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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.

This paper proposes a dexel‐based virtual prototyping system, which builds a virtual prototype with dexels or rectangular strips of solid. The approach resembles the physical fabrication process of most powder‐based rapid prototyping (RP) systems. It simulates an RP process to create a virtual prototype. Colour virtual prototypes may also be fabricated relatively easily. Thus, the designer can perform design validation and accuracy analysis easily in a virtual environment as if using a physical prototype. In addition to numeric quantification of the RP process, the system provides vivid visualisations of the prototype for studying its characteristics. Furthermore, the prototype may be superimposed on the product model, and the areas with dimensional errors beyond design limits may be clearly highlighted for subsequent improvement. The designer may thus analyse and compare the surface texture point‐by‐point of the prototype with the product design.

Introduces a way to design geographically distributed virtual prototyping, a new Internet technology, in order to facilitate designer‐customer communication in the product development of small electronic devices, such as mobile telephones. First, we will present our research in the concept design domain with a set of requirements focusing on communication between the designer and the customer. Second, a technique called “smart virtual prototyping” will be presented to elaborate on the virtual prototyping techniques to be used over the World Wide Web. Third, we will present the main ideas, architecture and selected software techniques of WebShaman, which is an application built to demonstrate how a distributed virtual prototyping system could support geographically distant designer‐customer communication. Finally, we discuss the possible impact of the distributed virtual prototyping approach on the WWW community.

This paper examines the three-dimensional (3D)virtual world users’ perceptions of authenticity and trustworthiness in the virtual prototypes and users’ potential purchase behavior in the real-world settings. The 3D virtual worlds provide a new platform that exhibits virtual prototypes as a promotion channel for new products of real-world and online service, where users can communicate “face to face” via their representative avatars.

The authors conducted an experiment in Second Life and collected data in a post-study questionnaire to test our proposed conceptual model. Structural equation modeling was the main methodology.

The research results showed that 3D virtual world users obtained a high sense of telepresence and social presence. The sense of telepresence positively leads to users’ perceptions of online trust in the virtual prototypes and thus increases their intention to purchase real-world objects; the users’ sense of social presence positively associates to their perceptions of authenticity and online trust and, therefore, their purchase intention.

In survey research, the common method variance is a problem. A more robust way is to use objective measures.

A new channel was proposed for businesses to enhance their online strategies that will increase their business value.

3D virtual world is also a cutting-edge platform for remote education, public information service, etc.

This paper initially contributes to the literature that interprets underlying factors in 3D virtual worlds associated to purchase intention in real-world objects. We demonstrated the advantages, i.e. the communication efficacy and vivid virtual design in the 3D user-generated environment.

This paper aims to argue about the involvement of additive technologies (ATs) in the prototyping issues of designing. More precisely, it reviews the literature contributions focused on the different perspectives of prototyping activities for design purposes, searching for both available knowledge and research needs concerning the correct exploitation of ATs.

A two-step literature review has been performed. In the first step, general information has been retrieved about prototyping issues related to design. In the second step, the literature searches were focused on retrieving more detailed information about ATs, concerning each of the main issues identified in the previous step. Extracted information has been analyzed and discussed for understanding the actual coverage of the arguments and for identifying possible research needs.

Four generally valid prototyping issues have been identified in the first step of the literature review. For each of them, available information and current lacks have been identified and discussed about the involvement of AT, allowing to extract six different research hints for future works.

This is the first literature review concerning AT-focused contributions that cover the complex and inter-disciplinary issues characterizing prototyping activities in design contexts.

To illustrate the benefits of using the empirical similitude method when creating scale models with rapid prototyping processes, particularly in the context of evolutionary product design.

Apply the empirical similitude method in two experimental examples. Utilize rapid prototyping processes to create scale models. Both examples are based on the context of evolutionary product design. For one example, evaluate accuracy of empirical similitude results as compared to traditional similitude.

The first experimental example showed improved accuracy in the empirical similitude results as compared with traditional similitude. The second experimental example illustrated an effective approach for applying the empirical similitude method to a realistic product evolution.

Limited to two experimental examples. Examples involve a single prototyping process (selective laser sintering). Does not cover limitations of the empirical similitude method.

The approach provides for an effective way of utilizing rapid prototypes to predict the functional behavior of an evolutionary product. Rapid prototypes are readily available, but are rarely used in evaluating product function, due to limitations in part sizes and material properties.

This paper provides a practical way of utilizing rapid prototypes to predict the functional behavior of a product through scale models. It also illustrates the proposed method with two experimental examples.

This paper re-visits the basic premises of open building: designing for change as well as for stability, including the users in the design decision-making processes, and disentangling the building systems into the levels and allowing replacement; then, addresses the limitations of conventional design media in terms of the capabilities to support these aims. It is discussed that the design media should be predictive, dynamic, and interactive. Virtual prototyping as an enabling technology is reviewed and proposals are made for the future use of this technology for open building design.

Frontier environments – such as battlefields, hostile territories, remote locations, or outer space – drive the need for lightweight, deployable structures that can be stored in a compact configuration and deployed quickly and easily in the field. This paper seeks to introduce the concept of lattice skins is introduced to enable the design, solid freeform fabrication (SFF), and deployment of customizable structures with nearly arbitrary surface profile and lightweight multi‐functionality.

Using Duraform^® FLEX material in a selective laser sintering machine, large deployable structures are fabricated in a nominal build chamber by decomposing them into smaller parts. Before fabrication, lattice sub‐skins are added strategically beneath the surface of the part. The lattices provide elastic energy for folding and deploying the structure or constrain expansion upon application of internal air pressure. Nearly, arbitrary surface profiles are achievable and internal space is preserved for subsequent usage.

A set of virtual and physical prototypes are presented, along with the computational modeling approach used to design them. The prototypes provide proof of concept for lattice skins as a deployment mechanism in SFF and demonstrate the effect of lattice structures on deployed shape.

The research findings demonstrate not only the feasibility of a new deployment mechanism‐based on lattice skins – for deploying freeform structures, but also the potential utility of SFF techniques for fabricating customized deployable structures.

A new lattice skin mechanism is introduced for deploying structures with nearly arbitrary surface profiles and open, usable, internal space. Virtual and physical prototypes are introduced for proof of concept, along with an optimization approach for automated design of these structures.

Maintainability is a critical design characteristic that shows how well a product can be maintained; maintenance time is a comprehensive parameter of product maintainability design. This paper aims to provide an integrated methodology for complex product maintainability verification and maintenance time prediction using virtual prototypes and humans in a virtual dynamic simulation of the maintenance process.

An integrated platform for maintainability verification and maintenance time prediction is designed. Decomposition of maintenance tasks, corrective measurement time method, and an impact matrix of maintenance therbligs and time are presented.

The proposed methodology can efficiently conduct complex product maintainability verification and maintenance time prediction.

Early and effective verification and prediction of the maintainability and maintenance time program can significantly improve the maintainability and availability of a complex product.

A universally applicable method for product maintainability verification and maintenance time prediction is presented.

Maintainability, as an intrinsic property that shows how well a product can be maintained, should be strictly controlled in the design stage. Maintenance space is an important aspect of maintainability and should be verified in the design stage. Methods to verify maintenance space based on expert knowledge or vision cone have been proposed. However, no proper quantitative solutions have been proposed yet to verify maintenance space in the design stage. This paper aims to provide a new method to evaluate quantitatively the maintenance space in a virtual environment by using the swept volume (SV).

An integrated platform for quantitatively evaluating maintenance space in a virtual environment is designed. Virtual reality technology and digital prototype are used to overcome the shortage of physical prototypes in the design stage. SVs are applied to represent the movement of the hand along the entire maintenance process. Maintenance operations are divided into three basic types. Each type of basic operation refers to two quantitative indexes, namely the surface area and the volume of the SV of the maintenance personnel. Data on the indexes are gathered and calculated to evaluate maintenance space.

The proposed methodology can evaluate feasibly and efficiently the maintenance space determined by the layout design of product components in the design stage.

Application of the proposed method can help designers reduce the shortness of maintenance space and improve the design layout of products.

A method to evaluate maintenance space that employs a quantitative combination of virtual environment and swept volume is pressed.