You plan workstations, takt times, and ergonomics, and you know how expensive misjudgments on site become. Digital workstation design in VR creates clarity early: you walk through layouts at 1:1 scale, check reach, fields of view, and heights realistically, and decide based on reliable data instead of gut feeling.
A virtual ergonomics check combines 3D workstation planning with measurable facts. Grasping area avatars show whether parts sit in the optimal or only in the maximum grasping area, the spaghetti diagram makes the actual routes visible, and from the first-person view you see what is in sight without turning your head or body. In Halocline, the planning platform for production layouts and workstations, you record movements, analyze routes and times, identify problematic movements, and compare variants objectively.
In VR, you experience distances, heights, and lines of sight at 1:1 scale. This gives you a feel for body dimensions that 2D plans lack. When you reach for a container virtually, your own posture tells you whether the movement is comfortable or requires overstretching. Grasping area avatars show the optimal and maximum grasping area, the spaghetti diagram gets denser where walking routes get in the way, and you see right away when a display is outside the direct field of view. This makes ergonomics in production visible and, with the recording, measurable.
With Halocline, you design workstations directly in VR or on the desktop, with no training required and without CAD data, using a library of standard components. You adjust dimensions to the millimeter, place material according to actual grasping needs, and run through movements such as grasping, bending, turning, or overhead work in VR. The ergonomics analysis based on the key indicator method marks problematic object movements in yellow or red. You create variants as copies and compare them based on the metrics. This reduces change loops, stabilizes takt times, and lowers costs.
A vivid picture: you stand virtually at the assembly station. The grasping area avatars show which containers are outside the optimal grasping area, critical heights stand out immediately, and the spaghetti diagram gets denser in front of a bottleneck. Two grips move into the optimal grasping area, a cart moves 20 cm closer, and the display is tilted by 10 degrees. A new recording shows the relief.
You start pragmatically with a headset and a desktop PC, load simple geometries if needed or use the library, and build the cell at the correct scale. You check different body heights with grasping area avatars, whose values Halocline calculates for gender and body height according to DIN 33402-2 and DIN EN ISO 14738. You place material, tools, and displays where they are really needed in the cycle. While you run through the workflow in VR, you record the movements, measure grip heights and reach with the measuring tool, and check the effect of every change in a new recording.
This makes typical problem areas visible early:
This means fewer unfavorable postures, a growing takt reserve, and less rework.
These metrics are the basis for assessing variants of 3D workstation planning on the facts.
Starting point: many small parts, frequent regripping, several meters of walking per cycle.
Measure: The small load carriers (SLC) move into the optimal grasping area, the grip shelf becomes swivel-mounted, and the display is tilted.
Result: Grip frequency drops by around 30 percent and walking time by about 20 percent. Unfavorable postures decrease visibly, the takt reserve increases, and disruptions over the shift go down.
In Halocline, you create variants as copies and switch between them to compare them side by side. If you move a cart by a few centimeters or change the tilt of a display, a new recording shows the effect on routes, grasping area, and metrics. This lets you justify the preferred variant transparently and shortens debates based on opinion.
For collaboration, one person walks through the walkable model in VR while the others follow the walkthrough in spectator mode on screen. Industrial engineering and lean focus on walking times, grip frequency, and takt coverage, occupational safety and ergonomics check postures and fields of view, assembly management assesses the before-and-after effect, and the works council values the traceable presentation of strain. You record notes with labels directly at the object, so everyone has the same information. This creates a shared understanding, decisions are made faster, and rebuilds become more targeted. At Siemens in Karlsruhe, workstation design with Halocline became 4x faster.
Want to check your workstation ergonomically before anything is rebuilt? Get started for free with Halocline Free and build your first workstation in 3D. For process analysis and the ergonomics check, get in touch and we'll show you the right scope.
