The FIRB2006-PROGIMM research project aimed at developing a distributed platform for validating product prototypes in the automotive field. The project has led to the development of products and technologies for immersive design and to the development of a distributed platform for the collaborative design in a multi-sensory environment.
The project aimed at studying, developing and validating an innovative design environment, where the simulation of the virtual product will reach a high level of realism thanks to physics-based techniques. The innovative design environment will enable the users to interact in a more realistic and natural way with the virtual product thanks to a multi-sensory immersive environment.
This environment will allow the user to perceive the virtual prototype through immersive stereoscopic systems and to physically interact with it by using haptic systems. More users will be able to cooperate to the development of a product through a distributed environment. It will be possible to carry out analysis and validation activities on the virtual prototype and simultaneously to use and integrate the results into the product design. The systems have been evaluated through case studies conceived in the Design & Style context of the automotive field.