Immersive Technologies to Accelerate Innovation: How Virtual and Augmented Reality Enables the Co-Creation of Concepts

The digital transformation of companies is both a competitive challenge and a complex step for large groups and industries, and at the same time a tremendous opportunity. This transformation is entering a new dimension with the development of immersive technologies such as virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality, which are revolutionizing the way we generate content as well as visualize and interact with models and data. The challenges of innovation and digital transformation within companies are now converging. Research shows the potential that immersive technologies have to accelerate the first steps of the innovation process. The objective of this book is to provide a clear vision of the state of research on immersive technologies for design and to deliver practical recommendations for companies wishing to improve their innovation process.

Table of Contents:
Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Introduction xv Chapter 1. Innovation Management: Issues and Key Points for a Vital and Strategic Process 1 1.1. A question of survival 1 1.1.1. The example of Blockbuster Video 2 1.1.2. A regime of intensive innovation 2 1.1.3. From creativity to innovation 3 1.1.4. Equipping ourselves to innovate better 4 1.1.5. Modeling innovation at the company level 6 1.2. The blue ocean strategy 6 1.3. Open innovation 8 1.3.1. The two types of open innovation 9 1.3.2. The example of the MayAM challenge 10 1.3.3. Collaborative innovation 10 1.3.4. Crowdsourcing 11 1.3.5. The lead user 11 1.4. Technical and human issues from ideation to design 13 1.4.1. The sketch as a reflective process 13 1.4.2. Types of representation 14 1.4.3. Conditions for the effectiveness of sketches 15 1.4.4. The phases of ideation 16 1.4.5. The right tools at the right time 17 1.4.6. A growing variety of tools 19 Chapter 2. Creativity and Cognition: Factors and Biases of Mental Processes Involved in Creative Activities 21 2.1. The creativity process 21 2.1.1. The Wallas model (1926) 21 2.1.2. The GENEPLORE 22 2.1.3. Analogies 24 2.2. The factors of individual creativity 26 2.2.1. The individual creativity model 26 2.2.2. Investment theory 27 2.3. Creativity and personality 28 2.3.1. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator 29 2.3.2. The Big Five 30 2.3.3. Constituting a group for ideation 31 2.4. The factors of organizational creativity 32 2.5. Cognitive biases and creativity 35 Chapter 3. Physical and Virtual Environments and their Influence on Creativity 43 3.1. Physical environment of creation 43 3.1.1. Interference and stimulation 45 3.1.2. Layout 47 3.1.3. Natural elements 50 3.1.4. Colors, sounds, light and temperature 53 3.1.5. Creativity, posture and movement 55 3.2. Virtual creation environment 59 3.2.1. Avatars 60 3.2.2. Inspiring environments 64 Chapter 4. User-Centered Innovation Methods: Design Thinking, Double Diamond, Lean UX and Time to Concept 67 4.1. Design Thinking 67 4.2. The Double Diamond 70 4.3. Lean UX 71 4.3.1. Uncertainty linked to innovation 71 4.3.2. Definition 72 4.3.3. The Lean UX loop 72 4.4. The Time to Concept method 74 4.4.1. An example of the application of Time to Concept method 74 4.4.2. Managing innovation projects in Time to Concept 76 4.4.3. The six principles of the Time to Concept method 78 Chapter 5. Some Creative Problem-Solving Methods: TRIZ, C-K, CPS, Design Sprint 83 5.1. The TRIZ method 83 5.2. The C-K theory 85 5.3. Creative Problem Solving 86 5.4. Design Sprint 87 5.5. Lateral thinking 89 5.6. Synectics 91 5.7. Detour techniques 92 5.8. Discovery matrices 93 Chapter 6. All-Terrain Ideation Techniques: Brainstorming, Brainwriting, Brainsketching, Bodystorming and Immersive-Storming 95 6.1. Brainstorming 95 6.2. Brainwriting 97 6.3. Brainsketching 98 6.4. Bodystorming 99 6.5. Immersive-storming 101 Chapter 7. Immersive Tools for Every Innovative Situation 103 7.1. Design in virtual reality 103 7.1.1. The natural gesture 103 7.1.2. Links with CAD 105 7.1.3. Comparison of sketching tools 106 7.2. Co-design in virtual reality 108 7.2.1. Information capture in virtual reality 109 7.2.2. Asymmetrical collaboration 110 7.2.3. Affordances and constraints for immersive-storming 112 7.3. Types of immersive applications for creativity 114 7.4. Choosing the right creativity tools 118 7.5. Immersive tools for innovation project stages 120 7.5.1. Immersive technologies and Design Thinking 121 7.5.2. Immersive technologies and Lean Startup 123 7.5.3. Immersive technologies and Time to Concept 124 7.5.4. Immersive technologies and the creative process 126 Chapter 8. A Successful Immersive Experience for More Creativity 129 8.1. The experience of immersed users 129 8.1.1. Drawing inspiration from reality 130 8.1.2. A future standardization 130 8.1.3. User support 131 8.1.4. Physical space planning 133 8.1.5. The psychological dimensions of the user experience 134 8.2. The creative’s user experience 135 8.2.1. The Creative Support Index 135 8.2.2. The design of tools for ideation 136 Conclusion 139 References 141 Index 159

About the Author :
Sylvain Fleury and Simon Richir are researchers at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Metiers in Laval-Paris, France, and specialists in the use of immersive technologies and creativity in product design.