Supporting decision making in engineering design using parallel coordinates in virtual reality

Computational engineering design methods and tools are common practices in the modern industry. Such approaches are integral in enabling designers to efficiently explore large and complex design spaces. However, they also tend to dramatically increase the number of candidate solutions that decision makers must correctly interpret. Because all candidate solutions can be represented in a digital form together with their assessment criteria, a natural way to explore and understand the complexities of the design problem is to visualize their multidimensional nature. The task now involves the discovery of patterns and trends within a multidimensional design space. This work aims to enhance the design decision-making process with immersive Parallel Coordinates Plot (IPCP) in virtual reality. This paper presents the design of this system, which allows representation and exploration of multidimensional scientific datasets. A qualitative validation with two surrogate expert users demonstrated that the system can be used successfully to detect both known and previously unknown patterns and support learning the decision-making process in a shorter time. The results serve as a promising indication of how immersive parallel coordinate plots can enhance decision support in complex engineering design processes.