Innovation and the Pandemic Response
When COVID-19 hit, one of the nation’s largest utilities had to act immediately in order to keep employees and customers safe.
The vehicle prototyping and design process relies heavily on expensive and time-consuming clay models to test and iterate. In partnership with the Microsoft HoloLens Showcase team, Vectorform worked closely with Ford to validate key use cases for the HoloLens (HL v1). Various scenarios explored how unique attributes of the HoloLens could augment the analog design process with new digital toolsets, ranging from a vehicle refresh to color and material visualization.
Project Goals
Overlay new designs on an existing car to evaluate changes
Save time and budget through collaborative assessment
Secure access and visibility of sensitive design assets
Results
Evolving traditional vehicle design methodologies with Augmented Reality
Ford Motor Company discovers the potential to elevate vehicle design with Augmented Reality, capable of reducing time and budget associated with traditional clay modeling techniques. Microsoft’s HoloLens multi-user collaboration tools offered faster review iterations as well as increased control of sensitive design assets, demonstrating an impactful digital solution to a legacy physical modeling methodology.
It’s amazing we can combine the old and the new – clay models and holograms – in a way that both saves time and allows designers to experiment and iterate quickly to dream up even more stylish, clever vehicles. Microsoft HoloLens is a powerful tool for designers as we continue to reimagine vehicles and mobility experiences in fast-changing times.
Guiding Principle
Make it quick and easy for the user to get immersed through natural navigation and interaction in 3D through a shared experience with others in HoloLens.
Targeted Value
The experience should demonstrate a viable alternative to the natural world, by visualizing possibilities that are only accomplished with HoloLens compared to costly and timeconsuming traditional clay modeling methods.
Proof of Concept
To demonstrate the use of holograms as a tool to evaluate multiple “what-if” scenarios for small, incremental design changes that have customer facing impact.
Vectorform delivered a functioning prototype after a 3-month onsite immersion with Microsoft, integrated with a Ford prototype vehicle and working design files.
Roles
Deliverables
Concentrations
Read About the Partnership
Vectorform and Microsoft Partner to Expand HoloLens Technology to Automotive Design.
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