Ergonomic tests in virtual environments: integration of VR and physical control devices

Virtual Reality is becoming a common practice in automotive industry. It fosters the reduction of the time-to- market, as well as of costs deriving from the creation of physical prototypes. Ergonomics tests based on VR tools are able to influence the design of products, not only relatively to postural analysis but also concerning different levels of interaction. The paper presents a methodology based on immersive and mixed reality environment integrating VR and tangible objects used for performing ergonomic tests of control devices. The environment includes a virtual human controlled by a motion tracking system, and a physical object consisting of a rotatory haptic device. The paper presents the results of testing sessions where the tester validates and interacts with a virtual model and receives different haptic feedback based on tactons.