A Tool Proposition to Support Multidisciplinary Convergence in Immersive Virtual Environment: Virtusketches

Abstract

Companies need to improve product use value thanks to ergonomics integration into product design process. This could be achieved by collaboration between ergonomists and mechanical designers. However, these actors have different methods, representations and tools making difficult to carry out the convergence between them. Thus, the aim of this paper is to introduce a new tool, Virtusketches, to improve communication between ergonomists and mechanical designers during convergence phases of a human-centered design process. Virtusketches is based on linking virtual reality (VR) technologies with 2D sketching and annotation as a tool that could be used by all the actors involved in design process regardless of their specificity. A case study is presented to test the tool during a convergence step of an automotive design project.