WHAT’S NEW
CONSTRUCTION FOCUS
10 iVTInternational.com September 2019
On the Web
Watch the Caterpillar’s design evolution video at
www.iVTinternational.com/catevolve
Virtual benefits
The global virtual reality
market valued, as of 2017, at
US$6.1 billion is set to explode
to the point that by 2026 it
could be reach as much as
US$120.5 billion, according to a
new report by Fortune
Business Insights.
Entertainment remains a
core area of VR with a share of
40.5% of the current market but
its relevance to a wide variety
of other sectors is expected to
grow exponentially. For
example, industrial vehicle
OEMs are getting in on the act
with Caterpillar recently
highlighting the infl uence
augmented and virtual reality is
having on its vehicle design in
a new online video.
Caterpillar designers are
pioneering in this regard,
explains Gary Bryant, global
industrial design manager at
the fi rm. “Most of our concepts
still begin with a sketch but how
that sketch is created has
changed drastically over the
years – from pencil and paper
to now on ‘bitpad’ and stylus in
a virtual environment and even
sketching in 3D. It’s amazing the
tools that are now available to
us to create and design ideas
and concepts very quickly.”
Whereas in the past it would
be fi nancially prohibitive to
consider too many prototypes,
now products can be virtually
produced at a low cost.
“We’re able to bring in
reference geometry from
existing machines and sketch
around them in 3D,” says
Christian Ritchie, senior
industrial designer, Caterpillar.
“So, we know we’ll be able to
have access and reach things
because we can see the real
geometry in true scale.” iVT
In a new video Caterpillar
charts the evolution
of industrial design,
from pencil and paper
to computers and
virtual reality
$120.5bn
Projected value of
the virtual reality
market by 2026
(up from US$6.1bn
in 2017)
AS MARKET ANALYSTS PREDICT A VR AND AR BOOM
FUTURE FOCUSED OEMS LIKE CATERPILLAR ARE
HARNESSING ITS POWER FOR INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
/iVTInternational.com
/catevolve
