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XR in Automotive: How Automakers Are Using XR, Digital Twins, and AI

Automotive companies have been on the cutting edge of emerging technology adoption for a decade now. As an industry, automotive is a perfect example of how technologies like extended reality, digital twins, and artificial intelligence can transform not just individual tasks but an entire sector. The pressure to innovate in the auto industry is due to a number of factors, including a severe shortage of skilled workers. It’s estimated that the U.S. needs more than 100,000 new automotive technicians each year to meet demand and replace workers leaving the field, far more than the number of people currently preparing for careers in the industry.  At the same time, vehicles themselves have changed. Modern cars are more electronic than physical, packed with software, sensors, battery systems, advanced driver assistance features, infotainment, connectivity, diagnostics and, increasingly, AI-enabled capabilities. Cars today are complex technology platforms. It makes sense that the tools used to design, build, inspect, sell, and service them would become more digital, too. Here are some recent examples of how automakers are using XR, digital twins, and AI across the vehicle lifecycle. Ford Ford began using VR in 2015 along with infrared cameras and motion capture software to identify unergonomic assembly […]

7 min read