A new dimension to design education with augmented reality
What if you could inspect a new structural design from every angle before it’s even built? Thanks to an innovative augmented reality (AR) application developed by TU Delft scientist Alejandro M. Aragón, this is now a reality. The app makes computational design more accessible and is a valuable addition to educating the next generation of engineers in this field.
Wearing an AR headset, Associate Professor Alejandro M. Aragón demonstrates how simple and intuitive the app is to use. With a few simple hand gestures, the design of a bridge appears in augmented reality, allowing him to walk around it and examine it from every angle. The idea for the app emerged when he attended a conference on optimisation in 2023, during which he learned about the latest AR glasses. “I immediately knew I wanted to apply this technology to the field of topology optimisation,” Aragón explains.
Making topology optimisation more accessible
Aragón’s research efforts focus on finding optimized designs for a wide range of (meta)materials and structures. A key method in his work is topology optimisation, which is an iterative algorithm used to optimize the shape or geometry of an object based on a target functionality and specific constraints. This could mean, for instance, minimizing material usage or mitigating the likelihood of fracture, depending on the design goals.
A.M. (Alejandro) Aragón
Despite its potential, topology optimisation is not yet widely adopted. “It’s a complex methodology that demands significant technical expertise and isn’t always supported by commercial software,” Aragón explains. Additional challenges, such as ensuring manufacturability or incorporating subjective elements like aesthetics, add to the difficulty. According to Aragón, emerging technologies like AR and VR offer new possibilities. “These technologies enable intuitive, gesture-based interactions and bridge the gap between human intuition and computational models.”
A new dimension in design education
In collaboration with his former MSc student Hendrik Jaap Algra, they developed ARCADE: Augmented Reality Computational Analysis and Design Environment. ARCADE is an app for the Apple Vision Pro specifically designed for “immersed topology optimisation.” Using hand gestures, users can adjust design criteria such as the dimensions of the computational domain and boundary conditions (loads and supports). While being able to set any type of boundary conditions, the app includes those for designing a cantilever beam and a bridge – both commonly used examples in mechanical engineering. The app then calculates an optimized design in real time, which is instantly displayed in the AR environment. “As far as I know, this is the first application to support topology optimisation in an AR environment,” says Aragón. The end objective is not only to provide an actual design (based on physics), but also to enhance the integration of human creativity into the design process.
ARCADE will initially be used for education. “The first task for students learning topology optimisation is to design a structure that minimizes deformation under applied forces. This app is ideal for that purpose,” Aragón explains.
A new standard for interactive design
According to Aragón, the combination of AR and topology optimisation has the potential to transform design processes in the future. “By integrating human input early in the process, visualizing designs in their intended environment, and enabling real-time adjustments to optimisations, this technology accelerates the path to a final prototype.”
He will present ARCADE in the next World Congress of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimisation later this year. The app will also be released in the Apple Store for visonOS.