Reachability testing
Verify whether components, controls and assembly positions are genuinely accessible to users of different body sizes.
STRIVE for industry and research
Haptics for digital product development.
From industrial product validation to research, STRIVE adds tangible feedback to VR and turns digital models into more realistic environments for decision-making and training.
Industrial product development
From digital twin to tangible product decisions.
Digital twins and the Industrial Metaverse allow products, workplaces and processes to be experienced virtually at an early stage. STRIVE adds physical feedback to the visual simulation: users feel boundaries, contact and collisions directly on their bodies. This turns virtual assessment into a more realistic basis for development and validation.
- Evaluate products and workplaces before physical hardware is available
- Identify design, ergonomic and process risks earlier
- Systematically reduce hardware prototypes and costly late-stage changes
Specific applications
Four tasks where tangible feedback makes the difference.
Where vision alone is not enough, STRIVE makes virtual boundaries and contact physically perceptible – for more realistic validation and more effective training.
Ergonomic studies
Assess ranges of motion, body postures and contact at the head, chest, hips or legs more realistically.
Assembly and buildability validation
Determine whether components can be installed, tools can be handled and planned work steps can be performed in practice.
Training and process validation
Practise and refine procedures repeatedly with tangible contact points – even before a real facility or product is available.
Scientifically evaluated
What automotive VR experts say about STRIVE.
In a published expert study, 16 VR specialists from the automotive industry tested STRIVE across five practice-oriented use cases.
View the study at ACM“It gives me the opportunity to see how tight it is in my physical and ergonomic space.”
“With the force feedback … I don't have to worry about my eyes first, that takes the strain off me.”
“Without this haptic feeling, you simply have less feedback … you don't know whether that is actually possible now.”
- 14 of 16experts said they would use STRIVE in their daily work.
- 13 of 16were better able to perceive the installation space and room required for movement.
Source: Achberger et al., STRIVE: String-Based Force Feedback for Automotive Engineering, UIST 2021. Statements and results refer to the STRIVE prototype evaluated in the paper.
Three implemented examples
Detect issues earlier. Reduce hardware prototypes. Avoid costs.
STRIVE makes physical interactions tangible in the virtual development process. This helps identify and prevent issues earlier, shorten validation loops and systematically reduce hardware prototypes – exactly where economic value is created.
Early issue identification
Wheelhouse visibility check
- Validation task
- Is the workspace realistically accessible for the visibility check?
- Tangible collision
- Head contact with the virtual vehicle geometry.
- Result
- The workspace could be assessed more realistically and a potential issue was identified early.
Shorter development time
Antenna module assembly
- Validation task
- Is the intended assembly position genuinely reachable?
- Tangible collision
- Chest and leg contact during the assembly procedure.
- Result
- Actual reachability could be determined without waiting for physical hardware.
Reduced prototyping
Entering a vehicle
- Validation task
- Is there sufficient head clearance while entering the vehicle?
- Tangible collision
- Head contact while moving through the door opening.
- Result
- The collision could be evaluated without procuring and setting up a hardware prototype.
* Note on the representations: The images shown were created for visualisation. The described use cases were implemented at an automotive manufacturer; original images cannot be published for confidentiality reasons.
From industry to research
Wherever people work or interact in VR, STRIVE adds a decisive new dimension.
STRIVE is not limited to individual industries or validation tasks. Wherever virtual environments are used for development, simulation, training or research, physical feedback makes interactions more understandable, realistic and meaningful.
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