An interactive environment for virtual manufacturing: the virtual workbench

The approach of a 'virtual workbench' and its application to so-called virt ual manufacturing is presented and discussed in this paper. The 'virtual wo rkbench' is a drawing board under which virtual objects are projected stere oscopically. The system is strongly interactive and well suited to present multimedia information in a virtual reality environment. The user can watch the 3D scene holographically by using glasses and is able to interact with the system through a 6D input device. The tailor-made 'virtual manufacturi ng' environment supports the advanced man-machine interface concept. The ov erall system is a new powerful approach for highly relevant industrial appl ication of virtual prototypes which focuses on the construction and assessm ent of industrial products in an early design stage. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scie nce B.V. All rights reserved.