Mixed Reality Design Review: Validate Your Designs at Full Scale Before Manufacturing

A design error caught before manufacturing costs 1 unit. The same error found during assembly costs 10. Found after customer delivery, it costs 100. Mixed reality (MR) design review detects these errors at the lowest-cost stage: before fabrication.

With MR, an engineer can walk around a full-scale hologram of their machine, open panels, check maintenance accessibility, simulate part assembly — all on a digital mock-up that does not yet physically exist. Design errors (clashes, accessibility issues, ergonomics) are identified and corrected in CAD before the first part is machined.

What Is MR Design Review?

MR design review (Design Review XR) is the process by which an engineering team validates a product design or industrial installation by visualising the CAD model at full scale in the physical environment, via mixed reality glasses (primarily HoloLens 2).

Unlike screen-based or scale-model review, MR design review offers: full-scale 1:1 visualisation, multi-user collaboration (up to 10 engineers seeing the same hologram), interactive model manipulation (opening panels, zooming, assembly simulation), and persistent annotations recorded directly on the 3D model.

Key Use Cases

Maintenance Accessibility (Maintainability) Validation

Before manufacturing, the maintenance engineer checks that every component is accessible: is there enough clearance for a wrench? Can the technician reach the oil filter without disassembling 5 other parts? These questions, difficult to answer from a screen or scale model, become immediately obvious in full-scale MR. Result: −40% post-prototyping modifications related to maintenance accessibility issues (Myxed client deployments, 2022–2025).

Clash Detection

CAD software detects static collisions. MR enables dynamic collision simulation: door openings, assembly trajectories, turning radii. A robot arm whose trajectory encroaches on wiring during assembly — detectable in MR, invisible on a 2D drawing.

Client Project Review

Presenting an industrial installation project to a client by showing the machine at full scale in their facility, before manufacturing, is a powerful sales argument and source of client-validated input. The client can identify site constraints ("this access corridor must remain clear", "the crane height is limited here") that 2D plans cannot reveal.

Assembly Team Training

Assembly teams can train on the hologram before physical parts arrive. They understand the machine architecture, identify complex zones, and plan assembly sequences. Competency ramp-up is faster and physical assembly more efficient.

Technical Workflow: From CAD to Hologram

Myxed MR design review chain: (1) CAD export from SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, Creo, Inventor (STEP, IGES, JT formats); (2) Mesh optimisation — polygon count reduction for real-time performance; (3) MR staging — model positioning in physical space, interaction configuration; (4) Collaborative session — HoloLens 2 participants see the same synchronised hologram; (5) Annotation capture — all comments exported to PDF report or directly into PLM as ECR/ECO change requests.

Session preparation time: 2–5 days for a mid-sized model (100–500 components). For very complex models (>5,000 components): 2–3 weeks.

CAD & PLM Compatibility

Compatible CAD: SolidWorks, CATIA V5/V6, Siemens NX, PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Fusion 360. PLM integration: Windchill, Teamcenter, ENOVIA, Arena PLM. Annotations can be exported directly to the PLM as modification requests.

Frequently Asked Questions