The integration of the Onshape Vision app with Apple Vision Pro represents a significant leap forward in spatial computing, offering engineers and designers a more intuitive and interactive way to visualize and manipulate 3D models.
Here’s a closer look at how this technology can transform your design and review processes.
Onshape Vision: Bridging the Gap Between Digital and Physical
Onshape Vision leverages the spatial computing capabilities of Apple Vision Pro to bring a new level of immersion to 3D CAD models.
The app bridges Onshape’s CAD & PDM mobile platform running on an Apple iPad or iPhone with Apple Vision Pro’s headset, empowering users to interact with parts and assemblies in a way that's both intuitive and realistic.
Imagine scaling an assembly to fit on your desk, grabbing components with your hands, rotating them, and inspecting them from any angle. This is spatial computing in action: enhancing the review and inspection of digital designs by situating them within the physical world.
Spatial Computing and VR, AR, MR
The Apple Vision Pro uses spatial computing technology, which differentiates the Apple headset from comparative products featuring augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) technologies. In short, the Apple Vision Pro isn’t solely AR or VR but has a spatial understanding of the physical environment.
In the context of headsets:
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AR overlays digital information onto a real-world environment to visualize the digital content in context with real products, e.g., for product visualizations and instructions.
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MR blends the virtual and physical worlds, allowing for interaction and coexistence between the two realms.
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VR creates a fully immersive, computer-generated simulated environment that replaces the user's real-world perception.
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Spatial computing allows users to understand the physical world in 3D and leverage the information to measure and analyze the environment for a more intuitive user interaction.
Now, let’s explore how spatial computing and the Onshape Vision app can be used for product development.
Apple Vision Pro App for Product Developers
The process starts with pairing your Apple Vision Pro headset (running Onshape Vision) with an iPad or iPhone running the Onshape Mobile app.
With just a tap, you can send Onshape documents to Apple Vision Pro and watch your digital designs come to life in an immersive 3D environment. This seamless interaction allows for the manipulation of models with hand gestures, scaling of the model to various sizes, and the addition of comments that are synced across Onshape’s platform.
It's a streamlined workflow designed to save time and improve efficiency.
Practical Use Cases for Product Developers
Immersive Design Reviews
Benefit: Facilitates comprehensive understanding and stakeholder collaboration, allowing for real-time feedback and decision-making.
Example: During the design review of a new industrial pump, stakeholders from various locations, wearing Apple Vision Pro headsets, visualize the pump as if it were physically present. This enables participants to assess the pump's size, design options, and functionality, leading to informed discussions and decisions without the need for physical prototypes.
Verifying Design in Real Environments
Benefit: Ensures the new equipment fits within the intended space and integrates seamlessly with existing systems, addressing critical logistical and operational issues before physical installation.
Example: A manufacturing company uses Onshape Vision to place a virtual model of new machinery on its factory floor. This allows them to verify power connections, maintenance clearance, and compatibility with adjacent machinery, ensuring all specifications are met before the equipment is physically installed.
Interactive Training and Instruction
Benefit: Provides a detailed, hands-on learning experience for technicians and staff, enhancing understanding and preparedness for real-world application.
Example: Service technicians use Onshape Vision to interact with a 3D model of bespoke heavy equipment in a training session. This immersive experience allows them to familiarize themselves with the customer's specific model, discussing and practicing maintenance procedures in a virtual environment that mimics actual conditions.
Exploring Customization and Personalization Options
Benefit: Offers customers a unique, interactive experience to explore and visualize customization options, leading to increased satisfaction and confidence in their purchase decisions.
Example: In retail, a customer interested in purchasing a made-to-order bicycle uses Onshape Vision to explore various customization options. They can see the bike in full size, experimenting with different colors, wheel types, and accessories, which helps them make an informed choice tailored to their preferences.
The Future of Engineering Design and Consumer Interaction
The combination of Onshape Vision and Apple Vision Pro is more than just a new tool; it's a new way of working that brings digital designs into the physical world. This technology enables teams to collaborate more effectively, make decisions faster, and discover innovative solutions to design challenges. It also transforms how products are presented and customized for the consumer, making it a game-changer for engineering design and consumer interaction alike.
It's easy to get started with Onshape and Onshape Vision. With the Onshape Discovery Program, product design professionals get Onshape free for up to 6 months. You will have access to professional-grade CAD & PDM, including Onshape Vision. Pair with an Apple Vision Pro headset, and you instantly can begin your immersive design experience.
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