Ford Motor Company is the only automaker to use the same type of motion-capture software in its virtual engineering labs as Hollywood employs to create such motion pictures as “Avatar,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and “Polar Express”
Ford uses motion-capture software for a variety of automotive applications including the study of human movement for better ergonomics, 3D animation, immersive virtual driving experiences, and virtual manufacturing. The technology is the latest innovation at Ford to help engineers optimize vehicle design, comfort and ergonomics. The work from this technology is being applied to future products
Leaping into the world of virtual engineering, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) now employs the same type of motion-capture technology used to create films like “Avatar,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Shrek” to design vehicles that are more comfortable and enjoyable to drive.
Motion-capture, a technology that digitally captures movement, is used by Hollywood computer animators and video game designers to make nonhuman characters appear more lifelike. Ford uses the technology to create realistic digital humans that engineers use to test vehicles in the virtual world. Ford is the only automaker to use motion-capture software in this way for vehicle design.
“Just like in the movies, we hook people up with sensors to understand exactly how they move when they are interacting with their vehicles,” said Gary Strumolo, manager, Ford research and engineering. “Once we have all that motion captured, we create virtual humans that we can use to run thousands of tests that help us understand how people of all sizes and shapes interact with all kinds of vehicle designs. It’s an incredibly efficient way of engineering tomorrow’s vehicles.”
SOURCE Ford Motor Company
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