The use of virtual reality and physical tools in the development and validation of ease of entry and exit in passenger vehicles

Abstract

Setia (2015) The use of virtual reality and physical tools in the development and validation of ease of entry and exit in passenger vehicles. Applied Ergonomics, Access from the University of Nottingham repository: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32241/1/JLR%20entry%20exit%20paper_ePrints.pdf The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. AbstractEase of entry and exit is important for creating a positive first impression of a car and to increase customer satisfaction. Several methods are used within vehicle development to optimise ease of entry and exit, including CAD reviews, benchmarking and buck trials.However, there is an industry trend towards digital methods to reduce the costs and time associated with developing physical prototypes. This paper reports on a study of entry strategy in three properties (buck, car, CAVE) in which inconsistencies were demonstrated by people entering a vehicle representation in the CAVE. In a second study industry practitioners rated the CAVE as worse than physical methods for identifying entry and exit issues, and having lower perceived validity and reliability. However, the resource issues associated with building bucks were recognised. Recommendations are made for developing the CAVE and for combinations of methods for use at different stages of a vehicle's development. Keywords: entry exit, automotive Highlights: Inconsistent entry strategies were observed in a CAVE virtual environment  The CAVE needs development to support design for ease of entry and exit  Representation of vehicular hard points is necessary for optimising entry and exit  Various combinations of methods are required at different stages of vehicle development 2

Future directions for the development of virtual reality within an automotive manufacturer

“…The future of Virtual Reality in the automotive industry of the development process, before expensive and time-consuming physical mock-ups are produced (Lawson and Burnett, in press., Lawson et al, 2015). Another utility of VR in design is the possibility of having multidisciplinary teams and teams spread across the world, to work together on the same prototype at the same time (Mujber et al, 2004).…”

Development of a Low-cost Multimodal VR System for Engineering Design

“…It is widely acknowledged that there is not yet comprehensive understanding of all factors affecting spatial perception, the specific effects of those factors, or of possible interactions between them. However, one suggestion in the literature is that haptic feedback may improve spatial judgements [3].…”

Multimodal "Sensory Illusions" for Improving Spatial Awareness in Virtual Environments

“…However, perception of distances in VEs is often inaccurate, which can lead to rejection of this technology by engineers or unsound decision making [11]. This can be an important limitation on perception tasks in engineering design when, for example, assessing elbow room in workstation design or judging access clearance and reach on a manufacturing line assembly task.…”

“…For example, Lawson et al [11] demonstrated that a CAVE could not give engineers the experience of getting in and out of a car, which is necessary for designing vehicle door apertures, due to the lack of physical hardpoints. One of their recommendations is to introduce haptic feedback to create the impression of contact with a vehicle surface.…”

“…However, in several applications the space occupied by the human is important and must be experienced during the design e.g. entering and exiting a car [11]. For this, cues such as haptic feedback may need to be delivered anywhere on the body e.g.…”