Using AR Technology for Automotive Visibility and Accessibility Assessment

Automotive interior ergonomics analysis is an important step for its development validation in the process, which directly affects the product development cycle time and cost. In order to provide a quick and human-in-loop visibility evaluation method for style designer when designing vehicle interior, a new method is proposed based on augmented reality. In this method, firstly virtual car interior model is superimposed to physical mockup accurately, then driving virtual visual cones through tracking eyes' position by tracking tool in real time to carry on visibility assessment. In addition, right hand's motion data is captured by data glove and tracking tool, which is used to drive virtual hand for interaction with virtual interior model, then carrying on accessibility assessment. Based on above-mentioned method the automotive interior ergonomics assessment system is designed and realized, which is verified by two cases of evaluating a certain car model's A-pillar and operating the hand controls locating on the middle dashboard in the different position. The result shows that this method is simple and useful. Therefore, it offers a new way for visibility and accessibility assessment in the conceptual design of automotive development.