SketchAR collaborative, immersive free form modelling in virtual and mixed realities

摘要

During the last decade, product development processes have been greatly influenced by virtual reality (VR). Many decisions which were formerly made through the evaluation of a physical model (physical mock-up - PMU) are now made through the evaluation of a virtual model. This procedure significantly reduces the time it takes to reach decisions and therefore accelerates product development and promotes the development of product variants in the same amount of time as before. Anyhow, VR technology is not used to its full potential, today. Most VR systems only deal with predefined objects and scenes which are visually evaluated or virtually assembled. Moreover, VR has replaces many physical models but did not make them superfluous. Thus, there is a need to develop solutions to enable designers and stylists to create and modify 3D models easily and intuitively in virtual environments plus augment physical models with computer generated information. The key to accomplish this is a collaborative Computer Aided Styling system, which supports direct 3D interaction as well as augmented reality (AR). The SketchAR system (our Augmented Reality, computer-aided styling system) is one of the first systems to support three-dimensional modelling not only in space but also in augmented realities, while synchronizing visual data with the precise CAD representation of the product. The integration of a modelling kernel, modelling functionality and data export and import capabilities distinguishes SketchAR from traditional VR systems. Additionally, SketchAR supports collaborative scenarios where e.g. multiple users model different parts of a virtual model.