Amazing ‘science fiction’ technology behind Volkswagen’s Virtual Enginneering Lab
Once a concept of the distant future, virtual reality is now a present truth for car manufacturers.
IN TODAY'S era of semi-autonomous cars and the arrival of entirely driverless vehicles imminent, it is no surprise that the technology used to create these vehicles is becoming just as futuristic.
Once an impossible concept seen only in sci-fi movies and comic strips, car manufacturers are now able to use the premise of virtual reality to progress automobile design.
German automaker Volkswagen are today using mobile computer technology, "HoloLens", which allows designers to project virtual content onto a physical object - essentially 'building' a virtual car in-front of them in minutes.
Engineers wear mixed-reality goggles to project their design onto a 1:4 scale model of a VW Golf, and can then change wheels, paint colours, body shape and more all using simple gestures or voice commands.
Operating out of Volkswagen's Virtual Engineering Lab in Wolfsburg, computer engineer Frank Ostermann is leading one of six labs operated by Volkswagen Group IT that are utilising the virtual technology.
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He said that engineers will soon be able to use the software to test physical workings of a virtual vehicle, rather than it being used solely for aesthetic design.
"At Volkswagen, we have been using augmented reality and virtual reality for some time, mainly to obtain a three-dimensional view," Ostermann said.
"We are now taking a major step forward at the Virtual Engineering Lab.
"We are transforming this technology into a tool for Technical Development.
"This will allow Volkswagen engineers to work on a virtual vehicle, to change its equipment as they wish and even to design new components virtually. They will be able to see the results of their work immediately."
"We are cooperating very closely with our colleagues from Technical Development and are already close to the first new vehicle concepts and design studies," Ostermann continued.
"We contribute our know-how for technical product development and offer tailor-made solutions for all Group brands in the fields of virtual engineering and systems engineering."
This new approach has massive implications for the productivity of Volkswagen as a manufacturer.
Not only does it save time and development costs, by allowing changes to be made more efficiently, it also allows several teams in different countries to work on the same project concurrently.
"The teams can directly follow and compare minimal changes to the model and then make a decision. This means that they can reach their goal faster," Ostermann said.
"Just a few years ago, this was all science fiction.
"Now it is clear that this is how we will be developing our next models."
Still in its trial phase, the HoloLens software will soon be able to call up the entire Volkswagen brand portfolio.