Design review lab at Warwick University gets Vizard training.

Warwick University was investigating the use of Vizard in their digital prototyping lab. I did 4 days of on-site training in partnership with Holovis and WorldViz.

Challenge

The lab is tasked to provide design review services to their partners in the automotive industry. A 4.7m x 2.5m ApolloWall installation by Holovis, provides the lab with an immersive environment.

The lab had 3 question's they needed answered:

• Vizard's role in the design process
• Converting CAD 3D models to a Vizard format
• Interaction techniques in Virtual Reality

Solution

The lab was experimenting with a engine block dis-assembly Vizard program before I arrived. We decided to focus the training on adapting this Vizard program to enable dis-assembly of a Catia motorcycle model supplied by one of the lab's industry partners.

To use the motorcycle CAD model in Vizard, the model was exported from a CAD package into a 3ds Max compatible format. The polygon count was reduced and textures were applied to the motorcycle in 3ds Max. From 3ds Max, the motorcycle was exported into Vizard's native OpenSceneGraph format.

The lab saw a need for the user to enable/disable gravity or reset the part's positions while immersed in virtual reality. We discussed a few possible VR interaction techniques and decided to script a 3D menu. The 3D menu allowed the user's virtual hand to select from a list of options.

Value Realized

The lab's can modify the motorcycle dis-assembly program for upcoming design review projects.

The lab recognized that interacting with their designs would provide insight beyond observation of static models.

Hands-on interactivity:

• Enables exploration of design variations through real-time manipulation
• Encourages the examination of a design's details
• Increases immersion

With the support contacts established during the training, the lab is free to explore the integration of ergonomics, usability, and user behavior studies into their design review process.