Most of us now connect virtual work with the home office. But Ford, which has stopped car production, is getting creative in dealing with the pandemic.
The car company stopped its production of cars in the wake of the coronavirus and shifted its production lines and resources to the manufacture of medical equipment, but that doesn’t mean that the designers at Ford can’t continue to work on the future of the brand. There are currently many vehicles under development at Ford, such as the electric Mustang Mach-E, which is scheduled to go into production this year.
The work of the Ford designers (Source: FOX News)
The new Ford cars in virtual reality
To drive these products forward, the teams work collaboratively on product design and development via a virtual reality system. The Virtual Design Studio used was originally developed to enable designers to collaborate with corporate sites around the world. But now the VR headsets and software have found their way into the homes of the development teams, where they now work together on new car types and plan the vehicles of tomorrow.
Using headsets and controllers, the designers can interact with each other in virtual space and design the cars, similar to a clay model. Surface highlights and shapes are presented so clearly that they are able to make important design decisions.
Since the “avatars” of Ford designers are equipped with virtual laser pointers, they can discuss exactly the smallest details of the car and thus decide together. Nevertheless, the designers hope to be able to work on the physical model again soon to release designs for final production.
Nevertheless, working in virtual space is a good way not only for Ford, but also for the manufacturing industry at large, to work together across distances and develop virtual products together.
Post Picture: Ford