Putting Digital Humans to Work: Q&A with GM’s Bob Tilove

Bob Tilove, a technical fellow at General Motors’ (GM) Manufacturing Systems Research Lab, commands a small army of digital humans. Day or night, whenever he wants to find out something about an assembly process or a plant layout, he calls on them to do his bidding. They’re part of his workflow and assembly environment simulation arsenal at GM.

As reliable and sophisticated as they are, Tilove feels it’s time to up the ante, to improve current technologies to enable more advanced simulation exercises. On this topic, he gave a presentation at the most recent Congress on the Future of Engineering Software (COFES 2010, Scottsdale, Arizona).

In this recorded interview, Tilove shares his thoughts on “virtually simulated work environments,” the limitations of current simulation technologies in mimicking the physical behaviors of flexible parts, the role of digital humans, the possibilities suggested by massive, multi-player games, and more.

(Note: A transcribed, edited version of this Q&A is set to appear in print in July issue of DE.)