Using virtual humans to solve real ergonomic design problems

The paper investigates the feasibility of integrating virtual humans (software models of human beings) into design environments to perform ergonomic assessments. An industrial case study forms the focus of the project, with the ergonomics of an alignment laserwelder being evaluated using two differing methods-the traditional and the virtual approaches. The paper illustrates the general benefits of ergonomic assessments, detailed advantages due to the utilisation of virtual humans, and the potential of development into virtual reality (VR). A virtual human is an accurate biomechanical model of a human being. These models, contained within VR software, fully mimic human motion to allow an ergonomics (or human factors) expert to perform process flow simulations. In manufacturing industry, virtual reality has been viewed as a futuristic technology with only large companies investing in VR´s wide ranging potential. With the rapid development of desktop computers and VR software, however, new opportunities are available to all sizes of company. This study uses an analysis of the Jack software package to highlight the usefulness of such software options for applications in the manufacturing industry