HONDA The Power of Dreams

Utilizing XR technology in frontline development

Honda employs XR^*1 technology in vehicle development. XR is a collective term for technologies that blend the physical and virtual worlds; namely, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

*1 “XR” stands for “cross reality” or “extended reality.”

XR technology can be used to build verification environments that remove the need for prototypes. Development can progress without a physical vehicle, but as if there was one. In contrast with a conventional approach involving the manufacture of a prototype, quality can be confirmed in the initial stages of development, reducing the amount of rework and contributing to time and cost savings. Verification using XR also provides benefits through a more intuitive and reliable verification process than verification with drawings and specification sheets.

Honda was already using XR technology in areas such as appearance quality, visibility, HMI², and ease of assembly, though the technology was generally applied to those areas individually. An XR strategy project was established in 2017 to coordinate activities being pursued individually and bring them in line with a common strategy.

*2 Human-machine interfaces: Means or devices for humans and machines to exchange information

Part of this involved consolidating XR-related facilities used for different development areas by setting up the Digital Innovation Lab. at Honda’s R&D base in Tochigi. This has enabled development activities spanning more than one area and coordination on development between bases. The dot (“.”) after “Lab” in “Digital Innovation Lab.” represents an affinity for the philosophy of “connecting the dots” that Apple founder Steve Jobs once spoke about in a speech. It reflects a wish to generate good results by connecting people with others, and parts of the business with other parts, through XR technology.

The following is an introduction to ways that Honda is currently using XR technology to advance visibility performance verification, operability verification, appearance quality verification, ease of assembly verification, and verification of new and appealing features.

Visibility Performance Verification

Honda evaluates performance relating to driving visibility using an immersive virtual reality system known in XR circles as CAVE^*3. An evaluator wearing shutter glasses^*4 sees 3D video of a vehicle cockpit projected onto large screens in front, to the sides, and on the floor. Tracking technology is used to ensure the projected video is suitably adjusted to match the position of the user’s eyes. Actual road environments can be reconstructed and projected to appear outside the cockpit windows. One example might be a scenario of a car turning at an intersection. Can the driver see oncoming vehicles and pedestrians crossing the road without their visibility being obstructed by the A-pillars or side mirrors? CAVE can be used to answer such questions. It is like driving a prototype vehicle on an actual road.

*3 CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment. Developed at the University of Illinois in the United States, the system provides a virtual reality experience by projecting computer graphics onto screens inside a 3D space.
*4 A pair of glasses with shutters over the lenses that can be opened and closed. The shutters are opened and closed so the left eye sees only the image intended for the left eye and the right eye sees only the image intended for the right eye. The variation between left and right images gives the video depth, making it look three-dimensional.

Verification in the traditional way uses packaging models made from clay or Styrofoam. These take time and cost money to make, and comparisons between old and new versions, or between different variations, require much effort. With CAVE, on the other hand, comparisons between old and new, or between different designs, can be performed in an instant by switching the data, helping to improve verification efficiency and accuracy. Departments responsible for verifying visibility performance do so from an ergonomic approach. They identify issues and collaborate on development with design departments. Three-dimensional video, rather than two-dimensional images on a display, makes the actual circumstances easier to grasp. It is more convincing and easier to understand.

Old-new comparison: reconstruction of a car turning at an intersection

Besides evaluating blind spots in the driver’s vision, qualitative aspects such as visual impression are also examined. For instance, it is known that continuous lines passing from the hood of the vehicle through the A-pillars to the bottoms of the side windows make it easier for the driver to ascertain the vehicle’s position and contribute to an uncluttered look.

VR-real car comparison: achieving visibility performance with line continuity

We know that if character lines on an instrument panel are on a slant, it can feel as if the vehicle is traveling diagonally even though it is going straight; that moving the windscreen wipers out of view emphasizes the feeling of horizontal alignment, making it easier to sense changes in vehicle behavior; and that the cross-sectional form of the A-pillars influences perception of the vehicle’s width. Because humans are susceptible to optical illusions, we do not always perceive a straight alignment as straight. With respect to visibility, it is more important to be able to sense alignment with the direction of travel than to actually place items in alignment. In the same way, designs allowing us to sense the horizontal are more important than actually achieving it.

Effect of character line variation on sense of direction

Using XR technology, which makes it easier to read a situation, Honda seeks to facilitate driving as well as high-quality visibility that indulges the senses while the vehicle is in motion. We call this dynamic visibility.

Operability Verification

VR-Buck is the name for Honda’s system using XR to verify the operability of switches for HVAC and other functions, as well as drink holders and other in-cabin features. After putting on a head-mounted display (HMD) and finger tracking devices, the evaluator sits in a cockpit module that reconstructs the area around the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat within a frame. The HMD renders on its display a realistic vehicle cockpit that gives the user the sensation that they have boarded an actual vehicle.

When the evaluator goes to grab an actual plastic bottle wearing a glove equipped with a finger tracking device, the person’s avatar in the virtual environment moves its hand in sync with the user’s, allowing operability verification of the drink holder by inserting and removing the bottle. Another example is verification of the access and operability of switches on the center console.

Operability verification: drink holder

In development, proposals put forward by the design department are verified by the HMI evaluation team from an ergonomics standpoint. The team then presents opinions to the designers as feedback. Together they gradually work out the details, determining the position and design of buttons and dials down to the millimeter level. In the past, operability verification involved the building of a mockup or modifications to a physical model. Whereas switching between design variations was time-consuming with a physical model, the VR-Buck simply requires switching of data, which is instant. Similar systems are in place at bases both in Japan and overseas, enabling collaboration that leads to improvements in development efficiency and verification accuracy.

Appearance Quality Verification

Appearance quality verification is about ensuring visual consistency, checking for parts that stand out due to gaps in joints or fittings between parts, and in grilles, doors, and fenders. Previously, this process involved building and evaluating the appearance of a prototype, identifying areas requiring revision, and manufacturing the molds and dies for mass production once the revisions were complete.

Honda now verifies appearance quality using XR in place of a prototype. Images shown on the display recreate the natural light at the evaluation studio of the design center in Wako, Saitama Prefecture. When using a prototype for verification, there is a need to remake parts before evaluating variations of major features. But with XR, the verification can proceed immediately after simply switching the data. Besides contributing to time and cost reductions compared to when a prototype had to be built, improvements have also been observed in the accuracy of identifying areas requiring changes and the speed of judgments. It has led to the identification of issues that were hard to notice with a prototype. Fixing those issues along with other changes results in improved quality of appearance.

XR verification

Each part making up the vehicle exterior is designed to satisfy functionality and performance requirements of the individual part. When assembling a vehicle using parts designed by different personnel, the evaluators look at how solid, or integrated, the design looks, and the continuity. As for the outer panels, the team examines whether parts of a whole feature look whole and verifies aspects such as the play of light and shade. Ideally, the result will be smooth, continuous surfaces. In the interior, the appearance of surface textures is also evaluated.

Appearance quality verification covers everything that users will see. Starting from the front grille, the team looks for anything that could diminish the quality of the appearance. They also examine areas that come into view when the hood, trunk, or tailgate are opened.

XR-real car comparison:

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Problems identified during XR verification are shared with the design department. This is sometimes done online while looking at the same screen. Sometimes the parties meet face-to-face to share and discuss the same images. Steps are taken to improve efficiency in development according to the circumstances. As the quality of appearance improves through verification using XR technology, elements that had seemed out of place disappear, creating a better first impression. Honda engages in development with the belief that this enhances the value of its brand.

Ease of Assembly Verification

Ease of assembly verification is the evaluation of physical and sensory aspects of workability on production lines. Can workers do the work? What would make it easier for them to do their work? This verification process used to be performed using actual vehicles, but the switch to XR technology has improved both the efficiency and accuracy of verification, allowing quick reflection of the results in drawings. As a result, this helps to prevent problems that might otherwise occur in later processes.

For this verification, evaluators wear an HMD and finger tracking devices. Take verification of the process for fitting glass into a door, for example. Can it be done without unnecessary interference? Can workers fit their hands into the spaces? In addition to these physical elements, verification looks at sensory aspects, such as whether or not the workers’ required posture will be a strain on their bodies. It is a multifaceted evaluation. (All elements are simulated using the HMD.)

Because Honda produces identical models in different regions, differences between production plants in each region need to be considered. XR technology has improved the efficiency of that verification, too. In work to attach a part to a raised tailgate, for example, the height between the floor and the part attachment area differs from region to region. Workability requirements therefore vary. Prototypes used to be built to evaluate whether workers could reach or see certain places. Now this can be done beforehand using XR.

By conducting advance verification with XR technology, and finalizing specifications at an early stage, we elevated QCD^*5 performance, resulting in the provision of greater value to customers.

*5 Quality, cost, and delivery. QCD performance is essential in the manufacturing industry.

Head-mounted display (HMD) and finger tracking devices

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XR verification of a glass installation process

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Comparison between use of XR and prototypes for verifying attachment of tailgate interior parts

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Verification of New and Appealing Features

As the electrification of vehicles and their intelligence grows, Honda anticipates that brand new features will emerge that will be unverifiable using current approaches. It may be that existing evaluation criteria will be inapplicable to newly developed functions, creating a need to verify those functions across a variety of devices.

For example, users have until now opened car doors by operating a remote key, pulling the door handle with the key in their pocket or bag, or using their smartphone. With greater electrification and intelligence of vehicles, systems will spur into action as the driver approaches the vehicle, allowing a smoother entry and exit process. As for the driver’s actions, drivers will be guided to the next action through coordination between the separate devices. The timing and level of each device’s activation will be key.

Until now, specifications were optimized within individual design areas—doors for doors, and seat slides for seat slides, for example. And when verifying the individually optimized devices in operation, they do work in sync. But although optimization may be achieved for individual functions, series of operations might not always be optimal for the user. With this in mind, Honda worked to build an environment allowing accurate recreation of this interplay between devices to enable verification, without a physical vehicle, of the wonder and impact value achieved through smooth entry and exit and device operation.

In this way, it became possible to recreate synchronized operation timing that was previously unimaginable. Vehicle entry and exit, mentioned above, is just one example. Honda is advancing development to accommodate a wide range of new and appealing features that might be expected to emerge with greater vehicle electrification and intelligence. Device synchronization used to be developed with timing charts included on specification sheets. However, using documentation to verify the value to be realized from this is highly complex. Honda will accelerate utilization of the above kind of development environment.

Verification of device synchronization during vehicle entry and exit

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Using XR technology, Honda is working to remove the need for prototypes while ensuring that quality is maintained, enhancing development efficiency and enabling it to quickly deliver better products and new value to customers.