Implementing Native Support for Oculus and Leap Motion in a Commercial Engineering Visualization and Analysis Platform

Abstract

While previous research in academia points to the ability of Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) and low-cost display devices to help users better understand a design, there does not exist much research on how these devices can be integrated into existing legacy code used by engineering and design firms. The lack of commercial engineering software that integrates NUIs and low-cost display devices, like the Oculus Rift, can be attributed to the fast changing device market and the lack of awareness many engineering software makers show in emerging interaction paradigms. The lack of work in the area of integrating low-cost immersion devices into commercial software creates a barrier for adoption of these new devices and interaction paradigms. The work presented in this paper details a proof of concept system integrating the Leap Motion and Oculus Rift, into a commercial engineering visualization and analysis package called Siemens' Teamcenter® Lifecycle Visualization Mockup (Mockup). Based on the recorded performance data, hooking up both the Leap and the Oculus results in a frame rate of around 30 frame per second. Indicating that these two devices together can provide real time, fluid interaction in a commercial engineering platform. AbstractWhile previous research in academia points to the ability of Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) and low-cost display devices to help users better understand a design, there does not exist much research on how these devices can be integrated into existing legacy code used by engineering and design firms. The lack of commercial engineering software that integrates NUIs and low-cost display devices, like the Oculus Rift, can be attributed to the fast changing device market and the lack of awareness many engineering software makers show in emerging interaction paradigms. The lack of work in the area of integrating low-cost immersion devices into commercial software creates a barrier for adoption of these new devices and interaction paradigms. The work presented in this paper details a proof of concept system integrating the Leap Motion and Oculus Rift, into a commercial engineering visualization and analysis package called Siemens' Teamcenter® Lifecycle Visualization Mockup (Mockup). Based on the recorded performance data, hooking up both the Leap and the Oculus results in a frame rate of around 30 frame per second. Indicating that these two devices together can provide real time, fluid interaction in a commercial engineering platform.

Immersive Design Engineering

“…MacAllister et al presented one of the first proof of concept systems integrating the Leap Motion and Oculus Rift DK2 into a commercial engineering visualization and analysis package called Siemens' Teamcenter R Lifecycle Visualization Mockup. During a study it was shown that these two devices together can provide real time, fluid interaction in a commercial engineering platform [50]. Different gestures were used for this purpose: direction-based rotation was triggered by a swipe gesture, the zoom in/out feature by a moving forward/backward gesture, and gesture tracking was turned on by closing the right fist and turned off by using the left one.…”

“…MacAlister et al mentioned in their work that "product design in today's globalized world requires quick turnarounds to maintain profitability" [50]. As mentioned earlier, Design Engineering is an interdisciplinary field, and therefore, the teams consist of diverse interdisciplinary backgrounds enabling concurrent design.…”

“…Especially in the era of COVID-19, distant collaboration support is essential. Effective work tools, such as visualization or product life-cycle management software can bridge gaps between diverse working backgrounds and distant work environments [79,80,50].…”