The value of simulation and immersive virtual reality environments to design decision making in new product development

Date
2012
Authors
Robotham, A
Shao, F
Supervisor
Item type
Conference Contribution
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS)
Abstract

In response to the need to develop more sophisticated, higher quality products product developers are more and more expecting engineering simulations to provide them with the data, information, and knowledge required to make design decisions. Engineering simulations provide insight into the behaviour of virtual product designs and have the capacity to be executed many thousands of times to provide a comprehensive coverage of the solution space being explored. However, engineering simulations are only representative of a reduced set of product properties and are bound by the constraints imposed by the fidelity of the underlying physics of the simulation tools being used. In this paper, we will briefly explore a number of different types of engineering simulation that the Virtual Engineering Centre has been involved in creating and consider the value that the data, information and knowledge that each creates to the decision making process. We will also explore how different visualisation methods being used at the Virtual Engineering Centre support decision making by individuals and groups of people in a design review context. Specifically, we will discuss the use of immersive virtual reality in reviewing simulation results and highlight the limitations of using this technology in group decision making using a case study taken from our work with Bentley Motors. We will conclude that whilst virtual technologies provide opportunities to generate data and information early in the product development process, the ever increasing demands for accuracy and fidelity in representation in mature product sectors outstrips the capability of the technology to fully support decision making in a complete virtual world.

Description
Keywords
Simulation , Virtual Reality , Immersion , Decision Making
Source
EWG-DSS Liverpool-2012 held at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, 2012-04-12to 2012-04-13, published in: Proceedings of the EWG-DSS Liverpool-2012 Workshop on “Decision Support Systems & Operations Management Trends and Solutions in Industries”, pp.71 - 76 (6)
DOI
Rights statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in (see Citation). The original publication is available at (see Publisher's Version)