Page 26 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

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One of the key aspects of this new model is
the introduction of augmented reality and the improvement of simulation and prototyping pro- cesses, both very useful for taking advantage of immersive technologies, as well as for personnel instruction and training. For many companies, immersive technologies allow them to increase their competitiveness and efficiency by facilitat- ing the recreation of productive processes before they are carried out.
The application of solutions that incorporate immersive technologies within the industry
is a trend in consolidation that is increasing rapidly. One of the main challenges is to im- prove production processes with systems that embed immersive capabilities into the design and manufacturing stages both at the product and processing level. Another is to use these applications to reduce production times, improve quality, reduce costs, and therefore increase overall productivity.
The application of solutions that incorporate immersive technologies within the industry is a trend in consolidation that is increasing rapidly.
VR applications used in the mechanical stages are quite well established: design, planning, produc- tion programming, machining, assembly, etc. Many manufacturing tasks have been performed with computer information processing, typically using computer-aided design (CAD) tools for prototyping. These models aim to represent the structures required in manufacturing systems and simulate their physical behavior in real operations, providing valuable information for process control.
This working mechanism seeks to expand by including the end user in an increasingly early stage of the design. The incorporation of human factors, such as usability, in the early stages of the design is a challenge for the digital gener- ation of prototypes and models, which involve plausible and transferable interactions between product design, future users and CAD models.
Education
Albert Einstein was once supposed to have said: “I never teach my pupils, I only try to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Based on this principle, over the last five years many com- panies have focused on creating software appli- cations [Unimersiv] [Immersive VR Education] which, when supported by HMDs and other VR auxiliary equipment, generate and record virtual interactive classes on multiple subjects: marine biology, ancient history, human physiology, mathematics, space engineering, etc. Classes can be repeated later, even several times, stopping at specific points for a different point of view of the visualized elements to better understand their structure, shape, texture, etc.
Therefore, these new educational systems not only allow a different approach to the topics being studied, but also provide students with
a new study mechanism to stop being mere passive recipients of information, as in the traditional classroom, and take an active role in the learning process itself, determining the time that each requires to study and assimilate certain knowledge and setting an individualized pace.
This type of educational system is also very suitable for training activities in processes that require interaction with complex stationary or mobile equipment, such as industrial machinery, forklifts [Forklift 2017], stevedore cranes, cars
and trucks with and without trailer, aircraft and boats, etc. [Immerse VR]. It is clear that there are specific cases where costly and complex VR sys- tems are still necessary, such as aircraft, in which the sensations of climbing, descending or turning must be reproduced with special mechanical and mobile systems not immediately available in a “home” environment. However, a very high level of training can be achieved in the rest of the cases with a reasonably simple VR system.
Growth in the higher education sector [Ravipati] is expected to exceed 85% by 2020, although such growth assumes that the prices of VR
IMMERSIVE CREATIVITY, CREATIVE IMMERSIVITY · JOSÉ MANUEL MENÉNDEZ AND DAVID JIMÉNEZ BERMEJO
Digital Trends in Culture