From PIERRE@division.demon.co.uk Wed Oct 12 09:39:05 1994 Return-Path: Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.4/UW-NDC Revision: 2.30 ) id AA11839; Wed, 12 Oct 94 09:39:05 -0700 Received: from gate.demon.co.uk by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.9/UW-NDC Revision: 2.30 ) id AA15986; Wed, 12 Oct 94 09:39:01 -0700 Received: from division.demon.co.uk by gate.demon.co.uk id aa26784; 12 Oct 94 17:31 GMT-60:00 Received: from charon.division.demon.co.uk by division.demon.co.uk (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA10036; Wed, 12 Oct 1994 17:32:00 +0100 Received: From GEORGE/WORKQUEUE by charon.division.demon.co.uk via Charon-4.0-VROOM with IPX id 100.941012170324.1024; 12 Oct 94 17:05:51 +500 Message-Id: From: Pierre duPont To: ukvrsig@mailbase.ac.uk, diderot@hitl.washington.edu, pcmike@aol.com, avatarp@well.sf.ca.us, scivw@u.washington.edu, scivwa@media.mit.edu, PCVR@fullfeed.com, sgerencser@delphi.com, 100071.116@compuserve.com, stearman@world.std.com, kaugust@caip.rutgers.edu Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 17:03:16 BST Subject: COMMERCIAL: Press Release from Division about McDonnell Douglas Reply-To: schiffd@division.com, dupontp@division.demon.co.uk X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail/Windows (v1.11a) Priority: A Status: OR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Doug Schiff, Division Inc, NC, USA +1 919-968-77978 Pierre duPont, Division Ltd, Bristol UK +44 454 615554 McDonnell Douglas Purchases VR System after Successful Engine Design Trial Division demonstrates real-world benefits of VR Bristol, UK and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA - September 13, 1994 -- McDonnell Douglas has purchased a ProVision 100 VPX system from Division after a trial demonstration that proved the benefits of using virtual reality (VR) in aircraft design. As a manufacturer of complex aerospace products, McDonnell Douglas must address maintenance issues early in the design process. The company already uses computer-aided design (CAD) tools to perform design tests and analyses early in the product development process. Division secured the sale by demonstrating to McDonnell Douglas that VR can be used to enhance the company's design capabilities and reduce costly prototypes. For McDonnell Douglas' application, design geometry for an F/A-18 tactical strike fighter engine, the engine bay, and various maintenance equipment was imported from a Unigraphics II CAD/CAM system into Division's dVISE software, an interactive authoring tool for developing virtual worlds. Division's engineers then created a VR environment to show how an aircraft design can be evaluated to determine how easy or difficult it will be to maintain. McDonnell Douglas' engineers were able to immerse themselves in the VR environment, where they interacted with models to install and remove the engine and to evaluate interferences. The engineers were looking at both the compatibility of the VR system with the company's existing design environment and the potential benefits of using VR in the design process, according to Doug Schiff, vice president of marketing for Division Inc. Removing an engine from an aircraft is a complex process. The virtual models developed for McDonnell Douglas match this process step for step: An engineer within the virtual environment opens the engine bay door, positions a trailer under the engine bay, and jacks the trailer up to the proper height. Using virtual tools, the engineer removes the bolts securing the engine to its housing. The engine is connected to the trailer, then lowered and removed for service. Installation is a similar process done in reverse. The demonstration proved the potential benefits of virtual reality, says Ray Heininger, the engineer at McDonnell Douglas in charge of the trial project: "The perceived benefits are great -- fewer mockups and prototypes, earlier design testing, and reduced costs." Heininger says his engineering group would not have been able to invest in VR if Division had not clearly demonstrated its benefits. "This is an example of how VR has moved beyond the realm of arcades and university research centers into the real world," says Schiff. "With some adjustments, the same application can be used in other steps of the product's lifecycle or for training maintenance staff. The trial shows that VR technology can deliver tangible benefits for designing all types of complex systems, including aircraft, ships, cars, power plants and manufacturing systems, to name a few." The ProVision 100 VPX is a fully integrated VR system combining stereo graphics, 3D sound and low-latency interactivity. The key software components are dVS, Division's virtual world runtime environment, and dVISE, the interactive authoring software. VPX graphics in the ProVision 100 are based on Pixel-Planes technology developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The system provides peak performance of more than 500,000 polygons per second. This enables the system to combine images of complex mechanical designs with the interactive response time needed for professional engineering and scientific applications. The Division Group of companies specializes in providing virtual reality technology, products, and services for professional virtual reality applications. Headquartered in Bristol, England, Division has US offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Redwood City, California, and a major distributor in Japan. The company has sold integrated virtual reality systems and services to a world-wide customer base of professional users, who include British Telecom, GTE, Nynex, Glaxo, Shell, DoD, DRA, McDonnell Douglas, NASA, and Matsushita. Its shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Photographs are available on request. ============================================================= email: dupontp@division.demon.co.uk Pierre duPont phone: +44 454 615554 Marketing Director fax: +44 454 615532 Division Limited 19 Apex Court, Woodlands, Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4JT UK