2007

Helin, Kaj; Evilä, Teemu; Viitaniemi, Juhani; Aromaa, Susanna; Kujala, Tuomo; Patel, Harshada; Pakkanen, Toni; Raisamo, Roope; Salmenperä, Pekka; Miettinen, Juha; Kilpeläinen, Pekka; Rannanjärvi, Leila; Vähä, Pentti

In the field of movable machines and vehicles, the user demands and the requirements for versatility of products are becoming more challenging.New methods such as human-centred interface design are needed to improve the usability, safety and ergonomics of vehicular working machines.This study aimed to satisfy these needs.The objectives focused on developing new concepts for interface technologies and implementations for movable machines, and also to develop a new Virtual Reality platform for user-centred machine design. This paper introduces a new design method for user-centred design that combines the theoretical Human-Centred Design (HCD) method with practical use of VR devices and applications.Another objective was to clarify issues from the product development process point of view in order to implement the above system and methods.However, there are still problems involved in the utilisation of Virtual Reality applications and these are discussed.The four-step method introduced in this paper has been tested in industrial design workshops.This paper based on five different studies: (1) Virtual reality-based design environment, (2) User-Centred Design method, (3) Adaptive user interface, (4) New Product Development, and (5) Case Studies in which all the other studies where evaluated.Each section has its own objectives and results.The main results and conclusions on all the projects are at the end of the paper.