Role Models

This article focuses on the fact that by inserting digital humans into that virtual world—or stepping into it themselves—engineers have found new ways to test designs for ergonomics, manufacturability, maintainability, safety, and style. The goal, of course, is to design better, higher quality products faster and cheaper by getting everyone from manufacturing and quality through safety and maintenance involved in the process before settling on a design. The approach, called concurrent engineering, has been talked about since the quality revolution in the 1980s. Digital humans provide important insights into the design of production and assembly equipment. By simulating the task with large digital populations, safety engineers can determine before a machine goes into production whether anyone is likely to circumvent its safety features. One way to overcome behavior barriers is to put real people in simulations.