Pairing AR/VR with Digital Twins
Article By : Stefani Munoz
Pairing AR/VR with digital twin technology can not only improve productivity within many industries, it can also enhance experimentation and predictive analysis of existing products. Digital twins not only provide engineers and designers with real–time data of how a physical asset performs, but they also offer time and cost advantages during the test and developmental stages of both new and existing products. But what if augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies could further extend those benefits? “Companies can initially use digital twins to save money simply by improving situational awareness,” according to research firm Gartner. “For example, digital twins can help companies to recognize equipment failures before they stall production, allowing repairs to be made early or at less cost. Companies can then save even more money when they further automate their business response to such changing conditions.”
Implementing AR/VR technologies in the digital–twin design and management process, however, can not only improve productivity within many industries — most notably aerospace, automotive, and industrial — it can also enhance experimentation and predictive analysis of existing products, with the potential of reducing downtime and incurred costs. TechViz VR simulation for ship design and development (Source: TechViz) (Click image to enlarge)
One such company, TechViz, is creating AR/VR software to aid 3D model visualization. The VR software editor has built a software platform that “instantaneously displays in 1:1 scale any CAD model on any type of virtual reality system.” Essentially operating as a driver for a VR system, TechViz allows engineers to fully immerse themselves in virtual reality to interact with native 3D data in real time. But if a physical asset already exists, why the need to create a digital version of that asset within an AR/VR environment? TechViz explains that the benefits are not only quantitative in nature but also qualitative. “Virtual reality can adapt to many use cases and better process in your company, but what is the return on investment (ROI) of using VR?” said TechViz in a  blog post . “Many benefits are drawn from VR in engineering, like saving time and money at different stages of product development. But the gains are not just quantitative but also qualitative, like improving process and product quality, fostering innovation mindset, and refining the worker’s skills.”
Take, for example, a manufacturer in need of testing a critical piece of equipment used to build a product. It’s possible to test and troubleshoot physical assets; however, it’s time–consuming and risks negatively impacting manufacturing operations if a piece of equipment must be shut down entirely. If the manufacturer were to create an exact  digital twin  of said equipment, however, and utilize AR/VR technologies to allow engineers to test and manipulate the equipment within a digital space, reduced downtime, improved costs, and workload productivity then become a reality. “Many companies rely on CAD models to convey design ideas, but it is a limited tool,” said TechViz. “Running a project review in virtual reality enables you to display and interact with your 3D data in scale 1:1, which will be cheaper than a physical prototype and more intuitive than looking at a CAD software on a computer screen.”
Weviz 3D visualization software in action (Source: Weviz) (Click image to enlarge)
Another company, Weviz, is also exemplifying the benefits of AR/VR for digital asset design and management. The 3D real–time collaborative visualization software for VR provides a basis for virtual collaboration, enabling engineering teams to directly upload their CAD models and 3D files, the ability to edit those models in real time, scale 1:1, and collaborate with its multi–user mode. “Virtual reality gives you the opportunity to see at real scale your future manufacturing lines of production as if they were real,” according to Weviz. It’s important to note, however, that AR/VR implementation with digital–twin technology does present its own unique challenges. While AR/VR can potentially  enhance digital twins , the process alone is data–intensive. For this reason, enterprises are often the ones to implement AR/VR technologies into their digital–twin operations. The cost–effectiveness of some AR/VR devices, however, certainly opens the door for small to mid–sized businesses to realize the potential of this ever–growing technology. This article was originally published on  EE Times . Stefani Munoz is associate editor of EE Times. Prior to joining EE Times, Stefani was an editor for TechTarget and covered a host of topics around IT virtualization trends and VMware technologies. Subscribe to Newsletter

Pairing AR/VR with Digital Twins

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First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? Alexis Vartanian: Fortunately, everyone is doing fine so far. No one close has been affected by COVID, and we haven’t had any cluster in the company. Let’s keep our finger crossed it stays that way! Tell us about you, your career, how you founded TechViz. Alexis Vartanian After graduating from Centrale-Supélec in Paris, I took a PhD in computer science, as I was passionate about the 3D display and Virtual Reality. This led me to create a unique technology to display data from any 3D software, in VR, without any conversion. I founded TechViz in 2004 to promote this technology. How does TechViz innovate? Alexis Vartanian Since its inception, TechVIz has been at the forefront of innovation in enterprise VR. The path we have always followed to bring innovations to the market is to work in hand in hand with our most advanced customers to develop new use cases of Virtual Reality. This way, we are sure to develop innovations that actually have an ROI for our clients. For instance, our latest product, Cloud & Viz, makes it possible to stream CAD data on the cloud to anyone equipped with a VR headset. We started working on this Cloud VR innovation because one of our customers told us: “We love your product, we cannot even remember how we could engineer a new model without it, but it would be incredible if we could share in VR the design of models under development with our overseas subsidiaries”. At first, it seemed a bit far fetched, but we now have a tangible product available. How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business? Alexis Vartanian For us, COVID is a coin with 2 faces. On one hand, our business has suffered a great deal, as our customer base has been hardest hit by the crisis: we work with most aeronautics and automotive companies worldwide, and for them, 2020 has been a horrendous year. On top of that, most VR installations were not initially set-up to be mobile. As engineers were asked to work remotely, they could not access their VR installations and as a consequence not use our products. On the other hand, the situation has stressed the need for advanced remote collaboration tools, which is a huge opportunity for TechViz. Zoom and Teams are nice but not enough, for instance, to make a project review to freeze the design of a new product. You just cannot make such decisions in 2D, while it is 100% feasible in Virtual Reality. Because of this, all our VR meeting and VR collaboration solutions are getting A LOT of traction. Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned? Alexis Vartanian Obviously, we hadn’t been able to implement the hiring plan we had in mind at the start of 2020. We have had to prioritize where to allocate resources. We have made a choice to preserve R&D as much as possible to protect the future and keep up with our product roadmap. How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient? Alexis Vartanian TechViz has a global reach, with a turnover evenly spread across all continents. Not being able to visit our customers has been a headache indeed. Like everyone, we have switched to 100% digital customer relationship management. It now works smoothly. Yet, we are looking forward to being able to meet again. We think creativity and innovation need a certain dose of physical contact. Your website?

The Two-Faced Coin of COVID

Pimax is the creator of a 4K virtual reality experience.

Pimax

While the technology offers a universal solution to solve problems in specific industry , the partnership with TechViz , who has more than 300 industrial customers active in automotive , shipbuilding , aeraunautic & astronautics , machinery , architecture , will help Pimax expand its customer base into the commercial market .

VR experience at Laval Virtual 2019 – Pimax Technology

Skanska (STO: SKA-B) operates as a construction and project development company in the Nordic region, Europe, and the United States. It operates through Construction, Residential Development, and Commercial Property Development segments. The Construction segment builds and renovates buildings, industrial facilities, infrastructure projects, and home projects; and executes service-related assignments in areas, such as construction services, and facility operations and maintenance services. The Residential Development segment develops and sells residential projects, including single and multi-family housing. The Commercial Property Development segment initiates, invests in, develops, leases, and divests in commercial properties.

Skanska

Manufacturer of a range of high technology digital projectors. The company manufactures and distributes a line of high-performance 3-chip and single-chip projection systems.

Digital Projection International

Canon (TYO: 7751) (NYSE: CAJ) is a multinational corporation specializing in the manufacture of imaging and optical products. The company provides professional-grade cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers, computer printers, and medical equipment.

Canon

TechViz provides virtual reality software that enables to visualize 3D models from 3D applications without having to convert any data. The company offers virtual reality, 3D visualization solutions, virtual prototyping services. It is based in Paris, France.

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Alexis Vartanian		Founder	Current
Alberto Gabai		Chief Executive Officer	Current

Name	Alexis Vartanian	Alberto Gabai
Work History
Title	Founder	Chief Executive Officer
Status	Current	Current

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