Detroit, Michigan - They call it the PowerWall - a 22 square metre solid glass screen with two Christie Mirage 4K25 DLP 3D projectors, powered by eight computers and two Christie Spyder X20 video processors.
Its display has more pixels than an Imax theatre and it takes a crew of five - three visualisation specialist, an IT technician and a Christie hardware engineer - to run it. But to Chevrolet, it's a vital part of refining vehicle design.
It's capable of showing both 2D and 3D images and it lets designers and engineers compare different versions of component designs without having to make expensive physical prototypes, for rapid decisions on what will work and what won't.
For instance, when the Chevy truck team were working on aftermarket accessories for the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado bakkie, they designed a pair of beautiful polished stainless-steel side steps - but it wasn't until they displayed an image of the Colorado on the PowerWall with the proposed side-steps installed that they noticed the unsightly drain holes in the underpanels of the cab bodyshell, clearly reflected in the top surface of the side steps.
VIRTUAL DESIGN
“That's the beauty of this kind of high definition,” explained Joe Guzman, engineering group manager for virtual design. Using the mathematical data we can display the vehicle exactly as the customer will see it, with their choice of options and accessories in place, just as it will be put together on the assembly line.
“If anything doesn't fit, won't work or just looks wrong, we'll know about it before it gets that far.”
(The production version of the side-step now has a non-slip black tread, to avoid the ugly reflection - a modification that was put in place more than a year before the team had a pre-production Colorado to try them on.)
There's also a adjustable cargo system in the load bed that was tried and tested on the PowerWall before the first truck was built.
Guzman, who started as a wood model maker, says the system won't replace clay modelling or actual prototypes anytime soon, but for dozens of decision such as “Which finish will look better?” or “Will it fit?” it allows fit and finish to be accurately assessed, long before the first actual vehicles are built.