{"id":34808,"date":"2019-05-02T14:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/?p=34808"},"modified":"2019-05-06T17:30:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T15:30:34","slug":"ford-design-from-desk-to-virtual-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/2019\/05\/ford-design-from-desk-to-virtual-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"FORD DESIGN: FROM DESK TO VIRTUAL REALITY"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a desk at the Ford Design Studio, a designer enters a virtual room and begins a 3D sketch. He is designing a virtual car around himself and adjusting the attributes to best suit him \u2013 the driver. This work is part of Ford\u2019s latest exploration of a new process that places the customer at the center of design and can help reduce the time it takes to create a vehicle. Ford is one of the first automaker to work with this tipe of technology called \u201cGravity Sketch\u201d: a 3D virtual reality tool that enables designers to create more \u201chuman-centric vehicle\u201d design, relating with the design philosophy of the American brand. Designers trade in their sketchpads for a headset and controllers to become immersed in virtual reality, imitating gestural interactions through motion tracking that replicates sketching with pen and paper.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cJumping right into 3D gives us a 360-degree view of a vehicle as it is being created,\u201d says Michael Smith, Ford design manager. \u201cIt allows you to see all angles of a vehicle as it is being drawn truly unleashes creativity and fosters development of human-centric design from start to finish\u201d. Traditional automotive design begins with a 2D sketch that\u2019s then scanned to produce a high-quality illustration. Once these renderings are evaluated, a few are translated into data using computer-aided design software to create a 3D model. That model is transferred into a virtual reality environment for further evaluation and to determine the design\u2019s feasibility. This can take weeks, meaning designers need to be extremely selective about which designs make it to the 3D modeling stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Gravity Sketch allows designers to speed the process from weeks to hours, skipping the 2D stage and working with a 3D model from the beginning. Designers can anchor a driver at the center, rotating their 3D design to view it from any angle to create a scalable vehicle around their driver. They can even step inside the vehicle sketch to quickly adjust design attributes to best suit occupants. Gravity Sketch enables Ford designers to place the customer at the very center of the vehicle as designers are sketching it. \u201cThis application has the potential to help ensure we are delivering the very best vehicle designs for our customers,\u201d said Smith. \u201cIt moves the entire process into the world of virtual reality, giving us greater options for reviewing more models in the 3D environment to create the best possible vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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