Hardt Digital Lab

Abstract

Due to the increase in flight demand and pollution impact that it has, the idea of the hyperloop concept has gained relevance in our society. Even though the hyperloop concept is still in a conceptual phase, there are already several companies working on it. Here in the Netherlands, Hardt Hyperloop is developing its vision. The hyperloop is a new mode of transportation that requires a lot of public-private collaboration from diverse sectors, generating an ecosystem. Hardt is a very technical focus company that has problems communicating its vision concerning the hyperloop. Without a good communication strategy between Hardt and the stakeholders, the hyperloop ecosystem will not reach its full potential. Good communication is required internally between members, but also externally with the stakeholders. Due to COVID-19, Hardt is facing how to keep alive the ecosystem with a working-from-home situation. Remote meetings are not as engaging as face-to-face meetings. Onboarding new stakeholders through virtual conferences, instead of visits to the Head Quarters, was not effective at all. The communication through text with other stakeholders who were already part of the ecosystem was not fluent. Hardt with the pandemic situation started to have difficulties reaching their milestones. This could affect the development of the hyperloop. Currently, the video conference tools used are obsolete (Teams and Zoom). As an alternative, a virtual environment where to showcase virtual prototypes was proposed. The concept is called Hardt Digital Lab. It is a multi-user review platform that can be accessed from the web browser, avoiding installations for those who want to participate in the design process. The platform can be accessed with PC and smartphone. Virtual Reality is also a possibility but cannot be used through the web browser. Communication with interactive visualizations improves significantly. A prototype was developed with Unreal Engine 4 to prove this concept. The project was evaluated by Hardt members with positive feedback. Even though they considered the environment to had simple but effective functions, they thought it could have promising features in the future. The main concern was to adapt the environment visualization to the workflow of the company.