The rationale of PSS as an inspiration for Synthetic Environments

The use of a Synthetic Environment (SE) in product development cycles is increasing, and the number of potential use situations is expanding. However, predicting the best fitting SE configuration is still mainly based on experience. Proper use of a SE benefits from a product-service system approach, but currently available and developed SEs are often predefined (and rigid) instantiations thereof. Representing SEs as a product-service system is not yet common; the development of new technology is often focused on a predefined set of requirements for a hardware device or a software solution, while the connecting interface is no part of the development. Based on the rationale of product-service systems, more flexibility and robustness in the development and use of Synthetic Environments is explored. The mutual relations between PSS and SE are the basis for the realization of an overview that provides insight in the dependencies between individual parts of a single system and between complete systems. By making a distinction between the behavior of the system as encountered by the user, and the embedded behavior of the system internally, a different approach for realizing SEs is explained. This approach is not only based on the combination of a product and a service, but also includes experience. This Product Service Experience (PSE) is the foundation for utilizing the rational of PSS in SEs.