BMW Group Success Story
Fewer test setups. Faster validation. Up to one year saved in development, powered by Hololight's XR streaming.
BMW Group faced a fundamental bottleneck in vehicle development: validating new designs required time-consuming physical prototypes that often replicated the full manufacturing process. By deploying Hololight’s XR streaming infrastructure at its Munich pilot plant, BMW engineers can now validate components at full 1:1 scale in Augmented Reality, with all processing running securely on BMW’s own servers and only encrypted pixel data reaching the headset. The result: up to 12 months saved per development cycle.
- Up to 12 months saved in prototype development and vehicle production integration¹
- Far fewer physical test setups required per development cycle¹
- 1:1 scale holographic CAD validation with full-polygon fidelity; no model simplification needed
- 100% of sensitive design data kept within BMW’s own infrastructure at all times
- Real-time multi-user collaborative design reviews across the engineering team
Client Overview
| Industry | Automotive |
| Organisation | BMW Group (Munich Pilot Plant) |
| Location | Munich, Germany |
| Primary Challenge | Costly, time-consuming physical prototype production limiting development speed |
| Solution | Hololight XR Streaming (enterprise infrastructure for AR and VR applications) |
| Primary Result | Up to 12 months saved in the development cycle1 |
Hololight opens new ways for industrial designers and engineers (Copyright BMW Group)
Primary Results
| Metric | Before | After | Change | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Development cycle time | Multi-step physical prototype iteration per vehicle model | Digital holographic validation; physical builds only where necessary | Up to 12 months saved1 | Per vehicle model |
| Physical test setup volume | Many setups required per new assembly | Far fewer test setups needed1 | Significantly reduced | Per development cycle |
| CAD data exposure risk | Files required on or transmitted to XR devices | Only encrypted pixels reach the headset; all data remains on BMW's infrastructure | 100% data retained in BMW infrastructure | Continuous |
| Model complexity ceiling | Limited by standalone headset hardware | Full-polygon, unoptimized CAD rendered server-side | No device ceiling | Continuous |
| Design error detection timing | Post-physical-build; late in the development cycle | Pre-physical-build; early-stage digital review | Earlier intervention point | Per review session |
1 Source: BMW Group. Munich Pilot Plant: BMW Group Uses Augmented Reality in Prototyping, 2020.
The challenge
Speeding up product development, detecting easily overlooked design errors early, and ensuring that expectations and reality match on the target object are critical goals in modern automotive engineering. With Augmented Reality, these engineering workflows can be completely digitised and optimised.
At its Munich pilot plant, the BMW Group tests vehicle concept and prototype designs by running CAD visualisation applications on Hololight’s XR streaming infrastructure, superimposing real components, such as a car body, with true-to-scale holographic 3D CAD models. This “digital-to-physical” alignment allows for immediate validation of complex assemblies.
Physical prototyping costs and lead time. New assemblies must always be tested for viability, but the production of precisely fitting physical prototypes is time-consuming and resource-intensive. It often requires the same manufacturing processes as the final product, making prototypes uneconomical, especially for small series or large series with high variance.
Data security limitations of on-device AR. Industrial AR headsets traditionally require sensitive CAD files to be stored on or transmitted to the device itself. For an automotive industry leader whose design files represent core competitive IP, this creates an unacceptable security exposure that standard AR deployment approaches cannot resolve without significant data governance overhead.
Device performance ceilings. Complex automotive CAD assemblies, with millions of polygons, exceed the rendering capabilities of standalone XR headsets. Traditional AR approaches required extensive model simplification before files could be visualised, compromising the fidelity needed for professional engineering validation.
| Challenge Area | Specific Impact | Business Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Physical prototype production | Same manufacturing process as final product; costly per iteration | High cost and lead time per validation cycle |
| Iteration volume | Multiple physical setups required per assembly or model | Slower development; delayed integration into production |
| Data security with on-device AR | CAD files must be stored on or transmitted to portable XR headsets | IP exposure risk; incompatible with BMW's data governance requirements |
| Device performance ceiling | Full-polygon automotive CAD exceeds standalone headset capabilities | Model simplification required; reduced fidelity for engineering validation |
The solution
After evaluating BMW's requirements, Hololight's XR streaming infrastructure was deployed as the foundation for the design review workflow. Unlike traditional on-device AR approaches, XR streaming separates the application from the headset entirely: all rendering and processing runs on centralised servers, and only encrypted pixel data is transmitted to the headset.
Server-side rendering and pixel streaming. Rather than requiring CAD files to be stored or processed on AR headsets, Hololight's streaming architecture renders the entire XR application on centralised servers. The headset receives only the final rendered image. This removes both the device performance ceiling and the IP security risk in a single architectural decision.
On-premise deployment for data governance. The streaming infrastructure can run entirely within a company's own server environment. No CAD files are stored on any XR device, and existing data governance policies apply to the XR workflow without modification.
Device-agnostic delivery. Because the application runs on the server, it is independent of the headset hardware. Any compatible XR device can access the same streaming environment, enabling deployment across global engineering teams without requiring hardware standardisation.
The result is an AR design review workflow that delivers full-fidelity holographic CAD visualisation on the shop floor, secured within the company's own infrastructure.
| Approach Element | Traditional On-Device AR | Hololight XR Streaming | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3D rendering location | On the headset; limited by device hardware | On centralised servers; full workstation performance | Full-polygon CAD without model simplification |
| CAD data location | Files on or transmitted to the XR device | All data on servers; only encrypted pixels transmitted | IP fully protected; existing data governance applies |
| Device dependency | App built and optimised per headset model | Device-agnostic; same application streams to any compatible headset | No hardware standardisation required across teams |
| Scalability | Scaling requires per-device builds and hardware investment | Central infrastructure scales to any team, location, or headset | Deployable globally without additional device overhead |
Implementation
At the Munich pilot plant, prototype vehicles and components are visualised in real time. Hololight’s XR streaming infrastructure enables engineers to visualise, manipulate, and share 3D CAD data in real-world environments.
In this optimised workflow, vehicle experts load CAD files of components from a web-based database into the 3D viewer application, which runs on Hololight’s XR streaming infrastructure. Using an XR headset, they can visualise the CAD data in a three-dimensional and full-size manner in the real environment. The expert operates the application using simple hand gestures, allowing direct interaction with the virtual components. In this way, developers can quickly understand whether components can be optimally assembled without expensive physical test setups.
“The AR goggles and CAD data allow us to find out much faster, whether the production worker will be able to fit the component properly later on, in series production. That way, we need far fewer test setups.”
– Michael Schneider, Head of Complete Vehicle at the BMW Pilot Plant Munich
Results & Impact
Through Hololight’s XR streaming infrastructure, the application enables engineers to overlay complex holographic objects with real geometries and edit them in a variety of ways. Not only the size, but also the position or angle can be changed via simple gestures. Users can create a real-time cross-section, a sectional view for the inspection of internal structures, and individual components can be individually shown or hidden from the complete hierarchy tree of the CAD file.
This functionality allows engineers to quickly evaluate:
- Accessibility: Can a technician reach the part?
- Installation options: Are there physical collisions in the assembly path?
- Visibility: Are relevant assembly points visible to the worker?
Collaborative design reviews in multi-user mode also help identify inconsistent details or design errors early in the development process. Time savings of up to one year are thus possible during prototype development and the integration of vehicles into production.
“Another key advantage is that it saves us time and money when we integrate new vehicles into production.”– Christoph Leibetseder, Head of Digitalization, Prototyping and Measurement Technologies at the BMW Pilot Plant Munich
High-Performance Visualization and Data Security
To handle the massive amounts of data inherent in BMW’s complex CAD models, Hololight ensures that even high-polygon 3D data can be processed in real time and in high quality. Whether visualising a detailed engine or a complete car with millions of polygons, the level of detail remains high enough for professional engineering validation.
Furthermore, the security of sensitive design data is paramount. In a globalised engineering landscape where decentralised teams collaborate across borders, our architecture ensures that sensitive data is handled within a secure, controlled infrastructure. This “data-on-premise” approach protects intellectual property while enabling the next generation of industrial collaboration.
Thanks to Hololight’s XR streaming, the entire application runs on BMW's secure infrastructure. Only encrypted image data is transmitted; the CAD data stays within BMW’s infrastructure at all times. Because the streaming layer is device-agnostic, the same secure workflow can be deployed to any compatible XR headset across BMW’s global locations without requiring device-specific builds or hardware upgrades.
Holograms can be overlaid with real geometry (Copyright BMW Group)
Key Takeaways
- Digital validation compresses prototyping cycles. Replacing physical mockup iterations with holographic design reviews removes the most time-intensive steps from the development process, enabling time savings of up to one year per vehicle model.
- Infrastructure architecture determines what enterprise XR can deliver. On-device AR is constrained by headset hardware and creates IP exposure risk. Streaming the application from secure servers removes both constraints simultaneously.
- Early-stage validation is the highest-leverage intervention point. Detecting assembly errors before physical tooling is commissioned avoids the most costly rework cycles in the development process.
- Data security and XR performance are not a trade-off. XR streaming enables high-fidelity visualisation of full-polygon CAD models while keeping all design data within BMW’s own infrastructure.
Conclusion
Prototypes can be planned and implemented more efficiently through visualisation and interaction with CAD data powered by Hololight’s XR streaming infrastructure. It enables error detection at an early stage and allows engineers to work collaboratively on holograms. Especially in the early product development processes, where mainly concept work is done, the technology adds a new efficiency factor. Iteration steps and logistical efforts are significantly shortened, while the level of detail and options for possible modifications increase.
With Hololight XR streaming, BMW accelerates development, minimises physical effort, and streamlines the path from concept to production. High-performance rendering remains 100% secure at all times, with all sensitive 3D CAD data kept on the company’s own servers.
Last updated: May 2026
1) Source: BMW Group. “Munich Pilot Plant: BMW Group Uses Augmented Reality in Prototyping.” BMW Group Press, 2020. https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0317125EN/munich-pilot-plant:-bmw-group-uses-augmented-reality-in-prototyping?language=en