Virtual reality in mechanical engineering

Do you exploit all its potential?

Virtual development has long since arrived in mechanical engineering. But this trend is far from achieving its goal. Virtual or augmented reality is becoming more and more prevalent in the working areas of developers, mechanical engineers and maintenance personnel.

New innovations are introduced every day and we have far from exhausted all our options. MISUMI will show you exciting areas of VR and AR which you should also use in your everyday (working) life.

What do research, industry and development experts say about virtual reality/augmented reality?

Definitions of terms – What does virtual reality, augmented reality or mixed reality mean?

What is virtual reality? How does augmented reality differ from mixed reality? The differences are in the detail. We help you to understand the concepts.

  • Virtual reality (VR for short) is a computer-generated display of reality in real time. Sound is also often part of virtual reality. It is usually perceived through a head-mounted display (video or VR glasses), but it can also be displayed in special rooms (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, CAVE for short). Application examples include virtual prototypes, production planning, games or training such as flight simulators.
  • Augmented reality (AR for short) is the computer-aided enhancement of reality. This can be done for all senses, but mainly visually. Images or videos with computer-generated content is used to supplement real objects. The applications are mainly operated using glasses such as Google Glass or with smartphones or tablets. Application examples include support in construction, maintenance or medicine, navigation (heads-up displays), entertainment and games (e.g. Pokémon Go).
  • Mixed reality (MR for short) is often used synonymously in practice for augmented reality. In science, mixed reality describes the areas between the real and virtual world. It can therefore be in the field of augmented reality and also a step further in “augmented virtuality”. The user is in a virtual environment, but receives information from the real world that has an impact on virtual reality.

MISUMI assists you with digital development

Our aim is to make your work as simple as possible. This includes digital processes so that you can also push ahead with your plans virtually. 2D or 3D CAD models are available to download free of charge for the majority of our products. The inCAD Library also enables applications to be displayed virtually and is available to you free of charge. It is important for us to offer you this service as it is vital for your planning.

Augmented Reality with assemblies from the inCAD Library

AR is already being used for industrial purposes for some years now, for instance to assist in performing complex maintenance tasks. A very sophisticated form of AR can frequently be seen at trade fairs or customer presentations: The visual combination of the real environment with virtual objects.

The inCAD Library by MISUMI offers practical help to this end. Especially if you want to optically incorporate planned and more or less standardized assemblies in an existing machine structure.

Visit our YouTube channel with other interesting videos on the subject

You can find more videos on virtual or augmented reality on the MISUMI YouTube channel: