Immersive Experiences sometimes confront us when we least expect them. Like a sun half-hidden by the horizon as you turn the corner in a long stretch of highway, or the moment where you pull into your driveway after a long day of work, sometimes there are moments in life that just feel right. Some people search for those experiences through travel – the grandness of a mountain valley, or the unfamiliar of another culture – while others look for immersion in their surroundings. Yet in whatever form they manifest themselves, Immersive Experiences seem to resonate with something deeper than the immediate present.
I have found that Mixed Reality devices are the ideal way to create experiences that resonate with those who are interested in simulation.
In order to bring Immersion to audiences, we hope to give them a new perspective on simulation. At its core simulation can be viewed as a tool that is meant to optimize workflows by avoiding the need to conduct physical testing. Yet there is more to simulation than just the utility. Each simulation is a virtual slice of reality that we have stored within our computer to view over and over again, to analyze and learn from. Similar to how an artist stores their perspective within the canvas, the engineer too stores a piece of life within the bounds of a simulation program. Appreciating simulation to the fullest requires a connection between the utility and the creativity that is required to make these virtual pieces of the world.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have become our means of showcasing both the utility and the wonder of simulation. Bringing simulations to life involves a connection between the audience and the environment where the simulation was conceived. A simulation was not just made on a screen – it was crafted in the design room by experienced wind-tunnel experts, dreamed of by NASA engineers with ideas on how to optimize their aircraft designs, or built by the artist who wanted to make their bottle design functional for reality.
These are the stories that we tell when we present simulations, and these are the stories that we craft when we present those simulations in VR and AR.
Sitting in a VR machine is like entering a world that is tailored just for you. All of the other distractions are put aside and you are immediately immersed in the virtual world. This is where we can Bring Simulations to Life.
A simulation is the product of experience, of experiments, and of a need to learn about the world around us – and that to me is incredible.
For more insight into the Innovations of Immersive Experiences, read the following Whitepaper “Bringing Simulations to Life With Advanced Visualization” written by Guillaume Donval, Lori Bonynge, and Corey Finkle.
Links to Example Experiences:
