Busan City, BISTEP, and Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials Secure National Project for XR-Based Virtual Model System for Future Vehicles

Establishment of XR-Based Platform for Future Vehicle Parts Development, Securing the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Project
BISTEP Achieves Success in Attracting the Project Through Support in Planning Activities, Budget, Data, and Analysis

Busan Institute of Science and Technology Promotion (President Kim Youngbu, BISTEP), together with Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Center of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, has successfully secured the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's project for the establishment of an XR-based virtual model system supporting a dedicated platform for future vehicles.

This project aims to establish an environment for the design and performance evaluation of future vehicle components using local XR and digital twin technologies. The Busan Center of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials will lead the project, with the Korea Automotive Technology Institute and the Korea Automotive Parts and Materials Industry Technology Research Association participating as joint research institutions.

The project will run for a total of 48 months, from January 2025 to December 2028, with a total budget of 20 billion KRW, including 10 billion KRW in national funding and 10 billion KRW from the city.

Once this system is established, small and medium-sized automotive parts companies in the Busan region will be able to conduct prototype design, performance verification, and mountability analysis in a virtual environment. This is expected to dramatically reduce both the cost and time required for electric vehicle parts development.

Since May 2024, BISTEP has systematically supported the entire process to secure this project?identifying it as a planning initiative, securing the budget, preparing a strategic planning report for inclusion in the 2025 national project, conducting economic feasibility analysis, and responding to presentations.

Kim Youngbu, President of BISTEP, emphasized, "Manufacturing competitiveness is now determined not by production lines, but by digital design and precise virtual testing capabilities," adding, "Securing this project will be a turning point for Busan's manufacturing industry to leap into a high value-added sector."

Together with Busan Metropolitan City, BISTEP plans to actively pursue: expanding predictive infrastructure for digital-based industrial transformation; identifying R&D projects based on promising technologies; and supporting the industrial application of convergence technologies such as XR and AI.

Example of performance evaluation support for core components of future vehicle propulsion and XR-based digital twin system. (Source: XR Project Planning Report)