Knowledge Management and Specialized Information Systems - Principles of Information Systems - page 469

Business and Commerce
Virtual reality has been used in all areas of business. Kimberly-Clark Corporation, for
example, has developed a virtual reality system to view store aisles carrying its products. 67
This allows executives to see how Kimberly-Clark products look in stores aside competing
products. The virtual reality view of store aisles should help executives monitor customer
behavior and determine the best packaging and placement of their products on store aisles.
Boeing uses virtual reality to help it design and manufacture airplane parts and new planes,
including the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing uses 3D PLM from Dassault Systems. 68 Clothing and
fashion companies, such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, are using virtual reality
on the Internet to display and promote new products and fashions. 69 In another Web ap-
plication, virtual reality was used to design a $90 million addition to the Denver Art Museum.
The software can also show the picture, length, and diameter of the 50,000 bolts that are
being used. Palomar Pomerado Health used Second Life to create a virtual hospital when it
started construction of a real $700 million hospital in California in 2007 . 70 The purpose of
the Second Life virtual hospital was to show clients and staff the layout and capabilities of
the new hospital. Second Life has also been used in business and recruiting.
Boeing uses virtual reality to
collaborate with customers during
aircraft design.
(Source: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren.)
Entertainment
Computer-generated image technology, or CGI, has been around since the 1970s. Many
movies use this technology to bring realism to the silver screen, including Finding
Nemo , Spider-Man II , and Star Wars Episode II—Attack of the Clones . A team of artists ren-
dered the roiling seas and crashing waves of Perfect Storm almost entirely on computers using
weather reports, scientific formulas, and their imagination. Other films include Dinosaur
with its realistic talking reptiles, Titan A.E. 's beautiful 3-D space-scapes, and the casts of
computer-generated crowds and battles in Gladiator and The Patriot . CGI can also be used
for sports simulation to enhance the viewers' knowledge and enjoyment of a game. SimCity
( http://simcity.ea.com/ ), a virtual reality game, allows people to experiment with decisions
related to urban planning. Natural and man-made disasters test decisions on designing
buildings and the surrounding area. Other games can display a 3-D view of the world and
allow people to interact with simulated people or avatars in the game. Second Life
( www.secondlife.com ) allows people to play games, interact with avatars, and build structures,
such as homes. 71