Implementing virtual reality in the product development process, and estimation of virtual maturity

Virtual reality (VR) is one of the new technologies in Industry 4.0 and will influence the industry. If VR is implemented correctly it will lead to higher quality, improved efficiency, and closer customer relationships. The problem with using virtual reality at the company lies both in how these tools shall be used in the product development process and the issue that it is a new tool and a new way of working. The purpose of the thesis is to identify when virtual reality can be used in the early phases of the product development process. The purpose is also to identify how virtual maturity can be measured. The research questions that the study is based on are the following: RQ 1: Which steps are qualified to implement VR within the early phases of the product development process? RQ 2: What dimensions need to be taken into consideration when estimating virtual maturity? RQ 3: How can virtual maturity be estimated? To answer the research questions, primary data such as interviews and a workshop was performed along with a literature review to collect secondary data. A case study lays as a ground for creating a product development process including VR activities, a maturity framework, and a maturity model proposal which are the objectives of the thesis. To analyze the data, methodology triangulation and evaluating patterns between the empirical findings and the literature review were used. The purpose of the literature review was to contribute to the knowledge of the VR tool, VR in industry, and how the implementation of new tools and technologies influences organizations in different aspects. Since the thesis is divided into both creating a product development process including VR and assessing virtual maturity, a general product development process is described in the literature review. The interviews and the workshop provided an overview of the current state at the company regarding both the existing product development process and virtual maturity. Based on the current development process a new extended version was developed, where activities that can be done in VR are included. At the beginning of the project no maturity model that described virtual maturity, important dimensions, or VR activities that can be included in the product development process existed. The development of the maturity framework and the maturity model connected to VR is described in the case study, as well as the development process including VR. As a result of the thesis existing research is compared to the empirical findings, where important dimensions for estimating virtual maturity and VR activities are presented. The analysis of the development process including VR shows that the activities can be found in both literature and empirical findings. However, there was no research found where VR is implemented in a general product development process. The empirical findings also show that there is a need for a tool that can estimate virtual maturity, but there is no such tool directly connected to VR described in the literature. This thesis contributes to this gap by creating a maturity model consisting of five levels, that is based on the 12 identified important dimensions in the framework. Both the framework and the model are divided into the aspects people and technology. Neither the process nor the model has been tested in reality, which is needed to confirm that both will be suitable for the specific company. This is however proposed strategies that are supposed to work as guidelines for the work towards implementing VR