Development of a 3D conceptual design environment using a commodity head mounted display virtual reality system

dc.contributor.advisor Eliot Winer
dc.contributor.author Evans, Gabriel
dc.contributor.department Mechanical Engineering
dc.date 2018-09-13T06:01:00.000
dc.date.accessioned 2020-06-30T03:12:03Z
dc.date.available 2020-06-30T03:12:03Z
dc.date.copyright Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 UTC 2018
dc.date.embargo 2001-01-01
dc.date.issued 2018-01-01
dc.description.abstract <p>Design processes for engineered systems are resource intensive and have a significant impact on a product’s profitability. Over half of a product’s total costs can be attributed to design stage decisions. The development of product designs often involves creating complex 3D models in a 2D environment, a non-trivial task. Current design workflows involve the utilization of robust modeling software on a 2D display. However, previous research highlights the benefits of visualizing full-scale 3D models in an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment. These environments aid a user in understanding complex 3D geometry. Despite the benefits of VR, these systems have traditionally been large and costly, preventing widespread implementation within companies. However, the commercial availability of high-fidelity, commodity VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) provides an opportunity to explore the potential benefits this technology may bring to engineering design.</p> <p>This paper details a proof of concept VR environment displayed in a commodity HMD; specifically, the HTC Vive. The environment supports creation of full-scale 3D product geometry at the conceptual phase of a design process. The environment contains a World-in-Miniature (WIM) model for enhanced interaction and usability. WIM manipulation allows a user to modify full-scale geometry by adjusting corresponding parts on the miniature model. Free-form mesh deformation was also implemented to provide designers with flexibility and efficiency not found in traditional design packages. Vital design metrics (e.g., cost, weight, and center of mass) were incorporated to allow a user to perform preliminary design analysis to assess product feasibility. The environment was designed to provide an intuitive user interface with only a subset of features found in traditional design packages, tailored to conceptual design needs. This work aims to be a building block for the fruition of a conceptual design environment in immersive VR, motivated by proposed benefits of such a scenario. The design environment in this work is not intended to replace traditional Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages, but rather to enhance the conceptual design phase by providing conceptual designers with a system optimized for the task at hand. Throughout the development process, unique challenges and affordances associated with commodity HMDs were identified, explored, and detailed in this work.</p>
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/16576/
dc.identifier.articleid 7583
dc.identifier.contextkey 12816100
dc.identifier.s3bucket isulib-bepress-aws-west
dc.identifier.submissionpath etd/16576
dc.identifier.uri https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/30759
dc.language.iso en
dc.source.bitstream archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/16576/Evans_iastate_0097M_17592.pdf|||Fri Jan 14 21:02:24 UTC 2022
dc.subject.disciplines Mechanical Engineering
dc.subject.keywords Conceptual Design
dc.subject.keywords Head Mounted Display
dc.subject.keywords Virtual Reality
dc.title Development of a 3D conceptual design environment using a commodity head mounted display virtual reality system
dc.type thesis en_US
dc.type.genre thesis en_US
dspace.entity.type Publication
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 6d38ab0f-8cc2-4ad3-90b1-67a60c5a6f59
thesis.degree.discipline Mechanical Engineering; Human Computer Interaction
thesis.degree.level thesis
thesis.degree.name Master of Science
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