Engineering news
A virtual reality software company has slashed the cost of its visualisation software, significantly reducing the price of VR systems for engineering companies.
Virtalis’ VR4CAD software costs just £1,000, instead of tens of thousands, and displays 3D CAD models in virtual reality (VR) equipment directly from the 3D CAD file.
When used with existing computer hardware and headsets such as HTC Vive, which is available for around £800 from high street retailers, the software makes it possible for CAD engineers to purchase a fully immersive VR system for around £1,800 for the first time.
The cost of VR systems is rapidly dropping, while the quality and number available is increasing, thanks to mainstream applications in video gaming and entertainment. But linking VR equipment to 3D CAD programs such as Solidworks, Inventor and Creo, requires specialist software.
The cost of this software has remained prohibitively high for all but the largest engineering firms, such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, JLR and Airbus. However, Cheshire-based Virtalis hopes the stripped down version of its high end Visual Render software will open up VR for thousands of smaller engineering firms.
Keith Russell, director of business development at Virtalis, said: “This is the first focused product for engineers at an affordable price point. Its impact will be like when solid modelling first come out.”
Launched last week at event in London and available for £1,000 until the end of this year, VR4CAD is able to import and display 3D CAD models as quickly and simply as possible. It runs on the same computer as the CAD software, reads the MCAD file and allows users to review designs and communicate them with other engineers remotely, assembling and disassembling them, annotating them with “post-it notes” and using a slice tool to examine their cross sections.
The higher-end Visionary Render software allows users to animate models and feed back changes made in VR to the original 3D CAD environment.
David Cockburn-Price, managing director of Virtalis, said: “VR is seen as a change agent with all the firms we have worked with. It promotes collaboration and optimises workflows. A virtual environment is a safe place to take risks.
“There is an opportunity to put VR on all CAD designer desktops – wherever there is a CAD license, you can have a VR license.”
VR4CAD can be downloaded here.