An interactive environment for virtual manufacturing: the virtual workbench

The approach of a 'virtual workbench' and its application to so-called virtual manufacturing is presented and discussed in this paper. The 'virtual workbench' is a drawing board under which virtual objects are projected stereoscopically. The system is strongly interactive and well suited to present multimedia information in a virtual reality environment. The user can watch the 3D scene holographically by using glasses and is able to interact with the system through a 6D input device. The tailor-made 'virtual manufacturing' environment supports the advanced man-machine interface concept. The overall system is a new powerful approach for highly relevant industrial application of virtual prototypes which focuses on the construction and assessment of industrial products in an early design stage. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.