[Interview] Ferchaud Ingenierie: the pioneers of industrial VR

Summary

• “The goal for Ferchaud Ingenierie is to become number 1 in industrial VR within 3 years”

Ferchaud Ingenierie, specializes in project reviews for companies. To fully understand the challenges of the interview, we offer you a quick presentation of what a project review is. The objective of this is to check the consistency of the work according to the data in the database. We therefore take the specifications of the project in order to make a comparison. The project review is also an opportunity for the company to change the direction of the work according to the ups and downs. In short, the project review is a decisive step in the realization of large projects, whether work or construction of devices.

“The goal for Ferchaud Ingenierie is to become number 1 in industrial VR within 3 years”

RV: First of all, briefly introduce Ferchaud Ingenierie and your new project?

Cyril Monharoul : So we are a service company in industrial and pre-industrial design. Our designers visit our customers for two months which can be renewed. Our designers then present a digital model. Since January 2017, we have been proposing that the digital model be reworked, refined and projected in VR.

RV: What is the objective of this transposition to VR?

C. M: The main interest of our presentation is to save companies 20% of time in the project review. Thanks to virtual reality projection, there is much more interactivity for customers who can intervene more quickly on what they want. As we are in St-Nazaire, we have equipment dedicated to virtual reality (note: the Technocampus Smart Factory).

RV: What virtual reality equipment do you use?

C. M : We mainly use the HTC Vive, however we are considering using other less expensive and independent headsets. The main disadvantage of the HTC headset is that it is expensive, but also that it is dependent on a PC. Having multiple headsets will also make our presentations more interactive for our clients.

RV: What is your ambition for Ferchaud Ingenierie regarding industrial VR?

C. M :  The main objective for Ferchaud Ingenierie within three years is to become number 1 in the virtual reality project review. We are trying to reach out to several industry sectors in order to reach out to the broadest. We work with Suez, but more broadly, our main clients come from the aeronautics sector.

RV: Do you have a main competitor in your market? 

C. M : To my knowledge, there is no one doing the same thing as us right now.

RV: Tell us what is your perspective on virtual reality on a personal level?

C. M : I find it a great working tool. First of all because the hardware is stable and can be affordable. After at Ferchaud Ingenierie, we also believe a lot in Augmented Reality. For the moment everything is in the draft state, but we are looking so that next year, we can do project review in AR.