Today’s cars are computers on wheels. The market for connected vehicles is estimated at around US$38.5 billion in value today and is forecast to reach US$52.9 billion by 2030. Hardware such as sensors and connectivity modules are already worth over US$15 billion a year; service revenues are even higher.
But there are challenges on the horizon. Demand for electric and software-defined vehicles is set to soar from 13.5 million units in 2023 to more than 80 million by 2035, a compound annual growth rate close to 16%.[1] Yet electric drivetrains, while requiring fewer mechanical parts, introduce new supply risks around batteries and semiconductors. Battery materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are in tight supply, and recent chip shortages have exposed fragilities in global sourcing.
Additionally, long-standing issues around having to rework physical prototypes, re-tool lines or wait for parts affects margins. With a single lost hour in automotive manufacturing costing anywhere from US$36,000 to more than US$2 million, designers and manufacturers can’t afford the effects of such unpredictability.
Fortunately, as modern vehicles evolve, so too are the tools used to design and engineer them. Extended Reality (XR) – an umbrella term for augmented, mixed and virtual reality – are gaining ground. In transportation and automotive alone, XR revenues are projected to rise from roughly US$290 million in 2024 to US$2.9 billion by 2030.
Intricate design needs remain paramount and supply chain challenges are piling on uncertainty. Against this backdrop, XR offers a way to bring automotive digital twins – a detailed, constantly updated model of the vehicle and its production context – into a shared, immersive environment. Augmented reality keeps engineers in the real world with digital overlays. Virtual reality complements this by placing them inside a full-scale virtual car or factory with hand-held controllers and tracking. Rather than replace existing tools, these environments extend them, providing a richer view of the same data.
Major changes in the auto design world
For decades, design reviews have looked much the same: engineers huddle around monitors, rotate data heavy 3D models with a mouse and discuss key design decisions. Much of the real checking only happens later on physical prototypes – which can easily be sent back to the drawing board.
New immersive tools are shaking things up. Many design systems are now building virtual reality directly into the core computer-aided design environment. Via Immersive Engineering, a Siemens solution, engineers can put on the Sony headset tuned for detailed engineering work and see a full-sized vehicle, with hand controllers used for pointing, navigation and interaction.
The work itself does not change in principle; a specialist responsible for checking that cars can be assembled and serviced, still needs to inspect crowded areas such as wheel arches, engine bays and undertrays. But now, in an immersive session, that person can position themselves inside the virtual wheel arch, access the Assembly Viewer, highlight individual parts and then walk up to larger sub-assemblies. Whole systems such as the wheel and brake can be hidden in one move, clearing the view for more detailed investigation.
Alongside this physical sense of presence sits a set of analytical tools that would be impossible in a real workshop. Section planes can be positioned in the immersive environment to expose hidden components and check packaging in tight spaces. Measurement functions make it easy to capture clearances, either with approximate picks or exact references, without hunting through views and menus. Mark-up tools let the reviewer circle areas of concern and add notes that are saved as snapshots, which can be revisited in later sessions or shared with colleagues.
Most importantly, this all takes place in real-time. In the immersive environment, users can place a Virtual Monitor to make design changes. Additionally, an engineer can hide parts or alter the configuration in the standard interface and see the changes appear instantly on the full-scale model around them. There is no export step, no secondary dataset to maintain and no delay between altering the design and understanding its consequences.
Together, these capabilities make XR a productivity powerhouse; engineers gain a clearer grasp of how complex assemblies fit together, slashing the chance of late surprises on physical prototypes and helping teams make better decisions earlier in the process. And the benefits are starting to crystalize. Siemens’ customer references point to productivity gains in design tasks of around 30% when teams move to integrated immersive workflows, together with a marked fall in the number of physical prototypes required.
Turning to the experts
A recent GlobalData survey found that nearly 70% of senior decision-makers expect augmented reality to change everyday business over the coming decade. Despite the productivity benefits on offer for automobile firms, and the widespread belief that change is coming, barriers abound: limited time to plan, a shortage of in-house expertise and difficulty linking pilot projects to clear commercial outcomes.
That is where specialist partners come in. An immersive session within immersive engineering provides three inter-connected offerings; Immersive Explorer for instant design reviews, Immersive Designer for making and evaluating changes in VR, and Immersive Collaborator for virtual meeting rooms that connect staff and suppliers across continents. The team at Siemens Immersive are on hand to help vehicle designers deploy Designcenter NX today.
For automotive decision makers wrestling with electrification, supply disruptions and skills shortages, Immersive Engineering is a practical plan of attack. It compresses decision time, cuts the cost of errors and helps new staff build confidence more quickly in realistic, low-risk environments. As XR revenues climb, design centres that stand on the cutting edge of these developments will be poised to lead the industry into the future. Can you afford to miss out? Fill in your details now to learn more.
[1] ABi Research report, “Immersive Automotive Engineering”
