Interdisciplinary Communication and Comprehension in Factory Automation Engineering - A Concept for an Immersive Virtual Environment

In engineering of factory automation systems, understanding and discussing complex systems is important for a competitive development process. Understanding complex connections within these systems while working with interdisciplinary teams scattered around the globe can be a very challenging task. An intuitive way for comprehension and communication within this environment would be beneficial. For this reason, we propose a concept for a virtual environment for gaining a quicker understanding of complex systems and their connections, as well as a way for presentation and discussion using the concept of virtual reality. This is approached by using an immersive way of visualizing and interacting with complex information. The environment itself as well as different ways of immersing in it are presented. To highlight the properties of the approach, an application example is given.