The projection screen (top) shows, with millimetre precision, what the future
automobile will look like. Details can be enlarged to any desired magnifi cation.
EXPERIENCE
TOMORROW,
TODAY.
To create the perfect automobile, BMW designers and engineers
do much of their work in a computer-generated virtual reality.
This enables early design verifi cation, shortening development
cycles and saving resources.
The future automobile can be viewed from any perspective. You can zoom
in and out, and turn the car in any direction. You can open the doors, or
look under the bonnet. You can even get in and take a seat. But this
automobile, as convincing as it may look, is not made of metal and plastic –
it consists of data, an unimaginably huge amount of data, converted into
spatial images by high-performance computers. They feel as real as
reality, even though they are only a simulation. Virtual Reality (VR) is the
watchword of today’s automotive engineers. In the past, it was necessary
to create several prototypes in order to test various modules. Today,
designers, developers and product engineers in the BMW Research
and Innovation Centre work on a single digital model which they optimise
on screen. This protects the environment, lowers costs and shortens the
development cycle.
How to turn the two dimensions of a screen display into three: in the
so-called CAVE (below) the driver feels as though they were actually
sitting in a car and driving through a landscape. In this way, the cockpit
ergonomics for example can be tested.
In addition VR enables the early assessment of design alternatives. Each
design can be visually represented, evaluated and compared. A D model
is generated based on the design. To do this, the computer subdivides
the vehicle into tiny triangles, or polygons, placing over the design a virtual
grid which describes the car’s geometry.
In this virtual world, designers and engineers can view the future automobile
and can move around in it. In the so-called CAVE (Cave Automated Virtual
Environment) the observer, sitting on a car seat, is surrounded by walls
that have real-time moving images projected onto them. In this way,
the viewer gains the realistic impression of a cockpit with all its switches,
displays and a natural landscape surrounding the car. A radio signal provided
by special D glasses tells the computers what the person is currently
looking at, and a data glove enables them to operate the car’s controls.
This allows verifi cation of the cockpit’s layout and ergonomics. The software
is so clever that it even displays light refl ections in the car’s windows and
the quality of the materials. In this way, the designers can enjoy their fi rst
test drive before the fi rst prototype is built.
Despite its amazing degree of realism, virtual reality is only one tool in
the design and development of a new automobile. It is no substitute for
creativity, experience and intuition. Even today, every automobile design
begins with a sketch – still the quickest way to visualise an idea. And of
course the designer also has to be able to see and work on a full-scale
clay model, to get a sense for the feel of the design and to be able to
develop and perfect the unmistakable character of every new BMW.
The computer has simplifi ed and accelerated much in the design
process, but for a fi nal understanding designers still need to be able
to touch and feel the actual design in the form of a physical model.
Summary of Contents for 318I
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