Mixed-Reality Environment based on Haptics and Interactive Simulation for product design review

The aesthetic impact of a product is an important parameter that makes the difference among products technologically similar and with same functionalities. The shape, which is strictly connected to the aesthetic impact, has different meanings if seen from the design and the engineering point of view. This paper describes an environment based on an integration of Mixed-Reality technologies, haptic tools and interactive simulation systems, named PUODARSI whose aim is to support designers and engineers during the phase of design review of aesthetic products. The environment allows the designer to modify the object shape, through the use of haptic devices, and the engineer to run the fluid-dynamics simulation on the product shape. The paper describes the main problems faced in integrating tools, originally developed for different purposes and in particular issues concerning data exchange, and the choice of those algorithms that guarantees low computational time as required by the application.