4. Possibilities and limits of recent digital tools

The development of 3D "volume" modeling has paved the way for major advances in several areas critical to improving the product design process.

Technological advances in processors, with exponentially increasing computing speeds and memory sizes, and in the capabilities of representation software, have increased image manipulation functions tenfold. It's worth noting that these advances have been fostered, and sometimes inspired, by the video game industry.

These technological advances have facilitated the programming of numerically controlled machines, and, since the mid-1990s, the processing of "digital mock-ups", enabling "environmental" design and "digital factories" to be created, with, in particular, the calculation of robot trajectories that are gradually invading welding and paint shops.