The present disclosure relates to a method and interface for interfacing with a virtual environment. BACKGROUND

A problem with Virtual Reality (VR) today in many industries is that it is detached from the rest of the project work. For example, experiencing an apartment in virtual reality might give a“wow” experience. But as soon as you want to become more technical and would like to change something, view the price and size of that sofa, look at the technical documentation of the apartment, blueprints etc. it gets complicated. Sure, this can be programmed but it is then manually programmed for every application, i.e. there is no automated process that handles this and no real-time connection to database libraries. The same issues exists in e.g. the power and utility industry. Just like viewing an apartment in VR, there is the same need to view a power plant and receive data quickly without removing the VR headset back and forth. Going through a power plant in virtual reality gives you a deep understand but the lack of drawings and documentation in the same environment can create a cumbersome experience.

A big issue is that the VR solution is far away from the core Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data which is used to create drawings and applicable documentation. When e.g. engineers conduct design review meetings, they typically print out the drawings and some of the documents. They sit at a conference table and go through the drawings step by step and when they want to do a deep dive to understand something better they may use three- dimensional (3D) and VR designs. So the process is typically back and forth all the time which leads to longer review times and increases the probability to miss something. SUMMARY

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved way of working with designs in a virtual environment, e.g. VR, e.g. designs of industrial plants or machines, or parts thereof. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for interfacing with a virtual environment running in a digital processing system. The method comprises, by means of a preprogramed script, transferring a 3D design from a CAD environment to the virtual environment while labelling each of a plurality of different features of the design with a respective identifier. The method also comprises accessing an API of a

Document Management System (DMS) storing a plurality of documents, each document being related to at least one of the features of the design and labelled with the corresponding identifier of said at least one feature. The method also comprises linking the plurality of documents to the different features of the design in the virtual environment by matching the respective identifiers of the documents and the features.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer-executable components for causing an interface of a digital processing system to perform an embodiment of the method of the present disclosure when the computer-executable components are run on processing circuitry comprised in the processing system.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a programmable interface for a virtual environment running in a digital processing system. The interface is configured by software to, by means of a preprogramed script, transfer a 3D design from a CAD environment to the virtual environment while labelling each of a plurality of different features of the design with a respective identifier. The interface is also configured by the software to access an API of a DMS storing a plurality of documents, each document being related to at least one of the features of the design and labelled with the corresponding identifier of said at least one feature. The interface is also configured by the software to link the plurality of documents to the different features of the design in the virtual environment by matching the respective identifiers of the documents and the features.

By labelling the features of the design when transferring it to the virtual environment with an ID, and labelling the documents related to said features with the same ID, the documents can be linked to the features within the virtual environment, enabling downloading of the documents to the virtual environment if needed, reducing the need for e.g. looking at screens or paper printouts in addition to the virtual environment. It is to be noted that any feature of any of the aspects may be applied to any other aspect, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the aspects may apply to any of the other aspects. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as from the drawings.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated. The use of “first”,“second” etc. for different features/components of the present disclosure are only intended to distinguish the features/components from other similar features/components and not to impart any order or hierarchy to the features/components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig l is a schematic block diagram of a system of nodes illustrating

embodiments of the present invention.

Fig 2 is a schematic flow chart of embodiments of the method of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments are shown.

However, other embodiments in many different forms are possible within the scope of the present disclosure. Rather, the following embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

Figure l illustrates a system of nodes, including a processing system l, a CAD environment io and a Document Management System (DMS) 20. The processing system 1 comprises processor circuitry in the form of a processor 4 executing a virtual environment 2 thereon. The virtual environment may be accessed by a user via e.g. VR goggles or a digital display screen. The processing system 1 also comprises a memory 5, i.e. a data storage, storing software 6 e.g. for executing the virtual environment 2 and a programmable interface 3 arranged for digital interfacing with the virtual environment. The memory 5 may also store other data relating to the present invention, for instance downloaded documents in e.g. a Structured Query Language (SQL) database 7 and/or imported sensor data (SD) 8.

The interface 3 is arranged to interface the virtual environment with other nodes, such as the CAD environment 10 and the DMS 20, as well as optionally with any sensors 31 e.g. of an industrial plant 30.

The CAD environment 10 is arranged to provide and store 3D designs 13, e.g. by means of a processor 11 and stored in a memory 12. For transferring a design 13 from the CAD environment 10 to the virtual environment 2, via the interface 3, a script 15 is used. The script may e.g. be stored in, and operate on the design 13 in, the CAD environment 10 and/or the processing system 1. By means of the script 15, each feature of the design 13 is labelled with a, typically unique, identifier (ID). The DMS 20 is arranged to store documents 23 relating to the designs 13, e.g. in a memory 22. The DMS has an Application Programming Interface (API) 25, e.g. by means of a processor 21, which API is accessible to the interface 3 of the processing system 1, via which API the documents 23 may be made available in the virtual environment 2. Conveniently, the API 25 is public. By using the same ID for a document 23 as for the feature of the design 13 to which the document relates, the document can be linked to said feature in the virtual environment 2, and thus downloaded, e.g. to the SQL database 7, if desired and thus displayed to a user in the virtual environment.

In some embodiments of the present invention, sensor data from at least one sensor 31 may be imported to the processing system, via the interface 3, to make the sensor data available in the virtual environment 2. The sensors 31 may be any type of sensors, e.g. of an industrial plant 30, related to the design 13. For instance, the design 13 may be a 3D representation of, or a part of, the plant 30, whereby the sensors may be associated with devices or processes of that plant which correspond to features of the design 13. By using the same ID for a sensor 31 as for the feature of the design 13

corresponding to the device or process of the plant 30 to which the sensor is related, the imported sensor data can be linked to the corresponding feature of the design 13 in the virtual environment 2. The different processor circuitries 4, 11 and/or 21, as well as the different data storages 5, 12 and/or, discussed in relation to figure 1 may be integrated in the same computer device, or be provided in spatially separate computer devices.

Figure 2 illustrates embodiments of the method for interfacing with a virtual environment 2 running in a digital processing system 1, in accordance with the present invention. By means of a preprogramed script 15, the 3D design 13 is transferred Si from the CAD environment 10 to the virtual environment 2 while labelling each of a plurality of different features of the design 13 with a respective identifier. Before, after or concurrently with the transferring Si, an API 25 of the DMS 20 storing a plurality of documents 23 is accessed S2. Each document 23 is related to at least one of the features of the design 13 and labelled with the corresponding identifier of said at least one feature. Then, the plurality of documents 23 are linked S3 to the different features of the design 13 in the virtual environment 2 by matching the respective identifiers of the documents and the features.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the method further comprises downloading S4 at least one of the linked S3 documents 23 from the DMS 20 to the virtual environment 2. In some embodiments, the downloaded S4 at least one document 23 is stored in an SQL database 7. In some embodiments of the present invention, the method further comprises, before, after or concurrently with any of the other method steps S1-S4, importing S5 sensor data from at least one sensor 31 to the virtual environment 2. Each of said at least one sensor 31 is related to a feature of the plurality of different features of the design 13 and associated with the identifier with which said feature is labelled, whereby the sensor data is linked to said feature in the virtual environment. In some embodiments, the sensor data is imported S5 in real-time.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the digital processing system 1 is or comprises a game engine, e.g. a Unity™ game engine. In some embodiments of the present invention, the API 25 of the DMS 20 is public.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the DMS 20 is hosted online, such as SharePoint™, Google Drive™ or Salesforce™. In some embodiments of the present invention, the CAD environment to is provided by a CAD software such as SolidWorks.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the transferring Si comprises converting the 3D design 13 to a Filmbox (fbx) file format. In some embodiments of the present invention, the plurality of documents 23 include digital drawings and text documents, e.g. technical documentation for the design features.

In some embodiments of the present invention, each of the plurality of documents 23 is in the Portable Document Format (pdf) or the Open

Document Format (odf).

By means of embodiments of the present invention, virtual environment 2 can be connected with its applicable feature data, such as individual drawings for features and technical documentation that is needed to complement the design 13, e.g. virtual power plant 30. A user may be able to, while having a VR headset on, bring up documents 23, such as drawings or technical text documents, at any point in time in the virtual environment. The drawings and text documents 23 may be the exact same that were created for the plant 30I. The platform that is used as the processing system 1 may be a gaming engine, e.g. Unity™. This gaming engine may act as a receiver so that the documents 23 get scaled properly when provided in the virtual environment 2. The user may have the possibility to hold virtual documents in the (virtual) hands with the help of the VR controls. The user may be able to scale the documents, create markings, add comments, zoom in etc. to produce adjusted documents, which adjusted documents may also be uploaded back to the DMS 20.

One user may bring up a technical document in the virtual environment, while another user may bring up a drawing, all while standing at the feature of the design 13 in the virtual environment. This opens up a new world of understanding and gives benefits to the whole engineering team of users. There is no longer a need to have to design or create something with the notion of uncertainty, instead it is possible to go through everything and make sure everything is correct with the design 13 in the virtual environment.

The invention may be combining different technologies to achieve the desired virtual environment. All the different software may need each other to create a seamless solution from start to finish. Embodiments of the invention covers different types of techniques that has not been used before in combination, such as to connect a DMS 20, e.g. PDC of SharePoint™, optionally to an API of the processing system 1, and then to the processing system 1, e.g. by a gaming engine such as Unity™. Below follow an example sequence of steps for performing some example embodiments of the invention:

1. A 3D representation 13 of the power plant 30 is designed in a CAD software 10 such as SolidWorks™.

2. During the designing of the 3D design 13, before, after or in parallel, all the technical documentation and drawings may be created. These documents 23 are uploaded into the DMS 20 e.g. the SharePoint™ system called PDC™, typically after they have been reviewed and approved.

3. All the features in the 3D design 13 are preferably designed with the correct property data. This means that the same ID that a 3D feature is labelled with is also associated with documents 23 relating to that feature. 4. The 3D design 13 may be converted to a file format called Filmbox (fbx), which is a format that can be opened in e.g. Unity™.

5. A platform for a virtual environment 2 may then be developed in the processing system 1, e.g. Unity™ so that 3D designs 13, in fbx, may have a “drag-and-drop” functionality into Unity™. This platform may allow the meta data to be transferred from the CAD environment 10 to the processing system 1. Because, the meta data may include information about the features in the design 13 and may be needed when connecting to the API 25 of the DMS 20, e.g. SharePoint™. 6. SharePoint is used as example since it has good API capabilities and a lot of applications have been developed using the Share-Point API. An API 25 may be developed from the DMS 20 to the Processing system 1. For instance, it may be in PDC where the documents 23 are uploaded. 7. The meta data that was inserted into the designs 13 in the CAD environment 10 may now play a key part of the programming. Every document 23 may be connected to its applicable 3D design 13. This may all handled in the code.

8. Once the integration to the DMS 20 is done it may be time to program the user interface (UI) features that will handle the documents 23 in the virtual environment 2. When the user selects a feature of the design 13 and chooses to view the technical document 23 of that feature (if the document exists in the DMS 20), a request may be sent through the API 25 to PDC. The ID of the design feature gets cross checked in the DMS 20 to see if a corresponding ID exists in that project.

9. If a document 23 exists with that ID, then the document gets

downloaded to the processing system 1, and since this system may only handle PDFs (drawings may also be in ODF format) the download time may only be between 1-5 seconds. 10. The document 23 that gets downloaded may be stored in an SQL database 7 that is may e.g. be created with the project number and the document number. So when the user selects the same document the next time, no download from the DMS 20 is required.

11. The downloaded document 23 may then be displayed to the user in a menu in the virtual environment 2. The user may select it and scale it, mark and zoom in on it. The menu may be developed in parallel with any other solutions that are needed to achieve this functionality. Similarly as with the documents 23 discussed in the steps above, sensor data from any sensors 31 associated with features of the design 13 may be imported to, and displayed to a user in, the virtual environment 2.

The present disclosure has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims.