A Method of Motion-Based Immersive Design System for Vehicle Occupant Package

Abstract

Assessing user experience on a new vehicle design objectively is critical for an automotive company to improve customer satisfactory of its products. The technology of motion capture and digital human modeling has been utilized in many recent studies to assist in the design process of a new product. Motions of human interacting with a new product are captured or simulated. The human body trajectory and swept volumes of the motion are overlaid with the product geometry in CAD, providing a guidance for the direction of new design changes. However, a CAD system generally requires some training to be efficiently used to review a design. A more intuitive and easier approach is preferred. In recent years, Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) are taking root in engineering area. The technology provide great advantages to the applications of design review, process simulation, maintenance, and training, etc., by expanding the physical world with virtual components or helpful information. This paper presents a new method of motion-based immersive design system for vehicle occupant package that integrates the technologies of VR/AR and digital human modeling. The method incorporates human motions captured or simulated along with the new geometry of a vehicle compartment inside a VR/AR environment. Through this, the designer is able to not only immersively experience the new design, but also observe the behavior of different users interacting with the design in the 3D environment. It provides a systematic and intuitive approach for a designer to quickly iterate through the test-review-revise design cycle and achieve a more accommodating and occupant friendly vehicle compartment design.