EAI, GM COLLABORATE ON NEW IMMERSIVE HUMAN-SCALE VISUALIZATION SOLUTION.

EAI formally unveiled VisConcept last week, a solution for human- scale viewing and analysis of virtual product designs. Developed in close collaboration with big auto maker General Motors, VisConcept allows 1:1 -- or human-scale -- visualization of high- resolution, realistic images in immersive environments such as CAVE, Powerwall, desk and head-mounted display systems.

With its new tool, EAI says companies can "dramatically reduce product design time and expense" by reducing the need for physical models, allowing geographically dispersed teams to collaborate with 1:1 scale virtual prototypes while providing decision makers with a clear vision of the intended design.

"GM has taken a leadership role in the use of virtual prototypes to produce better vehicles faster and at a lower cost," says Diane Jurgens, director of global CAD/CAM and visualization technology at General Motors. She says VisConcept "will allow us to take another major step forward in reducing vehicle development cost and cycle time. EAI has successfully taken the best parts of GM's internally developed capabilities and re- engineered them in a way that makes it possible for us to deploy a more powerful immersive virtual reality tool across the GM organization."

In March, EAI was selected by GM to help improve its immersive virtual reality technology. VisConcept, developed as part of the collaboration, will be deployed worldwide at GM's global engineering centers to provide visualization of full-scale vehicle designs as well as to organize and present various forms of product data for engineering design reviews.

VisConcept is part of EAI's Open Enterprise Visualization (OEV) solution suite, which also includes VisView and MisMockUp, EAI's desktop visualization and digital mockup products.

"VisConcept is not about looking at pretty pictures," emphasizes Ken Pimentel, director of immersive solutions at EAI. "It is about bringing the power of immersive visualization to addressing serious business challenges. VisConcept allows users to reduce the number of physical prototypes by at least 50 percent and view life-size prototypes within minutes -- far faster than the 40 to 50 days it takes to build a physical prototype. Ultimately, manufacturers can save hundreds of thousands of dollars and dramatically reduce time to market for each and every design."