Closing the Loop: Creating an Immersive and Context based Co-Design approach for future Rescue Helicopter Cabin Concepts

Abstract

German Aerospace Centre is therefore developing a digital and user-centered cabin concept for a medical deployment vehicle of the future using the co-design approach. This paper shows the approach for identifying context-based requirements by directly involving central user groups in the early design process. Through the targeted transfer of information on the concept of a future medical deployment vehicle by means of a booklet, the user groups are first enabled to obtain basic information on the technical and mission-specific boundary conditions of the novel concept. By means of a subsequent questionnaire, the user groups are then enabled to immerse themselves into their own individual working experience and to establish a connection to a new rescue helicopter concept. The findings of this study form a fundamental basis in the course of the co-design idea and are essential for the further cooperative development of the concept with the help of virtual reality. The involvement of future user groups into the early design process enables a targeted, flexible and precise definition of user requirements. Thus, it is possible to reduce the development effort for highly complex air rescue cabin concepts towards a more efficient, tangible and assessable process for user groups and designers.