Marko Zivkovic
French company Dassault Systemes worked with Apple to integrate the Apple Vision Pro into its existing 3DEXPERIENCE platform, offering spatial computing via multiple applications.
Dassault Systemes announced the collaboration on Tuesday at its annual 3DEXPERIENCE Forum held in Houston, Texas — an event geared toward industrial consumers in North America. The French software company specializes in 3D tools for virtual planning, product design, and manufacturing, as well as software that facilitates the simulation of different production processes.
Dassault Systemes is also known for its 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which involves the concept of a "virtual twin" — effectively a digital model of a real-world object or planned product, often with a corresponding virtual environment. Virtual twins allow companies to evaluate, model, simulate products and are used in various industries as they enable visualization in conditions that mirror the real world.
Through its collaboration with Apple, Dassault Systemes was able to take advantage of the advanced sensors and cameras of the Apple Vision Pro, and offer its digital twin experience on the headset. Twins created with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will allow for real-time collaboration, meaning that users will be able to interact with digital twins in a 3D environment.
The French software company believes its digital twins on Apple Vision Pro will be used across various industry sectors and roles, for applications in employee training, 3D modeling, manufacturing, and delivery. The use of spatial computing for virtual twins could reportedly lead to improvements in product quality.
"This is at the core of our next generation of representation of the world," said Elisa Prisner of Dassault Systemes. "Our engineering collaboration with Apple represents a bold advance that reveals the power of 3D UNIV+RSES, where 3D is a universal language for a new world combining real and virtual."
Apple's Vice President of the Vision Products Group, Mike Rockwell, said that the iPhone maker was thrilled to be working with Dassault Systemes. "Apple Vision Pro continues to push the boundaries of what's possible with spatial computing and is changing the way people work across key industries," said Rockwell.
The two companies were able to "supercharge the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with spatial computing capabilities that will enable engineers and designers to effortlessly bring 3D designs to life in ways not previously possible," according to Mike Rockwell.
Dassault Systemes has also released a new app for the Apple Vision Pro called "HomeByMeReality," which will let users apply spatial computing to to interior decorating. Enterprise users will be able to download the company's other Apple Vision Pro app, 3DLive, in the summer of 2025.
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Malcolm Owen
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5 Comments
I'm using equivalent Autodesk products, so I hope that they have integration of the Apple Vision Pro in the future; I'll wait for the next generation AVP before I consider purchase.
Dassault Group is one of the leading arms manufacturers in Europe. Currently working on the fighter generation after F-35 (without US). Seems AVP is going dual-purpose.
This would get me more excited if Dassault did a decent Mac version of Solidworks.
one of the reasons CAD workers have to use windows.
I think the author is intermixing “virtual twin” with “digital twin” terminology and meaning. The references to “digital twin” all seem to apply much more closely to a “virtual twin.” These two subjects are similar in concept but target different types of applications with different intentions. What’s described here, virtual twin, involves planning, process modeling, simulation, collaboration, etc.
Digital twins involved real time execution of models that mirror physical processes, machinery, systems, etc., and evaluates the model’s reaction to the same inputs and sensor data that’s being applied to the physical system. For example, GE uses digital twins of aircraft engines to evaluate performance, efficiency, and in some cases, predict potential failures or instabilities based on the real time data.
These are both fascinating methodologies that can leverage the ever increasing processing power and functional capabilities of modern computing and visualization products like the Apple Vision Pro. Sophisticated gaming and entertainment devices are a lot of fun and share some of the same modeling techniques used for building virtual twins. Fortunately, there are also a lot of non-gaming related applications that can take advantage of the same integrated platforms like the Apple Vision Pro to provide highly productive value.
The growing multi-use capabilities of the Apple Vision Pro does raise the question of whether Apple would continue to support the Vision Pro even if it never attained the level of success Apple sees with its broad use products like iPhone, iPad, and Mac, i.e., what happens if Vision Pro remains a niche market? I hope that what we see now with Vision Pro, which is still a 1.0 product, is an evolving potential that could lead to much broader use. Companies like Dassault Systemes are not likely to be begging Apple to produce a lower cost version of Vision Pro with fewer capabilities. They are probably fine with Apple maintains or even ratcheting the price to gain more performance and functionality. Their cost of getting Vision Pros compared to the price that their systems command is probably minuscule. I suppose Apple could expand the Vision Pro product line by building an Apple Vision Air that targeted the lower cost consumer market but still had enough compelling capabilities to attract more consumer buyers.