Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation have debuted a new virtual reality (VR) design evaluation system at the brands’ global design headquarters. The new system, introduced to the Namyang Research and Development Center in South Korea, demonstrates a heightened focus on enhancing vehicle development processes through the implementation of VR technology.

Hyundai and Kia displayed how new VR technology will be utilized by both brands in future. The technology uses several development applications, enabling teams of designers and engineers to carry out vehicle design quality assessments and development verification processes.

Through the complete implementation of the virtual development processes throughout R&D and pre-production stages, Hyundai and Kia anticipates a 20 percent reduction in vehicle development times and a 15 percent reduction in annual development costs.

In addition to reducing development costs, these new virtual technologies are expected to increase profitability and trigger a cycle of continuously increasing R&D investment for Hyundai and Kia.

VR headsets allow the brands’ vehicle designers and engineers to virtually enter developmental simulations, with 36 motion tracking sensors detecting and tracking the locations and movement of all users, enabling each to participate accurately in real time. The new VR design evaluation system can currently support up to 20 simultaneous users, enabling greater cross-team collaboration than ever before.

As a result, the new cutting-edge facility allows the designers from each brand to more efficiently review a multitude of design concepts earlier in the developmental process and in ways that were previously physically impossible. The system simulates interior and exterior design elements, lighting, colors and materials, and even virtual environments themselves.

Additionally, plans to establish remote VR design assessment capabilities will enable real-time virtual collaboration between each brand’s design centers in Europe, America, China and India, along with an enhanced virtual development process through the implementation of AR (Augmented Reality), among other technology.