Research context and concept of the system

Product design process is typically based on loops between the design and the evaluation phases, which require the creation of digital models and physical prototypes. In the last years, real prototypes have been partially substituted with Virtual Prototypes (VPs). These consist in computer simulations of physical products that can be presented, analysed, and tested from concerned product life-cycle aspects, such as design/engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, aesthetic and ergonomic evaluation, as if these activities are conducted on a real physical model. VPs allow designers to evaluate the characteristics of the future product in order to reduce the number of physical prototypes needed, thus leading also to a reduction of developing time and costs. The currently available tools enable the designers to access only the visual information of the virtual prototypes, while in order to get tactile information, physical prototypes are still needed. In this Chapter it is described the product development methodology where the designer can perform the tactile evaluation of a model of a product at the same time of the visual one. Furthermore, the concept of the system that will allow obtaining this goal will be presented.