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The purpose of this paper is to identify the strengths and weaknesses associated with physical and virtual prototyping and propose an approach that utilises a real‐time integration of both methods through an automated process.

Following a literature review, the paper presents the results of a survey investigating the current use of prototyping. It then discusses a series of trials that were developed for the proposed tool.

Physical and virtual prototypes are not competitive but rather complementary. An integrated real‐time system would reduce cost and shorten the product design process.

This paper provides recommendations on how real‐time integration of both physical and virtual prototypes could potentially streamline the new product development process.