BMW chose the HTC Vive as its virtual reality headset of choice for its vehicle development workstations, proving that VR is more than just for gaming. The company plans on incorporating VR in the early vehicle development process to aid interior design and global collaboration.
With the VR systems, BMW designers can quickly tweak drafts and collaborate with others around the world without physically building the parts, saving time and money. But BMW isn't just strapping a Vive headset to developers and letting them have their way in the virtual world; there's a physical component to its development systems as well.
While this is a major win for the HTC Vive in the new VR battle, BMW isn't quite ready to put a ring on it yet and treats it as an open relationship. The company plans to regularly explore other options by evaluating new hardware and software to keep up with advancements.
I find this really cool, because it opens up the possibilities for work-from-home collaboration across the globe. Imagine a world where a designer can take feedback from colleagues and instantly change it for everyone to see.
Meetings can take place in a virtual space instead of boardrooms and everyone can have a dedicated VR system in their home office to review designs. Or if you think beyond the HTC Vive, the experience can be downsized to run on a Samsung Galaxy Gear VR or Google Cardboard, so others in the company can see what you're working on.