WEEKS TO HOURS
Ford is now using HoloLens technology to prototype cars even quicker. Over the past year, Ford has been testing HoloLens to streamline the design phase. Additionally, during the last seven years Ford’s design team expanded from 500 to 750 members.
The company is putting a serious focus on evolving their design process. Typically, it can take weeks to perfect grille designs, but with HoloLens, engineers and designers can “explore a variety of different iterations in a matter of hours.”
DIGITAL ADVANCES
According to Jim Holland, Ford’s VP of Vehicle Components and Systems Engineering, “This more efficient process could help Ford develop much tighter feedback loops during the design process, which frankly involves a lot of failure — failing fast, failing early and, ideally, failing cheaply.”
In the past, designers used clay to construct full-scale models of cars.
If any changes were needed, designers had to re-sculpt to reflect updates. Now with advances in digital creation, changes can be made in real time without using an upsetting amount of clay and time.
POINT OF VIEW
The 3D holograms blend with physical cars and models, and engineers can perform tests to see how new features perform. Of course, standard computer modeling provide similar testing, but HoloLens has the advantage of seeing designs in stereoscopic 3D.
Engineers can also use headsets to explore what drivers would see when looking at mirrors.
The headset projects holographic images onto the user’s field of view, using sensors to keep images in place as the user changes viewing angle or as they physically walk around a clay model or vehicle. The headset lets designers quickly scroll through multiple design options with a simple hand motion, making it easy for teams to analyze grille designs or side mirrors in a matter of minutes or hours.
COLLABORATION INNOVATION
This new method also opens more avenues for collaboration. Multiple HoloLens users are able to view designs and share vocal and written feedback worldwide. Holland noted, “If HoloLens can help us test ideas without worrying about the cost of expensive clay models or prototypes, then we can liberate teams to be as creative as possible.”
Microsoft’s HoloLens is currently unavailable to consumers, but if you’ve got a business, designers, and $3000 to spare, maybe you can snag the tech for your own purposes.
#HoloLens
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