A virtual reality supported 3D environment for engineering design review

Reviewing industrial designs is a complex task, since it includes various stakeholders with diverging needs and visions. A well-organized review process is essential, since it fosters collaboration between designers, engineers and final users. Computer-aided design (CAD) has started to be used as a communication tool during the design process to convey design ideas and support a better shared understanding of intentions. However, CAD software does not allow intuitive analysis and manipulation of 3D models for users without a CAD or computer science background. Using Virtual Reality (VR) technologies to enhance engineering design reviews has been an area of interest for researchers since the advent of modern VR. VR allows the user to interact with a 3D model in real-time and have an immersive experience. In this context, we propose a low cost multimodal VR-supported tool for design review. The application visualizes complex engineering data and provides a set of multimodal tools to inspect a 3D model on various levels. We discuss challenges that arose during the implementation process and provide best practices for future VR applications in the industrial sector.