HOOPS Exchange Provides Foundation for SALT AND PEPPER Software’s Cutting-Edge Virtual Reality Applications
Tech Soft 3D, leading provider of development toolkits to the engineering software industry, today announces that SALT AND PEPPER Software, a Germany-based company that develops advanced technology and software solutions, is using HOOPS Exchange to develop applications that integrate virtual reality (VR) into the manufacturing process.
“VR opens up completely new possibilities for manufacturing,” said Fabian Schlarmann, Product Manager for SALT AND PEPPER Software. “Our ‘Embodied Engineering’ approach puts the focus on people, helping them improve planning procedures and reduce communications barriers. We want to get our VR tools in the hands of skilled workers, production planners, product engineers, and everyone in between, so that they can build the factory of the future.”
One of SALT AND PEPPER Software’s key offerings is Forestage, which lets users visualize how a product will be assembled on the factory floor. After loading their existing CAD files into Forestage, users can experience the product in VR through headsets like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. This virtual experience lets users easily identify design flaws and better assess the buildability of that item. Meanwhile, Boxplan lets users better design the shop floor itself by experiencing true-to scale assembly stations in VR. In the application, mockups of assembly stations can be created from simple boxes and extended with existing 3D data. This allows users to better understand the spatial conditions of the various workstations on the factory floor and reduce the risk of expensive errors.
Fast, Reliable 3D CAD Data Access
To support a broad cross-section of the industrial market, SALT AND PEPPER Software knew that it would need its flagship applications to work with as wide a range of data as possible. HOOPS Exchange represented an ideal solution for SALT AND PEPPER Software. HOOPS Exchange includes all the integration tools a development team requires to easily build robust CAD data translation into an application, delivering a wide range of 3D data types in all major CAD and 3D formats. Crucially, HOOPS Exchange provides access to a broad range of data, including boundary representation (BREP), product manufacturing information (PMI), model tree, views, persistent IDs, styles, construction geometry, visualization and more.
“We have so many different companies that we work with, from small engineering departments at startups to huge, well-established automobile manufacturers,” said Schlarmann. “They’re all using different CAD systems and working with different file formats. How do we enable a seamless workflow for all of them? It’s important to us to have access to that high level of detail but to also be able to reduce the complexity of the model for optimal VR performance.”
By relying on the HOOPS Exchange software development kit, SALT AND PEPPER Software is able to devote the majority of its time towards developing solutions that help manufacturers to efficiently integrate Virtual Reality into their operations. “Our core business is designing great VR applications and great user interfaces that help optimize production processes involving people and machines,” said Schlarmann. “Importing CAD files is not our core business – and that’s why we rely on strong partners like Tech Soft 3D.”
About Tech Soft 3D
Tech Soft 3D is the leading global provider of development tools that help software teams deliver successful applications, as well as the creator of the 3D format that is part of the PDF standard. Established in 1996 and headquartered in Bend, Oregon, Tech Soft 3D also has offices in California, France, England and Japan. The company’s toolkit products power nearly 500 unique applications running on hundreds of millions of computers worldwide. For more information, visit www.techsoft3d.com.
HOOPS is a registered trademark of Tech Soft 3D. All other products or company references are the property of their respective holders.
