UI concepts of VR systems for product development

VR systems are well accepted in the product development process today. However this technology does not have a broad penetration and high number of installations in comparison to desktop systems, due to the high investments in VR technology especially hardware. On the user interface side many VR systems took over ideas from traditional WIMP interfaces (windows, icons, menus, pointers) without maintaining a smooth transition for the users from desktop environments to immersive environments and vice versa. In addition a great bunch of multi modal interaction techniques have been developed to render VR interaction more intuitively. This paper discusses various user interface concepts of VR systems and their use along the product development process. We give examples for solutions and projects developed in collaboration with different companies, such as BMW, Italdesign, FIAT, Airbus.