Automotive and transport companies are using real-time 3D rendering software to create VR and AR applications that help make complex processes, such as product design, production planning and employee training, much more efficient, cost-effective and flexible. The large-scale adoption of such applications within enterprise organizations needs to be managed carefully and efficiently. How can the enterprise not only develop VR and AR applications, but also roll them out across multiple teams and locations, to thousands of employees?
Innoactive, a Munich-based XR development company, has developed a VR/AR deployment and roll-out platform which is used by the Volkswagen Group to develop, distribute and manage a growing number of VR and AR applications.
The platform, called the Innoactive Hub, is an immensely valuable service, because the benefits such applications bring to processes—greater efficiency, cost-effectiveness, flexibility—can be realized much sooner for Volkswagen.
The Volkswagen Group, based in Germany, is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers, and the largest in Europe. They produce over 10 million vehicles each year, and offer 350 car models with a large number of possible variations. They have over 640,000 employees worldwide. Since 2016, Innoactive has been collaborating with Volkswagen to develop VR and AR applications use cases, specifically for training and production challenges.
Employee training
One overarching challenge Volkswagen has is how to ensure the knowledge transfer to, and productivity of, its employees; how to train them, and then re-train on new processes as they evolve, quickly and cost-effectively. The planners in Wolfsburg (where Volkswagen have their headquarters) must plan sophisticated production lines as efficiently as possible. And, the employees on the factory floors all over the world need to learn their roles and tasks within these complex production processes. As one can imagine, the staff working in production logistics have very different backgrounds, languages, and so on, so abstract learning media, such as textual descriptions or videos, have limited use. That’s why currently, employees in Volkswagen are mainly trained in the production plants on the job, or in special training areas or centers with real prototypes to learn each step of the process.
VR and AR training applications can reduce costs associated with physical training spaces, as well as for machines and materials. They also facilitate more flexibility, making it possible for an employee to train anytime, anywhere, and as often as needed.
The below images are from a VR training app used in some of Volkswagen’s logistics department. Step by step, an employee is taken through the virtual training, such as how to pick the parts and place them in the correct way, in the correct wagons. The application uses audio to make it easier, and teleporting, so that the user does not have to move around a lot.
Production planning
Every year, Volkswagen builds several new production plants. A key challenge for the planners and architects is how to consider what the real-world environmental conditions will be of each plant during the planning phase. The planners at HQ are not always aware of these changes while planning. There can be pillars, stairs, or other barriers that just don’t work out in reality.
The production planning process can benefit greatly from VR and AR applications because they bring together the planners and designers in HQ, and the people in the local production plants, facilitating much more productive communication and data sharing.
A VR and/or AR solution can make it possible to detect barriers in advance, transfer knowledge more easily and accurately, test data to actual real-life sizes and overall, drive much stronger teamwork. For example, the planner in a VR application can see an upcoming production plant anywhere in the world.
Innoactive did proofs of concepts for these two use cases. They developed pilot versions of the applications to evaluate how they worked in reality. In July of 2017, they launched the Innoactive Hub platform, to distribute and scale the VR and AR applications they developed for Volkswagen.
The Innoactive Hub is a mixed reality enterprise platform which helps Volkswagen to develop, roll-out and accelerate adoption of, collaborative VR/AR applications across their large enterprise.
The hub enables teams in Volkswagen both developing and using VR/AR applications to plan, collaborate and iterate efficiently on projects without the need to travel. It also helps prepare large numbers of employees to adopt new VR/AR applications.
The Hub architecture
The platform consists of three major layers, each one taking care of a set of concerns or needs of big enterprises:
The VR/AR content creation SDK for:
— A common user interface for VR and AR applications, so that people do
not need to learn controls and interaction from scratch for each new app
— Collaboration/multi-user and networking: so colleagues can meet virtually
— User interface with access to hub data
— Trainings module
The hub backend for:
— Content, asset and application management
— Hardware independence for applications, to ensure they will continue to work on newer hardware as it becomes available
— User and permission management
— Unity Asset Transformer, formerly known as Pixyz, 3D pipeline integration, product lifecycle management integration, and Single Sign-on
The Service layer for:
— Support and updates for on-premises installation or turn-key ready Cloud Instance
— Content creation for individual use cases like training, workshops, etc.
— Consulting for VR/AR
Easy to add and manage VR/AR applications
Users can go to a web management console and fill out a form to add the application that’s been developed with the standard SDK:
The user gives the application a name, version number and categorizes it by type of application. The version number can be increased if there’s an update.
A preview image can be added, a change log and a description for each update. Access and management permissions can be set as well.
An intuitive interface
The Innoactive Hub has an intuitive interface that easily guides users step by step through what they want to do. They have a choice to enter different spaces, each space being a specific application.
To access one of the applications, the user grabs the bubble and pulls it towards them.
The below image is another example of a training simulation accessed via the hub.
The main menu of the hub provides all the tools users need, to access objects, spaces, and more.
The image below shows a workshop space in which colleagues can discuss a VR or AR product or process, and take screen shots to document results.
Development and further roll-out of the hub is ongoing, especially regarding integration of existing systems to provide users with single sign-on capabilities. Integration with Unity Asset Transformer is ongoing currently: soon, users will be able to connect to the 3D pipeline directly from the hub, automatically extract data from product lifecycle management systems, such as Siemens Teamcenter, bring it into the hub and then manage it from there.
Coming soon:
10,000 employees training on VR
The Innoactive Hub provides the efficient infrastructure required for Volkswagen to roll-out new VR/AR applications and manage their life-cycle.
Content is easy to upload and deployment to different locations worldwide is automated and in real time, so that local centers always have the latest version of any given application.
Although it’s still evolving the Innoactive Hub is making it easier and faster for Volkswagen and its collaborators to develop and deploy new applications to employees. And, with Volkswagen planning to train up to 10,000 of its employees with VR this year, the future looks bright.
Innoactive uses Unity
Innoactive use the Unity Pro real-time 3D rendering platform to provide the VR/AR content creation SDK in their Innoactive Hub. From design to sales and marketing, more than 80% of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers are using Unity and harnessing the power of real-time rendering to revolutionize their workflows.
You can find more information on our automotive and transportation site. Learn what’s in the Unity Industry Bundle. Or, if you prefer, contact us, and one of our Industry reps will get back to you as soon as possible.
Visit www.innoactive.de to learn more about the Innoactive Hub solution and its features.
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