Augmented reality and virtual reality changes the way architects communicate their designs
Chances are your kids, or someone you know, has been playing Pokémon Go this summer. The videogame phenomenon has put the virtual world of Pokémon into the hands of the public for free, without the need of virtual reality goggles or headsets. As of July 25, app analytics company SensorTower reports that based on its Store Intelligence data, Pokémon Go has been downloaded more than 50 million times worldwide, and as of August 5, has made more than $200 million in worldwide net revenue. There is no denying this gaming technology has grabbed the attention of both kids and adults worldwide.
So, what does Pokémon Go have to do with architecture? While the video game has people out and about exploring their neighborhoods in the hopes of catching elusive Pokémon creatures, it’s the technology that is really interesting to the architecture and construction field.
Augmented reality (AR) integrates digital information with the user’s environment in real time, like Pokémon Go. Virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, creates a computer-generated, 3-D environment that can be explored and interacted with by a person. Generally, virtual reality requires headsets, such as the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, or even Google Cardboard that fits over your smartphone, to bring designs to life. In its simplest form, virtual reality environments can be explored on a personal computer or iPad, using keys or the mouse to manipulate the image, moving it in directions or zooming in or out.
In architecture, virtual reality can help architects bring their conceptual designs to life, making it easier for a client to fully understand and experience what a space will look and feel like once it’s built.
Communicating Designs
The development of AR and VR technology helps architects with the challenge of communicating their design concepts to the various project stakeholders. With virtual reality technology, Steve Johnson, vice president of product development at
Vectorworks Inc., Columbia, Md., says designers can immerse themselves in their buildings to experience how all the different facets of a design come together to define that space. “As a result, they’ll be able to evaluate and make updates to perfect their designs prior to the final presentations to clients, which will leave designers confident and positioned for success,” he says.
Nick Fonta, senior product line manager for San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk, says that in addition to helping architects better communicate their designs; it’s really about assisting them in the design process. “What we’re seeing is VR is used to communicate with external people,” he says, “but it’s also for architects to be able to understand the space and explore the different options, allowing them to converge faster on the design.”
AR and VR technology give designers a way to present their architectural drawings in a whole new way, making the project easier for everyone to understand well before its ever completed. “Pushing technologies that allow architects to communicate in a more interactive and real-time fashion is a huge plus,” Fonta continues. “But if we push even further and bring that to VR, every time we’ve put a VR headset on an architect’s head, or his clients, the reaction is the same, ‘Oh my God, this feels different and for the first time I understand the space of my own design.’ Or the client will tell us, ‘Oh, wow, I get it now.’ We hear that a lot. It’s all about a better understanding of the space before anything is built.”
According to Johnson, the review process is much easier with virtual reality technology. “Never before have we been able to put clients right in the middle of a design,” he says. “With this in-depth experience, not only will clients be much more likely to be pleased with the presented designs as-is, but they’ll be able to voice any objections prior to the construction to ensure the final design is exactly what they want. They’ll see how different colors, shapes, textures, etc. work together in context to voice any other concerns earlier on.”
Challenges
One of the challenges with VR is the high cost of the virtual reality headsets, such as the Oculus Rift, which is $599, or HTC Vive, which runs $799. “With jaw-dropping, immersive capabilities, virtual reality will be the catalyst that revolutionizes how designs are presented to clients or judges for various competitions,” Johnson says. “Currently, the expensive price tag surrounding many headsets presents a large barrier entry for many architects looking for a better way to pitch their designs.”
Another challenge is that interactive and game technology is limited to experts in this field. To achieve the high-degree of photorealistic rendering needed for most virtual reality technologies, Johnson says it requires significant post-processing and expensive hardware. “Many VR offerings are literally tied by a cord to an expensive Windows workstation with high-end graphics hardware,” he says. “The client is required to travel to the hardware to immerse inside the design.”
While this is often the case, Fonta says the goal is to make this technology accessible to any architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professional. “It’s about making sure that we are bridging the gap between the design space-the world that the architect and the designers live in-and this interactive experience space that we’re bringing to them,” he explains.
Looking Ahead
In the future, Johnson says virtual reality’s capabilities will continue to expand to become much more accessible and common, resulting in experiences no longer tied to a computer mouse. “We predict that more senses will be incorporated besides just sight, such as touch, smell, etc., as more content is captured in 3-D models to create an more immersive 3-D experience to better communicate a design,” he says. “Being able to feel the difference in texture between a metal, concrete or wood façade without having to execute the actual construction, will change the world of architecture.”
Fonta believes that over time, VR will change how design as a whole is approached and looked at. He shares a scenario that every architect is familiar with, when you realize too late in the design process that the client doesn’t have a clear understanding of the design, resulting in added costs because the architect has had to go back and change everything. “VR will allow architects to communicate better, it will result in cost savings and converging on the design solution much faster,” he adds.
Fonta says that while the use of real-time and interactive technology is helpful in any new design where an architect starts from scratch, it can also be used on renovations and additions. “What were seeing is that any type of project, such as renovations or where you adapt something to an existing building for instance, I strongly believe VR is helpful, but AR will probably play an even bigger role,” he explains. “As AR becomes more accessible and the devices become better, I feel like AR will play a huge role on-site, for renovation projects, and for building owners as well. We see that real-time and interactive technology, and VR, and then AR, is a whole continuum of technology that will live on in different phases of projects, depending on the type of projects.”
Additionally, Johnson says that eventually virtual reality and the real world will likely intersect. “Augmented/mixed reality will allow information to be delivered to your current location, which is already popping up more and more,” he says. “For instance, with the Pokémon Go phenomenon, you’re able to see your location specific information in your current reality. In architecture, this phenomenon would translate similarly, so that with design and construction information on a mobile device, you’d be able to see the exact proposed design while standing in the pre-existing site. And, like Pokémon Go, it will be fun!”
Emerging Technologies
Autodesk and Vectorworks are two software companies making advancements in this realm for the architecture industry. Read on to see what they’re up to.
Autodesk
In July, Autodesk launched Autodesk LIVE, a new interactive visualization service that offers Revit users that ability to transform their designs into fully interactive 3-D models. Using Revit, users can convert project visualizations into interactive model with one click to the cloud. The model can then be customized and shared with clients, allowing the design to be communicated well before a project ever breaks ground.
Amar Hanspal, senior vice president at Autodesk, explains that while a picture may say a thousand words, the company believes that an immersive experience says everything. “LIVE is a perfect example of how film and game development is influencing client expectations in the AEC world,” he says. “Imagine the ability to step inside a building and experience everything well before it is real. With such simplicity, clients can do more than just see what a space looks like, they can better know what it feels like. Autodesk LIVE may forever change the way AEC professionals communicate with their clients.”
As Fonta explains, the cloud service translates everything from the architect’s world to the live world, which is the key piece to making it accessible at the click of a button. “With Autodesk LIVE, it’s all about accessibility,” Fonta says. “Most designers and architects don’t want to know what a game engine is and definitely don’t want to learn it. It’s all about making that technology accessible to them.”
Autodesk LIVE is part of Autodesk’s LIVE Design family of visualization tools, including Stingray and 3ds Max. It is currently available to Autodesk Revit subscribers for an additional monthly cost. The service runs on Windows, with the LIVE viewer app available for iPad Pro and Windows desktop. The company is planning on adding support for the iPhone and VR headsets in the future.
Vectorworks
According to Johnson, Vectorworks believes that one day most designs will be presented to clients and competitions using virtual reality, in addition to the traditional methods of sharing models. Therefore, the company will begin offering a Webviewing and Virtual Reality export feature in Vectorworks 2017, which will be released in early fall.
“Architecture wasn’t meant to be experienced only via a flat computer screen, as it doesn’t always do a design justice,” Johnson says. “With Webviewing and Virtual Reality in Vectorworks 2017, it will be easier than ever before to truly immerse yourself in a design to get a real feel for a design.”
The new Export Web View command will allow users to export a 3-D information model to any web-based browser, where they’ll receive a shareable link to the model that can be viewed on any computer, tablet or mobile device without the use of additional hardware. “On any of these devices, the model can be viewed in normal 3-D where the viewer can click or use their finger to orbit around the design,” explains Johnson. “On a mobile device, all one has to do is enable stereoscopic or 360-degree view to enable virtual reality-like functionality where every step you take in the real world is reflected in the model. With a Google Cardboard headset and a mobile device, the viewer is guaranteed the best virtual reality experience with the model.”
Johnson believes this technology will take the industry to the next level, revolutionizing the design presentation process at little to no additional cost. “Firms don’t have to spend thousands on headsets and upgrade their computers,” he says. “With a pair of Google Cardboard goggles and Vectorworks 2017 software, architects will be armed to do their job better than ever before, which really comes down to evoking change on the built environment and pleasing clients.”