The future of the mobility industry is taking place in a new reality

Immersive tech is becoming indispensable for meeting both developmental and consumer-facing needs. The tech that for years seemed to only belong in science-fiction movies is evolving into viable solutions. With our new release, coming later in 2022, Incari Studio will support and integrate extended reality, and here is why we think this new feature is a must.

Staying ahead of the curve

The current automotive industry is looking at trends that can help digitalize its products as well as enforce greener solutions. One trend that started rapidly growing after 2019 is Extended Reality (XR). Projected to be a $14.7 billion industry, there are good reasons for the increase in popularity within the automotive industry. XR can optimize and improve prototype testing, self-driving car trials, operative training, and showroom experiences.

The who, the what, and the why

Extended reality is the collective name for computer-generated environments that combine the real- and virtual world. Under this umbrella term falls Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). Here is a brief summary of each immersive reality:

• Virtual Reality: VR is fully immersive. Your senses are triggered to believe that you are in a completely new environment.
• Augmented Reality: AR enhances the real world by layering visual elements over the physical world.
• Mixed Reality: In MR the real world merges with a virtual one, creating a hybrid. In MR the real and the virtual worlds, elements and objects can interact to create a fully immersive experience.

Optimizing sustainability, road safety, and budgets

Utilizing Extended Reality can be beneficial from the development to the sales stage. Within the automotive industry, this should not be seen as a nice-to-have but a must-have. To demonstrate why we believe this to be so, here are some ways that XR can contribute to a variety of processes:

• Virtual prototyping

Saving money, resources, and time. User Interface prototyping is time and cost-intensive. Instead of relying on physical prototypes, using digital twins* you can interact with your product in the virtual world. Bug testing, visual evaluations, and more no longer require a fully produced physical prototype. * A digital twin is a virtual model reflecting the physical object.

• Training

Training for, for example, pilots and drivers require possible scenarios that aren’t always possible to create in real life. Extended reality makes it possible to create simulations in which even life-threatening situations can be tested.

• Vehicle maintenance

tech can mean increased complexity when it comes to vehicles. Porsche is already using AR glasses to decrease its service resolution time as technicians can see a vehicle’s diagrammatic on top of the physical car for quicker and more precise troubleshooting.

• Immersive showrooms

Providing your customer base with a first-hand, realistic experience is a top-tier sales strategy. By combining a car seat prototype and a VR headset you can provide your customer with a 3D and 360-degree virtual tour of any new vehicle. If customizations are available, you can apply changes to the XR prototype and have the customer review them in real time.

Incari Studi is moving into another universe

Understanding the possibilities and benefits of Extended Reality, we have been hard at work behind the scenes to be able to provide our clients with more possibilities for XR implementation. This coming December, we will release Incari Studio 2022.2 which will include many new features, including Varjo API and OpenXR support. Utilize Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality to take your HMI projects to the next level.

The agile-friendly workflow and modular architecture of Incari Studio support the complete UI/UX creation process. Focused on team collaboration, it unifies the work of designers, developers, and suppliers on one platform while providing improved tools for logic coding, 3D animation, technology integration, and a lot more. Subscribe to Incari Studio here.

This story was first published on incari.com on the 25th of November, 2022.