Virtual reality for supporting the configuration of transformable assembly systems

Virtual Reality (VR) made its way out of research labs into industrial applications like product design, design for assembly, training issues, etc. Nevertheless, VR is still suffering from lacking technology to highlight its huge amount of functionality. That means the utilization of VR in a holistic way to combine the real and the virtual world to close the circle, in which the user can switch between both systems is still not common. There is more VR can contribute than an immersive 3D model of real objects and some interaction technology with different devices like 6 DOF mouse, Phantom(TM), gloves with tactile feedback, etc. If you want to use VR like the usual technology, you have to integrate the features of 3D, interaction, force feedback, simulation and the real system. The research work to develop such an integrated system is done within a special research project (SFB 467) of the German Research Society (DFG) called "Transformable business structures for multiple-variant series production"