Virtual and Augmented Reality in HMI Development

The user interface in the vehicle is becoming more and more important – and increasingly complex – as a mark of differentiation. This is why IAV advocates the use of virtual HMI development: customers can experience design and functions at an early stage, handle driving situations and, on this basis, make well-informed decisions. Hardware prototypes only play a part at the end of the development process.

Indicators are merging, displays are covering large parts of the instrument panel and headup displays are projecting information directly onto the windshield – in the correct perspective of course and precisely where danger threatens, for example. Modern user interfaces provide fascinating options. “At the same time, the subject is growing in complexity”, reports Dr. Marcus Heinath, head of the UX, HMI and Instrument Clusters department at IAV. “This is why, for many years, we have been using virtual reality early on in the development process as a means of revealing the capabilities and limitations of modern technology.”

As a result, IAV customers can experience the dynamic of the user interface as early as the concept phase and answer important questions. What, for example, might the display look like on the windshield? How good is the projection? This way, concepts can be quickly evaluated and modified or rejected in good time. “We want to move as far away as possible from hardware prototypes and use virtual models to reach wellfounded decisions”, Heinath says. “For this, we use virtual and augmented reality to drive our customers through entire scenarios – whether downtown, in the country or on the freeway.”