Predictive value of assessing vehicle interior design ergonomics in a virtual environment

The predictive value and the reliability of evaluations made in immersive projection environments are limited when compared to the real world. As in other applications of numerical simulations, the acceptance of such techniques does not only depend on the stability of the methods, but also on the quality and credibility of the results obtained. In this paper we investigate the predictive value of virtual reality and virtual environments when used for engineering assessment tasks. We examine the ergonomics evaluation of a vehicle interior which is a complex activity relying heavily on know-how gained from personal experience, and compare performance in a VE with performance in the real world. If one assumes that within complex engineering processes certain types of work will be performed by more or less the same personnel, one can infer that a fairly consistent base of experience-based knowledge exists. Under such premises and if evaluations are conducted as comparisons within the VE, we believe that the reliability of the assessments is suitable for conceptual design work. Despite a number of unanswered questions at this time we believe this study leads to a better understanding of what determines the reliability of results obtained in virtual environments, thus making it useful for optimizing virtual prototyping processes and better utilization of the potential of VR and VEs in company work processes.