DESIGN S O FTWA R E
VIRTUAL DESIGN, REAL MONEY
Cost, while long being held to be a factor in the slow
take-up of VR in the past, is not so much an issue today
as prices fall. However, part of the problem might be
who is making that decision.
“The cost of VR is already sufficiently low in my
opinion compared to the value extractable,” Kam says.
“But sometimes the gain in value is divided quite far from
the business unit asked to spend the effort and money to
integrate VR into their process.”
This is an interesting point in terms of internal
politics, and it suggests that designers need to visually
show the purse string holders of their business the quality
of what VR can achieve, and also demonstrate how
much time it can really save. One final downside of VR
implementation in the design process currently – but one
which should improve on all new designs in the future –
is the legacy of older airplanes still in flight and in need
of updating, but with software and processes that are,
to varying degrees, incompatible.
“Many aircraft programmes predate the widespread
distribution of VR hardware and software,” Kam states.
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
MARCH 2020 121
VR design evaluation
in the auto world
In the automotive world, Hyundai and
Kia have implemented a VR design
evaluation system that enables up
to 20 individuals to simultaneously
participate in development processes
of vehicle interior and exterior design
elements, including lighting, colours
and materials.
36 motion-tracking sensors can
detect and track the locations and
movement of all users, enabling
each to participate accurately in real
time, enabling greater cross-team
collaboration.
The companies anticipate that the
complete implementation of the virtual
development processes in the R&D and
pre-production stages will result in a
20% reduction in vehicle development
times and a 15% reduction in annual
development costs.
“The virtual development process
is a necessary step for responding
quickly and with agility to the needs of
customers and paradigm shifts within
industry,” explains Albert Biermann,
Hyundai’s head of R&D. “Through
reinforced virtual processes, we will
enhance quality and profitability,
ultimately increasing investment in R&D
to be competitive in future mobility.”
Hyundai and Kia have also established
a design quality verification system
using VR, which uses 3D CAD data
collected from every stage of the
vehicle development process to assess
the quality of each design in virtual
environments. The system is claimed to
be capable of 100% accuracy equivalents;
previous digital assessments were
limited to 2D analysis and did not permit
detailed performance evaluations.
“It feels like the aesthetics of interiors are considered
quite early using VR visualisation techniques, but the
build-ability (manufacturing assembly capability) is
something less often considered before the first airframe
is being constructed.”
For that to happen, according to ESI’s Kam, the
compatibility and performance of rendering frameworks
need to expand and increase, and there needs to be a
better infrastructure to allow for collaboration between
airframe makers and suppliers of interiors and interior
components or subsystems. He says this collaboration
could take place via “a sharable network connection
where they can nimbly and securely share VR experiences
to inform decisions without extra effort.”
ALL IMAGES ABOVE: FROM
COMPONENT LEVEL TO OVERALL
DESIGN, ENGINEERING DETAIL TO
EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS, USERS OF
HYUNDAI AND KIA’S VR SYSTEM CAN
CONDUCT IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF
DESIGNS PRIOR TO PRODUCTION
“The cost of VR is
already sufficiently
low compared
to the value”
/aircraftinteriorsinternational.com