Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 55 No. 2 (June 2018)
1Utilization of 3D VR (Virtual Reality) Technology for
Product Development to Improve User Experience

TOMOYUKI YAMAZAKI*1 NAOKI SHIBATA*2

In the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) Group, 3D VR technology has been applied
to the entire value chain. As a result of the price reduction of VR devices and the improvement ofthe environment for the use and production of contents, the scope of application of VR technology
has become wider and VR technology has been positioned as “a tool whose existence is taken for
granted” in the same way as PCs and smartphones. In such an environment, the MHI Group has
promoted efforts to increase the user experience value beyond the framework of the value chain,and 3D VR technology was applied to the factory tour at the Takasago Works of MHPS (MitsubishiHitachi Power Systems, Ltd.), resulting in an increase in customer satisfaction.

|1. Introduction
In the MHI Group, VR technology has been applied to the entire value chain for “ValueChain Innovation by Using 3D VR Technology” since 2012. Specifically, with the IPT (ImmersiveProjection Technology) system that was introduced in 2012 and the MR (Mixed Reality) system“Canon MREAL” that was introduced in 2013, the characteristics of “full scale” and “stereoscopicview” were made use of in design, analysis, manufacture, sales and after-sales service of various
products, and increased sophistication of reviews, a substantial increase in efficiency and theimplementation promotions that provide new experiences were realized.
Since sometime around 2016, which is called “the first year of VR,” the 3D VR system has
undergone significant changes and the prices of Head Mount Display-type (HMD) products havebeen rapidly lowered. This has been driven not only by mass production and the effects of businessmodels for the sale of contents, etc., but also technological innovations such as FOV2Go andLighthouse. In addition, VR software is fulfilling and is broadly divided into three types: (1) GLR(GL-DLL Replacement) that does not require data conversion, (2) data conversion-based software
for VR, and (3) game engine-based development environments. This facilitates the development ofcontents corresponding to various uses.
The scope of application of VR technology has become wider and VR technology has been
positioned as “a tool whose existence is taken for granted” in the same way as PCs andsmartphones. In such an environment, the MHI Group has promoted efforts to increase the user
experience value beyond the framework of the value chain. Recent examples of the application ofVR technology are described in Section 2 and efforts to increase the user experience value aredescribed in Sections 3 and 4.

|2. VR technology application examples
Three recent examples of the application of VR technology in the MHI Group are describedbelow.
(1) Product review (Chemical/fertilizer/thermal power/nuclear power plants, passenger boat, navalvessel, etc.) (Figure 1)
For large amounts of data for plants or ships (Figure 2), VR software products using the*1*2

Advanced Design Center, Marketing & Innovation Headquarters
Deputy Director, Advanced Design Center, Marketing & Innovation Headquarters

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GLR method (Techviz TechvizXL, Fiatlux EasyVR, Cybernet VDR) are used. In the GLR
method, only geometry is processed, and a high level of performance can be secured, and intheory, no inconsistencies occur between the original CAD data and the VR representation.
Therefore, it is highly applicable to design reviews. The state of completion can be shared withthe customer and therefore, discrepancies or returns in downstream operations can beprevented. In addition, it contributes to the improvement of design quality as a review tool fordesigners.

Figure 1 VR review for plant productFigure 2 Large amounts of data for plant
product(2) Study of workability (gas turbine for power generation, commercial aircraft, nuclear powerequipment, rocket, flying body, etc.) (Figure 3)
In the study of manufacturability and maintainability in the product design stage and theworkability of a new manufacturing line, VR software products (Redstack Fuzor, Asahi
Electronics VirDSE, ESI IC.IDO, COMOS Walkinside, etc.) are used. The advantages of VR
software is that it is equipped with several standard functions, allowing the creation of contents
without development. Figure 3 presents an example of application to manufacturing workability
verification leveraging the ease of simulation of welding operations and representation throughanimation of the assembly procedure.
(3) Marketing promotion (various exhibitions, exhibition facilities, etc.) (Figure 4)
The development environment based on game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine
has been widely adopted, which facilitates the development of elaborate VR contents.
Conventionally, exhibitions were conducted mainly for VR software, but now, interactive
contents have been produced and used for even greater appeal. Figure 4 illustrates the VR
exhibition “MHI VR Mirai Gacha” at Gastech 2017. The contents incorporate game-likeelements in which the MHI Group’s products are assembled as if a puzzle was being
constructed, and when the assembly is completed within a certain time, a full-scale productexperience is unlocked. Many customers enjoyed the contents as a light touch point to theproduct.

Figure 3 Welding workability verification by VR

Figure 4 MHI VR Mirai Gacha atGastech 2017

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3|3. User experience cycle
Conventionally, 3D VR technology was applied to the entire value chain. At present, wehave promoted efforts to increase the user experience (UX) value by widening the scope ofapplication. Many framework diagrams about UX have been released, and we place the UX cycle
given in Figure 5 as the basis for our efforts. This shows the relationship with the MHI Group fromthe perspective of customers and the value chain is incorporated in the cycle. For example, theproduct review using VR described in the previous section (1) corresponds to “(4) Check the designor check the manufacturing status.”
As a result of the price reduction of VR technology and the improvement of contents use andproduction environment, the scope of application of VR technology has become wider and VRtechnology has been positioned as “a tool whose existence is taken for granted” in the same way as
PCs or smartphones. Until now, only the possession and use of VR facilities were an advantage,
whereas at present, it is important where and how they are used. We have conducted specificstudies according to the ISO13407 Human-centered design process. The flow of thehuman-centered design process is presented in Figure 6.

Figure 5 UX cycle

Figure 6

ISO13407 Human-centered design process|4. Example of efforts to improve the user experience
An example of efforts to improve the experience in the factory tour at the MHPS Takasago
Works to “check the design or check the manufacturing status” using the human-centered design
process is described.
The Takasago Works (Figure 7) is one of the main factories of MHPS and mainly
manufactures gas turbines for power generation, and every year, many customers visit for factory
tours. This effort is intended to make customers more deeply understood the manufacturing carriedout at the Takasago Works and provide further customer satisfaction.

Figure 7 MHPS Takasago Works

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In the effort described below, VR technology is used for the extraction of issues withprototypes, for the case study of proposals, etc. The use of VR technology as contents is also understudy.
(1) Phase 1: Understanding and clarification of status of use
To understand the current state of the factory tour at the Takasago Works, weaccompanied the customers, experienced the factory tour and made sure that the following flow
was followed:- Before the factory tour, an explanation about the Takasago Works and the gas turbine
technology was given in the meeting room.
- We visited and observed several manufacturing processes and the major facilities such as
the demonstration power generation facility, the laboratory, the remote monitoring centerand the manufacturing education center.
- At each facility, the person in charge of the facility gave us an explanation.
- After the factory tour, a question-and-answer session was held in the meeting room.
(2) Phase 2: Clarification of requirements by user and organization
In the workshop (Figure 8), the user actions and mindset were analyzed. After that, theanalyzed data was organized in the customer journey map (Figure 9) to clarify the issues.
Examples of the issues are described below.

Figure 8 Workshop

Figure 9 Customer journey map- For deeper understanding of the major characteristics of the Takasago Works
At each facility, the person in charge gives a detailed explanation so that visitors can deepen
their understanding of individual facilities, and we want you to deeply understand that wehave all the necessary facilities, such as laboratory, design, manufacturing anddemonstration facilities, required for manufacturing.
- For easy-to-understand presentation of all manufacturing processes for gas turbines
We want to present, in an easy-to-understand manner, how all the processes are configured
and what part of all the processes we see. But only several manufacturing processes can beseen on the tour, and it is also difficult to conduct a tour along the manufacturing process
for the sake of convenience of passage, etc.
- Difficulty in asking questions during factory tour
To make it easy to hear voices in an environment with factory noise, a wireless guidesystem (Panaguide) is used. But it provides one-way transmission of voices, and it isdifficult for visitors to ask questions at the site and visitors have to wait to ask questions

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until the question-and-answer session in the meeting room.
(3) Phase 3: Preparation of proposed solutions by design
For the issues extracted in Phase 2, the following solutions were proposed:- For deeper understanding of the major characteristics of the Takasago Works
The Takasago Works has all the necessary facilities, such as laboratory, design,manufacturing and demonstration facilities, required for manufacturing. The fact that
reliable products are produced by all the facilities working closely with each other wasclarified as a “story,” and it was summarized into a book and made known to the concerned
parties (Figure 10). At each point in the factory tour, with the story kept in mind, the person
in charge explains about the actual facilities, work and efforts in detail. Thus, anexplanation following along with the story is made at each point so that visitors can moresmoothly understand.

Figure 10

Story Book of MHPS Takasago Works- For easy-to-understand presentation of all manufacturing processes for gas turbines
A time-lapse video in which all the gas turbine manufacturing processes are organized in ashort time is shown in the meeting room before the tour and the facilities that the visitors
will see on the tour and in what part of the processes they are located are explained inadvance. By using the video, visitors can easily imagine what they are about to see and their
expectations for the factory tour are increased.
- Difficulty in asking questions during factory tour
A two-way intercom was introduced to allow questions and answers at the site. The person
in charge of the tour answers questions during the explanation, and quicker responses canbe provided compared to the question-and-answer session in the meeting room after thetour, allowing easier-to-understand response while pointing at facilities with a finger.
(4) Phase 4: Evaluation of design in relation to requirements
As a result of introducing and implementing the solutions made in Phase 3 to the actual
factory tour, the customers made comments such as, “Compared to past tours, the message wasconveyed more clearly and I could feel the sense of togetherness of the factory” and “I could
really understand that the way the Takasago Works operates with the quaternity of design,
factory, demonstration power generation facility and laboratory leads to the high reliability ofgas turbines.” As such we could verify that customer understanding was promoted andcustomer satisfaction was increased.

|5. Conclusion
In this report, the state of recent 3D VR technology, the status of application to the value
chain of the MHI Group and efforts to increase the user experience value beyond the value chain
were described.
The factory tour at the MHPS Takasago Works presented as an example continues to bedeveloped. We wait for customers at the factory where they can experience and feel MHPS’s pridethrough our state-of-the-art technologies and manufacturing based on these technologies and thedemonstration power generation facility for proving the reliability of our products. We willcontinue this approach to the user experience cycle while incorporating state-of-the-art
technologies including VR so that customers can understand the value of their partnership with theMHI Group.