to do so, you need to choose a software and a deployment that fits your use of these technologies, internal skills and budget priorities.

The choice usually boils down to On-Premise versus SaaS (Software as a Service), but it covers various dimensions:

- Budget: Subscription model versus permanent license 

- Location of rendering servers: local versus Cloud

- Remote accessibility and collaboration

Let’s take a look at these different dimensions to help you determine which is best for your business.