Students at the University of Coventry are to be among a select few in the world to have the capability to actively design in 3D using Virtual Reality (VR).

“We are confident that many, many different disciplines will be transformed by VR.  Their technology is mature and easy to use. In fact, I couldn’t believe it when my first set of renderings were immediately seen to be displayed correctly – you could say it worked straight out of the box!”, John Owen, Head of Industrial Design at Coventry University.

1:1 SCALE AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN

Coventry University took delivery of a small passive 3D stereo system earlier in the year and has now had a large-scale, active 3D stereo system installed for a 150-seat lecture theatre. The massive flat panel screen is mounted on the floor, so virtual vehicles can drive right out, enabling tutors and students to see the design at its intended size.

The second system also boasts motion capture capabilities. Ostensibly this is intended to give the added dimension that tracking gives to typical automotive related movements, like getting in and out of cars. In order that students can watch their tutors and counterparts design in 3D, 120 pairs of shutter glasses were supplied with the system.

INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

With the Virtalis ActiveWorks system linked to a high-end video conferencing facility, Coventry aims to link its students up with leading global proponents of automotive design. The university hopes that its students will experience unique opportunities, being able to talk live with design and engineering gurus, being able to examine the resultant models in real-time and even explore virtual, 3D models simultaneously with other groups around the world.