DESIGN S O FTWA R E
“There is a huge opportunity
authoritative experiences”
“In some cases, current aircraft started their designs late
in the last century before the wide acceptance of CAD/
CAE/FEA. We see many companies ‘playing’ with the
‘gamification’ of design and engineering processes, by
building their own purpose-built apps. However, these
types of solution are difficult to operate at the speed
necessary for decision-making.
“Unlike ‘gamification’ approaches, we have already
been delivering VR via wide immersion projected
power walls or CAVE since the beginning of the
millennium, well ahead of the emergence of affordable
head-mounted displays,” adds Kam.
Hyper also takes a joined-up approach, using a
mixture of VR and real-world physical mock-ups. “We
have developed tools that allow iterating on mixed-reality
hybrid physical and virtual prototypes without needing to
change more than some of the models,” Buckley explains.
“When a user takes part in a mixed-reality prototype
they have a different feeling compared to pure VR. When
they sit on a real chair embedded in a virtual space the
experience means something more true, more robust
than the alternatives, and I would say there is a huge
opportunity to iterate design with authoritative
experiences that will not be different when you
actually build them later.”
When applied well then, the increased use of VR is
a trusted time and cost reducer, as Renacen’s Martín
explains, “The savings from not having to rely on physical
models are enormous. But there are also many points that
reduce costs further. For example, using VR saves time
as feedback and changes are much faster to make and
observe. In addition, it avoids the need to move staff
between different facilities, as well as the costs associated
with iterative rapid prototyping, and optimises the
infrastructure. Whether you use a real aircraft on the
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
122 MARCH 2020
to iterate design with
JAMCO
ADOPTS AR
Jamco America has partnered with a mixed-reality
startup company to create a training tool designed
to make maintenance procedures more efficient,
seamless and repeatable.
Jamco America’s current product maintenance
training methods for hardware such as businessclass
seating rely on video tutorials, face-to-face
demonstrations and written training guides,
with supporting component maintenance
manuals. However, through its partnership
with Object Theory, a developer of augmented
reality (AR), a 3D computer-generated image can
be superimposed onto a user’s view of the real
world via hardware such as tablet computers
or a Microsoft HoloLens headset to provide
a composite view that can help guide the user
through key maintenance tasks.
BELOW: ACA GENERATED
RENDERINGS TO HELP
A CLIENT VISUALISE AN
AMBITIOUS BUSINESS JET
INTERIOR SCHEME
BELOW: JAMCO’S
AR SYSTEM CAN
IMPROVE THE
OPERATIONAL
EFFICIENCY
OF SEATING
Visit the
Features section
of our website to
find out how VR
is changing the
world of IFE
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