DARMSTADT, Germany, Feb 9, 2024 – VI-grade, the global provider of human-centric simulation-driven vehicle development solutions, and Varjo, a world leader in professional VR (virtual reality) and XR (extended reality) technology, announced a collaboration aimed at advancing Human-Machine Interface (HMI) development in the automotive industry. The collaboration leverages Varjo’s state-of-the-art headsets to further enhance the immersive experience of VI-grade’s professional driving simulators.
VI-grade, Varjo collaborate to accelerate HMI development
This cooperation between VI-grade and Varjo represents a union of industry leaders. Both companies are recognized for excellence in their respective domains, making the collaboration a natural fit. VI-grade’s expertise in automotive driving simulator solutions complements Varjo’s reputation for high-end XR headsets, resulting in a pioneering collaborative relationship to drive innovation in automotive HMI development.
Driving simulators have become integral to the automotive development process, allowing manufacturers to make informed design decisions and improve vehicle performance from a human-centric perspective. VI-grade’s driving simulators offer a state-of-the-art immersive experience and are renowned for their effectiveness in applications such as Ride & Handling, NVH, ADAS, and HMI. Varjo’s XR technology brings a distinct advantage to VI-grade’s simulators by providing unmatched realism, including dynamic motion, sound, and lifelike visuals. By integrating Varjo’s XR headsets into its simulation ecosystem, VI-grade’s driving simulators are significantly enhancing the user’s driving experience with a greater sense of realism and immersion.
One of the key features of this collaboration is the integration of Varjo’s XR-3 and XR-4 headsets with VI-grade’s standard virtual environment, VI-WorldSim. This combination enhances the simulator’s capability, incorporating realistic, multi-agent AI traffic behavior and sensor fusion. The Varjo XR-3 headset model will be supported starting with VI-WorldSim version 2024.1, with support for Varjo XR-4 headsets coming shortly thereafter through the OpenXR framework in Unreal Engine 5.
“I am excited to announce our collaboration with Varjo. Supporting high-quality Mixed Reality solutions in professional driving simulators expands the scope of our driving simulators to include more advanced HMI applications: one more step on the multidisciplinary journey.” commented Roberto De Vecchi, head of product development at VI-grade.
“Varjo and VI-grade share a vision of driving more efficient and sustainable practices in the automotive industry. By transitioning workflows to immersive virtual environments, we eliminate the need for traditional, resource-intensive methods, paving the way for a more streamlined future for prototyping. We are proud to deepen our collaboration with VI-grade with the introduction of VI-WorldSim support for our new generation of devices, the Varjo XR-4 Series,” said Seppo Aaltonen, chief commercial officer at Varjo.
For further insights into the integration of XR and VR technology in professional driving simulators, VI-grade and Varjo have collaborated on a joint blog article, available at https://varjo.com/vr-lab/varjo-headsets-and-vi-grade-driving-simulators-are-teaming-up-to-accelerate-automotive-hmi-development/.
About VI-grade
VI-grade is the global provider of disruptive vehicle development solutions that are paving the way to developing vehicles with Zero Prototypes.
Its human-centric solutions comprise industry-leading real-time simulation software, professional driving simulators and Hardware-in-the-Loop solutions that accelerate product development across the transportation industry.
The company’s suite of scalable driving simulators covers a wide performance range to assess the multi-disciplinary driving experience. These proven solutions enable OEMs, suppliers, research centers, motorsport teams and universities to reduce physical prototypes while accelerating innovation in their quest to get ever nearer to achieving the ultimate development goal of Zero Prototypes.
VI-grade is part of HBK’s Virtual Test Division, which focuses on providing real-time software, simulator, and hardware-in-the-loop solutions to virtually test products throughout the development cycle, helping companies accelerate innovation and reduce time-to-market, and improve their competitive advantage.
For further information, please visit www.vi-grade.com.