Cooperative design support within automobile advance development using augmented reality technology

Today prototypes are used in the automobile industry in the design phases of new cars. In many cases, there is no complete prototype of the car. Only some components like the platform can be used. Further components like the car body or the interior design are only available as 3D models in the computer. Here the technology of augmented reality can be used for the completion of these rudimentary prototypes. This work describes the field of applications of AR-technology within the design phases of new cars. The developed applications complete real automobile prototypes by virtual components to show design variants or to support design reviews. Therefore a group of users can select virtual car components out of a virtual component menu and place them on a real car in a cooperative way. The interaction with the AR-scene is done by hand gestures. The evaluation of the applications was done at Volkswagen AG.