Ford and DERA Announce Joint Technology Venture
5 December 2000
Ford and DERA Announce Joint Technology Venture
LONDON, Dec. 5 Ford Motor Company and the UK
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) today have agreed to announce a
joint venture aimed at accelerating the vehicle design process and improving
quality.
The joint venture, Holographic Imaging LLC, is a research and development
company formed to create a three-dimensional, interactive imaging workstation
prototype. The new technology has the potential to save Ford millions of
dollars in design and development costs for new vehicle platforms, while also
bringing new products to consumers faster.
The technology, under development by DERA, will be used by Ford to create
full-scale virtual digital models of prototype vehicles. The joint venture
will streamline Ford's vehicle design processes by reducing the reliance on
hard models, give Ford the ability to redesign features in real time and the
capability to hold multiple design reviews simultaneously.
"The new company's focus is to develop a three-dimensional design tool
which can be used to accelerate and simplify Ford's product development and
design processes," said Neil Ressler, vice president, Research and Vehicle
Technology and chief technical officer, Ford Motor Company. "DERA's long
history of innovation as the largest R&D organization in Western Europe,
including the development of proprietary liquid crystal display and flat
screen display technology, makes this partnership a revolutionary step by
Ford."
The joint venture also will have the potential to tap into other business
and growth opportunities, such as participating in attractive new businesses
in automotive and non-automotive fields as a licensor or equity partner.
These include applying the technology to other fields such as aerospace,
entertainment, medical imaging, oil and gas industry, industrial design and
marketing.
The technology may have important defense applications, too, for example
in command and control, exercise planning, product design and simulators. The
UK Ministry of Defence will retain use of the technology for British military
purposes.
"DERA's three-dimensional imaging technology leads the world in futuristic
imaging techniques and promises major changes in design processes and other
similar applications," said David Steeds, director, Corporate Development,
DERA. "A substantial amount of Intellectual Property has been developed since
we started working closely together and the JV will allow DERA and Ford to
develop this valuable IP to its full potential."
"This three-dimensional imaging technology allows for much earlier review
of proportion and stance, gives us the ability to look at multiple solutions
and modify them in real time by just moving our hands in space, and provides
relatively quick means to assess and improve our craftsmanship quality," said
J Mays, vice president, Design, Ford Motor Company. "Imagine being able to
project a three-dimensional instrument panel in full-scale and view it from
behind the wheel or the passenger seat and obtain customer feedback months
earlier than we can get today. This will be possible with this technology."
Ford has been collaborating with DERA on research into interactive
three-dimensional holography since 1997. A system based on this technology
will enable true, three-dimensional virtual models of vehicles, components and
fully interactive systems that can be used by design, engineering and
marketing staffs. Jaguar began working with DERA in 1996 on night vision
systems.
Both Ford and DERA will retain equal stakes in the new company, while they
continue to explore joint commercialization opportunities with other
companies. The new company will be based in the U.S. Terms were not
disclosed and the transaction is subject to completion of definitive
agreements.
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