Designing industrial machines is a highly specialized work, where attention to detail is of paramount importance. The smallest flaw can make the final product unsafe to operate or absolutely useless. This is why industrial designers and engineers need to work with computer models and analyze each part of their designs before they move an item to the production phase. Now, they have an advanced tool of the trade – the ARES AR workspace developed by Holo-Light.
What Is ARES?
ARES stands for Augmented Reality Engineering Space. It is a software suite created by Holo-Light, a company specializing in mixed reality development. With this AR workspace, the company wanted to offer engineers and industrial designers a powerful and collaborative tool that helps eliminate design errors.
Wearing a head-mounted display (HMD), the user launches the program and loads the CAD files by drag and drop. ARES converts files into 3D holographic objects. Thus, the user can interact with them in any way they want, being able to see the smallest and finest design details.
What Can Engineers Do With ARES AR Workspace?
ARES allows designers and engineers to analyze 3D models by enlarging, turning around, and even creating cross-sections. This means that they can visualize the interior of a complex item, such as an engine, and analyze how every part and component works.
In this AR workspace, they can also monitor and compare various versions of the same model. The files can be superimposed or viewed side by side, allowing the user to note the changes from version to version. With the entire tree of edits available in the viewfinder, the user can easily navigate between versions and look at the complete history of the project.
Key Features and Benefits of ARES
With the new AR workspace developed by Holo-Light, engineers and industrial designers can work faster, more accurately, and more efficiently. Instead of building actual scale models, they turn their CAD designs into 3D objects they can manipulate and analyze.
Also, given the current global pandemic, with many employees working from home, ARES AR workspace allows teams to continue collaborating. It does not matter where they are located, once they log into the ARES software, they are all working in real time on the same model and can make edits to the model.
This is possible thanks to ARES’ capacity to integrate into the most frequently used software solutions used in engineering and industrial design, such as Azure & Oracle Cloud and Autodesk Forge. Also, the AR workspace is compatible with Stylus XR and ISAR/SDK.
The Tool for the Future of Industrial Design
The CEO and co-founder of Holo-Light, Florian Haspinger, is confident that ARES will transform the field of engineering and industrial design. He stated in a press release:
“Almost every business can be influenced sustainably with ARES. The Augmented Reality software overcomes barriers between people and technology. It renders workflows collaborative. Engineers or industrial designers have the means to visualize, edit, and present their development together in the AR workspace, regardless of location.”
So far, some of the major players in the automotive, chemical, and shipbuilding industries, such as BASF and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, have successfully implemented ARES AR workspace.
Interested stakeholders can request a specifications sheet on the official website. As for purchase, ARES AR workspace will be available soon on Microsoft Store.
