Interactive immersive engineering system for distant collaboration

Complex products consisting of various components are designed in collaboration of multidisciplinary engineering teams with different expertise. Expert groups involved in the development process are possibly based at geographically distributed locations. The purpose of this contribution therefore is the development of a framework, enhancing the quality of communication and facilitating the exchange of information and expertise in engineering projects over distance. This framework provides the capability to visualise a product model and the avatars of distant people in one shared immersive virtual environment. Furthermore the integration of product information exceeding the pure geometry and features for direct modification of the visualised product are achieved through the connection to CAD software. The intuitive interaction interface utilises hand gestures based on normal physical interaction with real objects. Being able to see both the 3D model and the other participant in one shared virtual environment creates a natural communication and interaction process, without being distracted by new communication or interaction methods forced by the technology.