Why VR in Manufacturing & Construction is disrupting the way we Make Anything

"It might still sound like something out of a science-fiction movie, but Virtual Reality isn’t just the way of the future; it’s happening right now at manufacturing & construction companies around the world. It gives an virtual hands-on experience that neither simulation nor reality can fully match. With VR these companies experience increased sales of custom products, cost reduction, speed increases of projects, fewer errors and overall improved safety."

A couple of years ago a teenager had an idea “what if we could strap a couple of iPhones to our eyes”!? Palmer Luckey was 19 years old and with his vision he went to Kickstarter to raise a couple of hundred thousand dollars to make his vision of a cheap VR headset come through– he raised $2.4 millions. In 2014 Facebook bought the company he founded, Oculus Rift, for $2bn. His invention together with the announcement from Autodesk on 8th of June, makes VR technology available to all of us today, how did we get here, where is it used today and what is the future of VR?

History of Virtual Reality

In 1929 Edward Link created the Link trainer and the first example of a commercial flight simulator, which was entirely electromechanical. It was controlled by motors that linked to the rudder and steering column to modify the pitch and roll. A small motor-driven device mimicked turbulence and disturbances. Such was the need for safer ways to train pilots that the US military bought six of these devices for $3500. In today's money this was just shy of $50,000. During World War II over 10,000 “blue box” Link Trainers were used by over 500,000 pilots for initial training and improving their skills.

The View-Master system was introduced in 1939 (can you believe it) and for many of us this was the first real experience with Virtual Reality as children.

In 1965 Ivan Sutherland created the Ultimate Display concept that could simulate reality to the point where one could not tell the difference from actual reality. His concept included a virtual world viewed through a HMD and appeared realistic through augmented 3D sound and tactile feedback. Computer hardware to create the virtual world and maintain it in real time with the ability to interact with objects in the virtual world in a realistic way.

"With appropriate programming such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked.” /Ivan Sutherland, 1965

In 1987 Jaron Lanier, founder of the visual programming lab, coined (or according to some popularised) the term “virtual reality”. The research area now had a name. Through his company VPL research Jaron developed a range of virtual reality gear including the Dataglove (along with Tom Zimmerman) and the EyePhone head mounted display. They were the first company to sell Virtual Reality goggles, priced at $60,000 which probably could buy you a small house at the time.

The NOW of VR in Design, Manufacturing, Architecture, Engineering & Construction

We’re living in a time when the speed of change is faster than it’s ever been, and there are no signs of it slowing down. The amount of technological advancement that once occurred over the course of years is now happening in a fraction of that time. As technologies continue to accelerate and disrupt, the great differentiator won’t simply be matter of quality or cost—it will be how much more quickly one company can innovate over another. So what can you do? You can do something else. You can compete on an entirely different level;

1. Customize. One way is to customize or configure a product to better meet the needs of your customers, in their eyes, that means you care about what they want. There’s no better advantage than that. The way customers buy products and demand an experience is changing; buyers want to be more engaged early on in the design process and demand customized personalized products. VR can assist in delivering ideas in a way that can be more deeply absorbed than reading or watching content on a monitor.
2. Increase Sales & Win Projects. By using VR in your business you differentiate your offerings from the competition by allowing your customers to visualize your products/projects in their environment. In 2017, using VR in marketing you will be perceived as the leader of your industry. Win more contracts by "wowing" your clients. "Bring" your custom products to exhibitions and show your product range while your competition is handing out pamphlets.
3. Collaborate & Deliver Faster. Product and project complexity is increasing; There is an increased requirement in the design world to simulate construction projects in a virtual environment and conduct detailed product reviews. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a VR experience worth for a dispersed team across the world? Overcome language barriers and reduce cultural differences as large projects are done on a global scale today. As we know, human judgement can be highly, and sometimes intentionally, erroneous and scale models/prototypes cannot fully simulate the environment.
4. Reduce Errors & Costs with Design Reviews. By just being on the same page as your customers, you could experience cost savings from digital walkthroughs, reducing travels to site, doing markups and design reviews in VR. Feedback about a design from this is phenomenal, being able to pick up even small details such as whether a worker can fit in within a space.
5. Training & Safety inductions. VR can make constructions sites and factory workshops safer by exposing your employees to new processes in a safe and forgiving environment. Recognize complex and volatile workplace situations as well as acquire knowledge of procedures and skills. Bring messages and the site to life; Build your own digital classrooms for employees; train them on new assembly processes, predict ergonomic issues, conduct risk assessments. Regular on-site visits for safety training can be costly for your company.

There is an increased pressure on companies to embrace these new technologies and demands from customers, These pressures are real, and the ability to address them is becoming a competitive advantage. According to the recently released KPMG Global Construction Survey 2016 “visualization is the future of decision-making in capital projects” and “rapid adoption of visualization means that virtual ‘tours’ of construction sites will soon become the norm.”

VR experts got together to discuss where the technology is heading and how you can leverage it today;

Virtual Prototyping at Ford Motor Company

VR gives Ford the option to push for shorter new-product cycles or, at the least, to get more work done in a shorter period once it has locked in the design basics. The lab lets designers and engineers walk around and examine the virtual car, then hop inside and repeat the process for the cockpit. Proposed changes can be visualized as soon as algorithms describing the modifications are created. It cuts out the cost of many, not all, of the cockpit mockups. It lets Ford make fewer full-size clay models – saving several hundred thousand dollars and a week or more in the modeling shop for each – mostly later in the design process. In 2012 Ford was one of the first automaker to be making such extensive use of 3D visualization technology, this technology is now available to any manufacturing company around the world;

“We’re realizing a lot of efficiencies; we’re checking out a lot of designs ahead of time. We track thousands and thousands of points on the car during development. We put on the headset, walk around the [virtual] car, and then get inside and assess the craft and quality of the vehicles" /Elisabeth Baron

Virtual Reality at Neoscape

“I can show you a bunch of photos of cars and tell you which one is better, but until you've taken it for a test drive, you won't be sure of your decision. You may be able to make an intellectual decision based on features and price, but your gut might instill doubt. VR has the power to pull these emotional strings. VR has the ability to put someone in a place that still doesn't exist yet, and simulate that feeling of being there, of being immersed in the space. It's only when a client's challenge can be solved by communicating this, then VR is the way to go.”  

Autodesk Collections now includes VR, your 3D Model in VR today!

On June 8th 2017, the San Rafael, California-headquartered, Autodesk announced a new VR Toolset, 3ds Max Interactive, a powerful VR engine that allows you to create VR from your 3D models. According to the company, the reason behind this add-on is; "VR lets us experience and discuss something that doesn’t yet exist with a common perspective. Instead of speaking in abstractions, virtual reality gives us a more tangible frame of reference."

Current subscribers of Autodesk Collections (Product Design/AEC/M&E) now have access to this piece of technology - at no additional cost! It cannot be purchased separately. Contact your local partner to learn more and follow the link below to get started with VR today;

Future of Virtual Reality - Where to from here?

VR will not only change the way we design and make things, but they way we live, work and even travel. VR has the potential to transform how we interact with almost every industry today, and it will be equally transformative both from a consumer and an enterprise. Although it’s hard to predict when VR in manufacturing & construction will become the norm, it’s only a matter of time before it does; VR will allow us to develop disruptive products and make grander more robust buildings in a shorter space of time.

Future of VR looks to completely immerse us in in the virtual world, where you will feel like you are in the woods, in a robotics lab, at a table doing an interview, on a remote beach or wherever in the world you would like to go instantly. It could evolve into the next computing platform and affect all our senses. VR development is seeking to embrace other senses, such as sound and touch; the use of tactile properties of models in virtual reality, as the sense of touch can be invaluable for its immersive quality. Perhaps we would able to model the effects of sound in a room, such as a concert hall, or the expected noise pollution of proposed transportation projects – by modelling the sound effects of high-speed trains.

Brian Pene from Autodesk says eventually using virtual reality will become no different to plugging in a new monitor. "Today, applications only support a certain type of headset and you have to specifically integrate with different software development kits for different headsets, as they have different ways of displaying stereoscopic virtual reality,” "There are a number of people using virtual reality to model the effects of sound in an environment," says Pene. "For doing something with the design of sound, such as understanding how sound incorporates into a design or how a design affects sound, or how echo effects can be felt, is invaluable.”

As research continues, the capture and creation of content for VR will become increasingly refined and easier to use. Likewise, we may soon also be able to edit and manipulate 3D models directly in the virtual environments, rather than merely being able to passively view them.

There’s always a richer, more immersive medium to experience the world,” /Mark Zuckerberg

Adopting VR can be appealing to the younger generation designers, architects & engineers, as VR is likely to become part of their entertainment routine in the near future. The necessary hardware and software is now within the grasp of any business with a modest budget, so start making your own impact and disrupt your industry before it's too late..

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Research conducted and written by Richard Elving & Matthew McKnight - Autodesk Australia MFG.

An Industry 4.0 Evangelist, futurist with a strong passion for advanced manufacturing; Richard Elving is a multiple award winning Territory Sales Manager MFG at Autodesk. A 15 year sales career reflecting experience and outstanding performance in the Product Design and Manufacturing Industry with an extensive network through the manufacturing community across Asia Pacific and Northern Europe. 

A Mechanical Design/Project Engineer with over 15 years Engineering hands on experience; Matthew McKnight strengths include project management with a proven ability to research, design, prototype, develop and implement innovative solutions. Excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills. Strong awareness in the importance of accuracy and attention to detail.