Augmented Reality CAD – Using Creo for AR Product Design

Augmented Reality CAD allows users to visualize digital content in a real-world environment via a mobile device. Augmented reality (AR) enables quick, almost effortless collaboration both inside and outside of the enterprise. Computer screens, and drawings, are 2D by nature. However, your product exists in three dimensions. Using digital product design, you can bridge that gap for every member of the product team, starting with yourself. Take your 3D CAD models, create an AR experience, and get back to solving design problems and collaborating easily across functions.

Imagine you’ve been asked to join a team designing a windscreen for a vehicle, like a snowmobile, and your team needs to carry out four tasks:

The chances are good that you’ll rely on one or more of these time-honored methods.

Imagine the following scenario: you back up all your data, zip the contents, upload it to a secure location, and invite viewers. Perhaps you have such large file sizes that you use non-approved methods to send them. Your recipients now must connect, log in, download the CAD data for review, deal with any software conflicts, and maybe even figure out how to bring their own non-CAD users into the process.

You select a combination of screen grabs and PowerPoint presentations. Then you spend hours making sure that your stakeholders have every possible view of the product, in every conceivable configuration, so that the subtlest nuance is conveyed.

You order a prototype, then wait anywhere from one day to several weeks for a 3D-printed example. Next, you pack up the prototype and send it off. Someone will have to travel if the prototype is too large or unwieldy to pack up for shipment. Alternatively, you can repeat a version of the first two steps (and watch your budget shrink).

You will (eventually) get the job done. But like wearing bell bottom blue jeans, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Use Augmented Reality CAD instead!

When you have AR capabilities integrated into your CAD software, a few clicks will turn a 3D model into an AR experience that everyone can access and use. The system will automatically generate both the AR experience and a secure link to send to vendors, customers, and colleagues. Recipients open this link on their phone, tablet, or other mobile devices, and see your design superimposed on the physical world at scale.

A few years ago, product developers told us they participated in between 17 and 57 design reviews every month. That’s nearly one to three design reviews every day! Of course, not all reviews are lengthy, but even the short ones add up, especially if you’re the person who prepares and distributes designs for the meeting.

CAD augmented reality technology, changes that dynamic. You create a link or an encoded image from your 3D CAD models and email it to the team. Within minutes, they can start exploring your model without needing a seat of CAD software or any CAD knowledge.

Augmented Reality CAD reviews also bring a ‘wow’ factor. Everyone can see your product at scale against a real-world backdrop from any location. Whenever you need to make a change, do so on your 3D CAD model, hit publish, then invite everyone to review your final design. Color or design alternatives can be experimented with and explored in seconds!

The reward of real-time CAD Augmented Reality is more engineering hours, higher quality products, and the promise of a more satisfying design experience.

With Augmented Reality CAD, your 3D CAD models are now the matchmaker between the physical and digital worlds, bringing them both together. You need no prior knowledge to get up and running quickly. Save time, make design reviews more productive, evaluate alternatives, conserve your budget, and reduce the hours you spend on administrative tasks.

To show technical colleagues what you’re thinking when you think of it, send them an AR experience. They can then scale the experience to make it larger or smaller, walk around inside it, find design errors, and suggest improvements that might have otherwise remained hidden.

The first rule of security is: don’t give away your IP address without realizing it.

An augmented reality experience can withhold design intent and other company IP information. You can even control who sees the experience and who doesn’t. Unlike your 3D CAD model, the augmented reality experience does not provide any digital data that can be repurposed or go astray. You can share AR experiences with your customers or suppliers without worrying that you’re leaving behind more than a good impression.

When it comes to sharing large files, augmented reality technology shines. Here’s the kicker: you don’t share large files. Instead, you share graphics that are on a secure hosted server, which brings you both convenience and peace of mind, and not a visit from either your boss or the energetic data security team.