Improving human interactions in complex product development

It is possible, using virtual reality (VR), to create virtual prototypes which can be fully tested with respect to electrical, mechanical, aesthetic and ergonomic properties while the product is still in the design stage. Current VR software packages do not yet offer an idea solution to the problem of creating realistic virtual prototypes. This problem is especially true for large industrial products such as in the aerospace industry. These large products would especially benefit from virtual prototyping in areas such as maintenance, assembly and training. It is important to minimise the preparation and evaluation time in these short production runs and individually specified products. Three areas are examined: data reduction, economic conversion costs and real time implementation methods are discussed. These include task based reduction and more general compression methods. The use of human factors with intelligent responsive manikins is outlined along with a range of desirable features. Real environments require complex interactions and open systems with user specified code and debugging. The state of some VR systems are described and it is shown how research in these areas can overcome the current limitations of industrial virtual reality packages. The work is based on experience with large models, multiple VR packages and manikin interactions. (7 pages)