Industry 4.0 design reviews: a conceptual virtual reality interface

Computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D models have become the state-of-the-art tools for visual communication, moving beyond traditional 2D line-drawings. Recently, visual communication provided by CAD and 3D models has been further enhanced by contextualization, immersion, and presence induced by virtual reality (VR), allowing engineers, clients, and stakeholders to collaborate in a shared virtual space and use natural interactions to manipulate the CAD and 3D models. However, literature shows that the adoption of VR technologies is still low amongst engineering teams, mainly due to a lack of expertise in how to integrate and use VR in existing design and development workflows, in particular for design reviews, a key process during product design and development. In this paper, a qualitative user study that aims to understand the pain point of adopting VR in design reviews by engineering teams is presented. The study highlighted that the main factor contributing to low adoption is due to the difficulty in updating and producing the required design review documentation within VR. In response to this finding, a concept design of embedded documentation management system VR interface for VR design reviews was developed in the from of a paper prototype. The prototype was developed from the outputs of a design workshop with potential users, which enables users to create, update, and manage design review documentation. The findings from the qualitative user study and the concept design constitute the original contribution to knowledge for this paper.