by Keiko Kusano

Freedom Architects Design, a Japan-based architectural design firm with 16 studios and more than 20 years of history, builds approximately 400 made-to-order homes each year. In February 2017, the firm began offering VR walkthroughs for clients as part of its process.

Until recently, virtual reality in architecture was available in Japan only through major general contractors and home builders. Now, Freedom Architects is rolling out its own VR Architects System, a new initiative for the made-to-order housing market. The system lets clients, wearing head-mounted displays, fully explore a potential home’s interior. Using virtual reality visualizations of homes during the design process, it’s possible to determine and implement changes before breaking ground.

In August 2016, Freedom Architects became the first firm in Japan to receive certification for a building plan through the submission of BIM data, which was created using Autodesk Revit. This first-ever BIM-based architectural certification was a cooperative effort by the Otsuka Corporation, Autodesk, and the Jutaku Seinou Hyouka Center (Housing Performance Evaluation Center) Corporation. Now, Freedom Architects’ new initiative to introduce VR takes its use of BIM to the next level.

“When we surveyed our customers, they overwhelmingly requested the ability to explore their homes using VR as they were being designed,” says Makoto Nagasawa, Freedom Architects’ director of development. The company realized if VR could be used to let clients realistically “walk around a home” during its initial design stages, those clients could more quickly understand the architect’s vision and make specific requests of their own.

Clients who tried Freedom Architects’ VR system responded favorably; with the system, experiencing the space made design plans very easy to understand. One client was able to walk from the kitchen to the laundry room and see how many steps it would take to get there. Another client was wondering where to store some favorite large plates, and was able to explore the kitchen to find an appropriate shelf. A couple with an eight-inch difference in height “stood” in their virtual kitchen; the husband observed, “Isn’t this range hood in the way?” and the wife replied, “I didn’t notice that at all from my height.” During these VR sessions with clients, a large monitor displays the client’s point of view, which allows Freedom Architects’ staff to observe and understand how clients see their designs. Through this visual reference, they can better understand their clients’ needs beyond their specific requests.

In Freedom Architects’ immersive-visualization process, design data created using Autodesk Revit is converted to Revit Live data through its cloud service. Then, the game engine and real-time rendering software Stingray is used to visualize that data more realistically. Freedom Architects uses HTC Vive head-mounted displays to provide VR environments that clients can then “walk” through.

Even environmental influences such as sunlight are precisely simulated in these VR environments. In one example, a client requested a design in which the morning sun would fill a bedroom. A long, wide window was added to meet this demand, but simulations showed that sunlight would not shine into the room until 10 a.m. By changing the wide window to a taller one, the design was adjusted so that sunlight would stream into the room at an earlier hour.

“Until now, architects would realize certain aspects of their designs only when they could see the completed building,” Nagasawa says. “There is always something you notice with your own eyes, something you wish you could change after the fact. Experience from numerous projects helps architects develop their sensibilities in this respect, but there remains a gap of about a year from the time plans are drawn until a building is completed. However, VR allows you to experience and explore your own designs in a matter of hours.

“It becomes easy to check spaces in person, and then go back to the drawing to make corrections,” Nagasawa continues. “This has changed the approach of our architects. It gives them more confidence when they explain their designs to clients. Their conviction in their designs comes from the fact that they are able to preview in great detail the spaces they are creating. VR is not just for clients; I think VR will also revolutionize the way architects approach their work.”

Furniture and appliances can also be input into the BIM data. This allows these objects to be viewed in a way that accurately re-creates their proportion and placement at a level of detail that includes shape, color, finish, and texture.

“Many furniture manufacturers around the world are providing 3D models, which we can download and import into our BIM data,” Nagasawa says. “If furniture can be decided on at an early stage, it can then be ordered even before the home’s design is finalized. When we order products made outside of Japan, sometimes we have to have them shipped by air to arrive in time, which can be expensive, or turn to stock already in Japan, which often is not in the desired color or configuration. Being able to decide on furniture at an early stage has had benefits beyond our initial expectations.”

A saying about home building goes, “Build three houses to get the one you want.” But what if you could use VR to examine every nook and cranny of a home before it was built? Nagasawa says that “a home designed in VR is the first iteration.” When both architects and their clients make use of VR, they can share a concrete image of the home they are building while exchanging ideas, making their interactions literally and figuratively a constructive process. This results in greater satisfaction in the finished home among all involved parties.

Using this technology, the client works alongside the architect in an ideal approach to home building. Once lighting and acoustics simulations become more widely available, the home-building industry will find even more applications for VR in their work.

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This article originally appeared on Autodesk’s Redshift, a site dedicated to inspiring designers, engineers, builders, and makers.

Keiko Kusano is a freelance editor/writer based in Tokyo, specializing in design and art.

The post Freedom Architects Advances Home Designs Using VR Showrooms appeared first on Archipreneur.

From being a novelty a few years ago, VR solutions are slowly becoming a medium that’s transforming the way professionals in the AEC industry communicate, create and experience content. But in our interviews we often hear that the AEC industry is slow to adapt to new technologies. This week we found someone who can get to the bottom of this question: We spoke with Ailyn Mendoza, Director of Customer Experience (CX) at IrisVR, a tech startup that develops virtual reality software for professionals in architecture, engineering and construction.

Ailyn is trained as an landscape architect and prior to IrisVR she worked as a designer and project manager at various landscape architecture firms. Now at IrisVR, she serves as the liaison between software users and the software development team to develop new product features, case studies and educational materials on the power and benefits of virtual reality as a tool for communication, design and construction within AEC.

Keep reading to get an insight into a tech startup, find out how VR can be used in AEC and learn from Ailyn’s path of career.

Enjoy the interview!

Could you tell us a little about your background?

I grew up in Miami, FL and my dream had been to be a fashion designer. But when it came time for college, my parents – who are Cuban immigrants – told me that wasn’t a “real” profession and I could choose from their list of pre-selected “safe” careers: doctor, lawyer, engineer or architect. The only hobby I was really passionate about was drawing, so I started architecture school at Florida International University. I graduated with a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture in 2010 and two years later started course work for my master’s degree at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, graduating in 2013.

Having immigrant parents meant having to pay for school on my own, which turned out to be really valuable for my career. I wanted to avoid as much student debt as I could, and I took any job that paid me to use the skills I was learning in school, which covered everything from sales, graphic design, event planning, and marketing proposals to designing projects and managing construction. I ended up working in some of the best firms and with an amazing roster of mentors.

All of this was happening during the recession, and I quickly learned the most important thing I could do for myself was not to label myself as an “architect” or “landscape architect” because it really limited the work I could apply for.

Instead, I considered myself a problem solver who simply used design thinking to achieve a solution, sometimes with brick and mortar, sometimes with a spreadsheet – and it’s the best career choice I’ve ever made.

When did you first come across Virtual Reality (VR)?

In 2015, prior to joining IrisVR, I was working as a Project Manager at a landscape architecture firm. On the way back from a meeting, I agreed to meet with a friend who was working at IrisVR to see what he was developing. At that time, virtual reality headsets – like the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive – were rare.

While at the office, he gave me a demo of the software (which was in beta) and I immediately could see all the ways that a Project Manager could use it – to help me coordinate within my team the best way to build, and to help win projects by conveying design intent.

My short visit turned into a brainstorming session that evolved into an interview. A few weeks later I had joined the team.

Could you tell us about your job at IrisVR as Director Customer Experience?

Currently I lead the Customer Experience (CX) team at IrisVR where my primary role is to be the voice of our customer and their point of contact at our company.

My day-to-day varies quite a bit as a result. Sometimes I’m working with our product and marketing teams preparing for a software launch, sometimes I’m on the phone with users gathering feedback, or I could be traveling to different offices and cities to provide demos of our software.

How did your architectural training help you in what you do now? What specific/transferable skills have proved the most useful?

I was really fortunate to attend two universities with really amazing curriculums structured to support creativity and exploration. My time at the GSD was like getting dropped off at a playground – we had unlimited resources and access to some of the best faculty which supported your interest in any project you could fathom. As a result, I feel all the skills I learned were transferable and help me daily at my current position.

If I had to pick the most useful skill, I would say it’s the ability to listen and interpret your client’s needs. All those weeks spent on research, site analysis, and demographic research for my studio projects instilled in me how critical it is to have empathy. Your client often won’t know or have the vocabulary to express what they need.

Let’s speak about the products IrisVR offers: Could you give us some examples of how the software can be used and how it helps architectural practices?

We’ve developed two types of software that leverage different types of virtual reality technology. Prospect instantly and automatically converts 3D models into fully navigable Virtual Reality (VR) experiences for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. Scope is an app that allows you to view rendered 360° panoramas with a Google Cardboard, GearVR, or other mobile VR headset.

The primary users of our software are architects, engineers, and construction companies looking to augment the way they communicate ideas with clients and coordinate across trades.

Virtual reality has become a critical tool because the experience is so much more powerful than a 2D drawing could ever be. The hard truth is most clients don’t understand the beautiful black and white 2D exploded-axon-section-plan you spent days on. Traditional drawings are difficult to read for anyone who doesn’t have years of training and they fail to help your client confidently make decisions.

We’ve heard so much positive feedback from our software users describing the impact Virtual Reality (VR) has had on their work – from saving money on meetings to decreasing coordination time. In particular, architects working in healthcare, retail and hospitality have a lot to gain from using Virtual Reality (VR) because the costs of physical mockups can be so high and delivery timelines can be very tight, leaving no room for error.

On our blog, we have a number of case studies which explain further the many ways Virtual Reality (VR) is being used.

What is the business model of IrisVR?

We are a SaaS company, which means that our software is available for download and purchase directly from our website.

The building industry is known for being slow to adopt new technologies. How is your experience with this?

AEC as a whole is slow to adopt new technologies so it’s important to connect with the industries and users who are at the forefront. For example, construction companies tend to have more resources for investing into new technologies because of the high amount of risk associated with that field. If new technology can increase on-site safety or reduce construction delays that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s worth it for them to invest.

I’ve also seen many firms who’ve learned the hard way that they can’t afford to hit snooze on adopting new technologies because it means that they are losing projects to companies who are at the forefront.

In the past few years, as Virtual Reality (VR) has become more widely known, I’ve also witnessed a shift in who is demanding Virtual Reality (VR). Project owners are increasingly including a “VR deliverable” as part of the scope of work, where they might stipulate that a certain software is used in the project. Many of our current AEC users have found our software because their clients have requested that they integrate Virtual Reality (VR) into the project.

Do you have any advice for architects looking to change careers?

First, don’t undervalue the skills you’ve learned in design school. When you work at a firm it’s easy to feel like your skills are not unique, but the moment you leave the industry you realize how valuable those photoshop and project management skills actually are.

Second, don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. Two years ago, when I told most of my colleagues (and my parents) that I was leaving my safe career as a landscape architect to join a Virtual Reality company, I received a lot of grief. From the, “that’s probably going to fail” look to, “what a waste of talent” pity glance, none of it deterred me. Today, I have still haven’t looked back. In an odd twist of fate the number of emails I get from friends, classmates, and old co-workers wanting to know how they too can use virtual reality increases weekly now.

And of course, regardless of where you choose to go to next, join a team you trust and work well with. These are the people you’ll spend 40, 50, sometimes 60+ hours with on any given week. To succeed, you’ll have to work quickly and efficiently, and the ability to anticipate each other’s needs will help you move faster during those critical growth moments.

In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major business opportunities for up and coming architects?

There is a bounty of opportunity for up and coming architects outside of traditional practice – it’s simply a matter of perspective. From working in robotics, graphic design and UX/UI, there are a ton of excellent careers that need creative thinkers who can also execute the work. Take advantage of course work that pushes you into exploring non-traditional skill sets, for example app design and coding, because you won’t regret it.

But like Baz Luhrmann, the best advice I can give anyone is to wear sunscreen.

About Ailyn Mendoza

Based in NYC, Ailyn is the Director of Customer Experience (CX) at IrisVR, a tech startup that develops virtual reality software for professionals in architecture, engineering and construction.

Prior to IrisVR, Ailyn worked as a designer and project manager at various landscape architecture firms, including Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, DLANDstudio and Raymond Jungles. As a minority professional she has been involved in diversity initiatives, including the ASLA’s National Diversity Summit and CLARB’s Foresight Sessions. She holds a post-professional degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and has 8 years of practice within AEC.

The post How IrisVR brings Virtual Reality to the AEC Industry appeared first on Archipreneur.

This week’s interview is with Israel Medina, Co-Founder of Pair. Last week we presented you The Top 5 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Apps for Architects, this week we speak with on of the app’s founders.

Israel taught himself AutoCAD in high school and after his architecture studies coding during his lunch breaks while working in an architectural office. Architecture just wasn’t evolving fast enough for him and he decided to found a tech startup together with two co-founders.

We presented their app Pair in the article The Top 5 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Apps for Architecture. The app allows architects to drag-and-drop 3-D models of consumer furnishings and appliances into their designs using iPhones or iPads. What makes Pair different from other augmented reality solutions is their focus on products and consumers – it allows users to physically walk around a virtual 3-D product like it is in their home of office space.

Keep on reading to learn how Israel shifted from architecture to tech startup and what architectural skills he could transfer to becoming an augmented reality app designer.

Enjoy the interview!

Could you tell us a little about your background?

Sure, I graduated from Columbia University, NY with a master’s in Architecture & Urban Design, but actually started my career in architecture when I was 16. I’ve always been obsessed with tech, so I taught myself AutoCAD in high school, and in the age where you had to type each command manually, 3D CAD was a big deal. This opened the door to found my first 3D company when I turned 20.

After graduating I was fortunate enough to work on international urban planning projects with Gensler in NY and later more local architecture and interiors projects with DC and Miami firms. After a number of years, I realized architecture just wasn’t evolving fast enough for me.

Knowing I couldn’t afford another master’s degree, I started learning to code online, every day after work and lunch breaks, with hopes to get at least one of the ideas I had in my head developed. Two years later I met Andrew and Taylor (co-founders) and started working on Pair.

When did you first come across Augmented Reality (AR)?

I actually first discovered Virtual Reality (VR) when a client from my 3D animation company asked for it. Even though it was still in its infancy, I could see the potential for VR in architectural visualization and design. Discovering the possibilities of overlaying designs, in real-time, in your actual space with Augmented Reality (AR) came shortly after, and from then on I was obsessed.

What made you decide to found Pair?

When I tried the first version of the app that Andrew and Taylor had been working on, I immediately saw the potential Augmented Reality (AR) could have for the architectural profession, but wasn’t completely convinced that architects would adapt fast enough.

Ultimately, the decision to leave a stable job in architecture for the roller coaster ride that is a tech startup, was due to what I thought we as a team could accomplish.

Even if you don’t have the perfect idea to begin with, having a great team allows you to quickly adapt and continually innovate. 

What is your role in the company? 

Roles in a startup fluctuate almost daily. While my official title is VP of Design, some days I will be managing clients and inbound/outbound leads, others I will be creating marketing campaigns. My favorite part has been the challenge of designing the product experience while coordinating with the dev and machine-learning teams to maintain a cohesive vision and user experience.

Could you give us some examples of how the app can be used and how it helps architectural practices?

When we first launched Pair it was solely for architects to upload and view their designs in Augmented Reality (AR). Part of the transformation in these last two years has been to create a platform for all designers or any user with a passion for visualizing design within their space. To achieve this vision, we started working directly with furniture manufacturers to bring their products and designs onto the platform to help others create.

What is the business model for your startup?

Unless you can predict the future, setting a long-term business model for a startup is definitely part fantasy. After starting with a SaaS subscription based model for architects, we quickly realized that we needed to create something that first engaged users, understand how they were using it, and then focus on a business model.

Currently we use a Mobile Ad Model based on a CPC (Cost-Per-Click) & CPM (Cost-Per-Mille impressions) directly with manufacturers. We have also recently started licensing our Deep Image & Visual Analytics tech to other companies.

How do you finance your start-up? Any tips for our community on how to manage it?

One tip I always try to keep in mind: “Your network is your net worth”.

We have been fortunate to raise money from a great group of angel investors, but without a network of supportive mentors to guide you and open doors, obtaining venture capital is an extreme uphill battle.

Genuinely, the best tip I could give is to forget about financing. Validating your product in today’s market is the biggest step you will make in starting your entrepreneurial journey. Build your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and get at least one person (who is not your mom) to pay for it. Once you have some traction and still want financing, tech accelerators are a great place to grow your network of mentors and investors.

You worked in an architectural office, now you are an entrepreneur. What do you find the most fulfilling about it?

Mentorship.

The last two years, even with all the sleepless nights, what I have come to value most is the opportunity to lead and mentor a great team of designers and developers.

Being able to show young architects that there are different ways to grow and innovate within their profession, is inherent in every aspect of our company culture and something I believe is necessary if we expect architecture to evolve.

How has your architectural training helped you in the actual running of your businesses? What specific/transferable skills have proved the most useful?

It would be too easy to just say everything, but I do seriously believe that every aspect of architectural training is involved in running a business. Most importantly the ability to conceptualize an idea and take it through to it’s fruition is key for a project’s success. Even something we take for granted nowadays like the ability to sketch an idea, has become essential for great team communication.

The building industry is known for being slow to adapt to new technologies. How is your experience with this?

Honestly, sometimes it feels like slow might be an understatement.

As I previously mentioned, we first started focusing solely on the building industry. The feedback we received from architects and contractors was great, except when it came time to actually adapt.

I do understand that time is a luxury that architects have precious little of, so when it comes to taking time to learning new tech, it’s something that takes a back seat to project deadlines. We quickly realized this, and pivoted our market approach.

Do you have any advice for archipreneurs who want to start and build their own business?

I think architects have an inherent ingenuity when conceptualizing ideas, but one thing to always keep in mind is that it’s not about having a lot of ideas, it’s about making the idea happen. If you keep paying attention to what people need and what hasn’t been done, you’ll find your niche.

In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major business opportunities for up and coming architects?

Currently my top three are mobile Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D Printing, but where I really see a need for architects to get involved in is when wearable AR devices become mainstream. These devices will begin to redefine how we visualize and experience space, for which architects are uniquely poised to design this spatial experience for users.

About Israel Medina

Israel Medina is Co-founder & VP of Design at Pair Inc, an augmented reality platform that lets users design layouts in real time within their space, at true-scale, and with full freedom of movement. Pair has reached over 20 countries and has helped over a quarter-million users experience design in Augmented Reality (AR). A former architect, Israel’s career spans over 10 years including a range of projects from international urban planning and large scale residential to commercial interiors and 3D animations, university lecturer, and professor of architecture.

While no longer a practicing architect, Israel’s desire is to help the profession continually evolve through innovation in technology and education.

The post From Architect to Tech Founder: Israel Medina on the Augmented Reality App Pair appeared first on Archipreneur.

From being a novelty a few years ago, VR/AR solutions are slowly becoming a medium that’s transforming the way professionals in the AEC industry communicate, create and experience content. Offering a more immersive experience of architectural designs, but also products and areas related to space building, Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) tools are becoming an industry standard that offers rapid iterations and opportunity to refine designs in collaboration with clients and colleagues.

While Virtual Reality (VR) creates fully computer-generated and driven environments, Augmented Reality (AR) delivers virtual elements as an overlay to the real world. This is why, while leveraging the same type of technology, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are taking different paths to the end user as well as various industries. Also, VR is thought to be a tool better suited to architects, while AR will likely find more uses in construction.

Although both these groundbreaking technologies are exploding, they are still in an early development stage. In order to provide a more structured overview of the most interesting solutions out there, we compiled a list of VR/AR tools that best suit those working the in AEC industry.

#1 – ARki

ARki is a real-time augmented reality visualization service for architectural models. It incorporates AR technology into architecture by providing 3-D models with multiple levels of interactivity for both design and presentation purposes.

ARki can be used on any IOS/Android device. It simply overlays 3-D models onto existing 2-D floor plans, but also provides several other interactive functionalities, including real-time shadow analysis and material selection. Users can capture and record custom views of models in both movie and 3-D still format, and share their content via email or social media with a few clicks.

#2 – Storyboard VR

Storyboard VR is a free prototyping and visualization tool that can be used by architects, AEC professionals, artists and creators. It allows users to pull in, arrange, scale and animate simple 2-D assets. The creators of Storyboard VR, design firm Artefact, developed it for their own internal use for Virtual Reality (VR) projects they worked on. They created their own tool to quickly and easily prototype VR experiences.

You can create and upload transparent drawings and environment maps from your existing sketching tools to Storyboard VR, then select your assets and build a storyboard. The ease of use allows designers to share ideas and get feedback early in the design process. Storyboard VR also features slides – sequential scenes – providing something like a Virtual Reality (VR) version of PowerPoint.

#3 – Pair

Pair (formerly Visidraft) used proprietary computer vision and augmented reality technologies to build an app, which allows architects to drag-and-drop 3-D models of consumer furnishings and appliances into their designs using iPhones or iPads. Their online catalog of models and assets now features over 200 home and office furniture products from Fortune 500 manufacturers, with new products being added every day.

After launching their app, the firm saw that a large percentage of their growth was coming from furnishings and appliance manufacturers. What makes Pair different from other Augmented Reality (AR) solutions is their focus on products and consumers – it allows users to physically walk around a virtual 3-D product like it is in their home of office space.

#4 – SmartReality

SmartReality is an augmented reality mobile app that uses the mobile device’s camera to overlay an interactive BIM model over printed construction plans to create 3-D visualizations of projects. It allows users to zoom, expose structural layers with a touch, move through stages of a project over time and record images and video of their experience. Users can create a free account to upload 2-D plans and get matching 3-D plans and models for a quote.

The SmartReality app is also available in a VR version developed by the JBKnowledge Labs R&D team. This version lets users virtually walk through building models using virtual reality solutions like the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear and Google Project Tango.

#5 – Fuzor

Fuzor is a real-time rendering app that integrates with Revit. It uses the technology originally designed by Kalloc Studios for game design and offers a bi-directional live link with Revit, allowing users to move around, visualize, annotate, and inspect BIM information, while also syncing changes between the two tools.

The live link is what allows Fuzor to instantly update and reflect the modifications done in a Revit file. It supports various measurements, clash analysis, lighting analysis, color and visibility filters, cross section and section cut rendering, and walkthrough video rendering with BIM information embedded.

For collaboration with construction sites, BIM Solution supports mobile devices BIM drawing visualization via Google Drive or Dropbox. Fuzor currently provides support for Revit, Archicad, Rhinoceros 3-D, Navisworks, SketchUp, FBX, and 3-DS files.

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What other Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) tools do you find interesting? Have you incorporated any of these in your workflow? Let us know about your experiences.

The post The Top 5 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Apps for Architects appeared first on Archipreneur.

by Kim O’Connell

This scenario is becoming increasingly common as more architects incorporate virtual reality (VR) into their practices. Along with its cousins—augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR)—virtual reality allows designers to push the boundaries of visualization, giving colleagues and clients new ways to experience and understand a building or space long before it is actually built. With VR, architects can transmit not just what a building will look like, but also what it will feel like.

“Traditionally in architecture, you have blueprints and scale models, and 3D modeling has been around in force for the last 20 years,” says Jeff Mottle, president and CEO of CGarchitect Digital Media Corp. and publisher of CGarchitect, an online magazine and community for architectural-visualization professionals. “VR plays into these traditional methods because the two fit closely together, more than the manufacturers actually realize.”

Manufacturers still mostly view VR for gaming rather than enterprise solutions – but that is changing, according to Mottle, who just moderated a panel about these emerging technologies at this year’s Autodesk University Las Vegas.
With the dizzying rate of technology advancement and growing options, here are four considerations for firms thinking of entering this brave new virtual world.

1. VR is a rapidly changing industry.

Virtual reality has been around in some form for decades (with the first head-mounted systems debuting in 1968), but the technology has not been elastic or advanced enough to have widespread application until now. With advances in mobile technology, which placed high-resolution imagery into everyone’s hands, VR has experienced an explosion in the past two years.

Widely available head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens, and Google Cardboard have brought VR into the mainstream and made it more affordable (although costs generally still run from hundreds to thousands). Facebook’s purchase of Oculus for $2 billion in 2014 also offered the industry a highly visible boost.

“One of the challenges is everything is changing so quickly,” Mottle says. “Not everyone has the time or resources to try every one of these HMDs, so we’re trying to get the dialogue going to discuss the pros and cons.”

According to a survey in CGarchitect, the leading users of VR for architectural visualization are in Europe (40 percent) and the United States (21 percent), with commenters saying that the technology will be revolutionary for the industry. Nearly 70 percent of respondents are using VR/AR/MR in production or planning to do so in 2017, while 77 percent were experimenting with the technology or planning to do so.

2. VR, AR, and MR are similar but have different capabilities.

VR is the immersive, full-headset experience that most people associate with this technology. “With virtual reality, you’re immersing yourself into a virtual environment and closing yourself off completely from the outside world,” Mottle says. “Depending on which device you’re using, you could do room-scale VR and ‘walk’ through the space.” (And with grid guidelines in your virtual world, you won’t accidentally walk into a real wall.)

With augmented reality, data and/or instructional information are animated over the real-world view, often through smaller devices such as a mobile phone or tablet. Pokémon Go is a popular consumer example of an augmented-reality app; a professional use case would be an engineer remotely teaching a mechanic how to repair something.

Then there’s MR: Mixing together aspects of VR and AR, MR takes virtual objects and overlays them onto the real world. Two people (say, an architect and a structural engineer based in another country) can be networked into a virtual world where they can interact together with a virtual building on a real site.

3. Architects can use VR at various stages in the design process.

One benefit of VR is that it can be rendered at different Levels of Detail (LOD), so an architect in the early design phase could have an immersive experience in a non-photorealistic room, just to get a sense of spatial relationships and massing. Or the experience could be hyperreal, so that a VR video could have soft sunlight filtering down through a clerestory window, with the sound of birds chirping outside (for client presentations).

Increasingly, architects are integrating VR hardware such as HTC Vive and Oculus with BIM software. “This will allow architects and clients alike to truly understand the spatial qualities of the project,” says Kim Baumann Larsen, an architect and the VR advisor for The Future Group. “This spatial understanding should make clients more confident in the design and reduce time spent in meetings and the use of lateral design revisions.”

Mobile VR solutions using cardboard headsets and a smartphone are another increasingly popular solution. “The architect can render stereo 360 panoramic images directly from the BIM software such as [Autodesk] Revit or using a visualization tool like 3ds Max with V-Ray, and publish the images to the web using third-party services like VRto.me or IrisVR Scope,” Larsen says.

4. VR has some catching up to do with the architecture industry.

VR requires a fair amount of expertise, and it’s challenging for architects to find work time to experiment with the technology. “For the most part, VR relies on gaming engines to develop these immersive experiences,” Mottle says. “That has a whole different workflow and paradigm than architecture.”

He hopes that manufacturers will see the potential for developing VR solutions specifically geared toward architecture. Already, some firms are translating BIM data into VR with platforms such as Autodesk LIVE and Stingray, which maintains important building data that other gaming systems don’t capture. For now, though, gaming systems tend to focus on creating idealized end-user VR experiences rather than applications for iterative building-project design and construction.

The more architects get involved with VR, the more they can shape the future marketplace. “I’d really like to see these VR companies realize that there’s a market beyond gaming and the consumer market,” Mottle says. “I would like them to see that there are some huge opportunities and synergies with the design world.”

But Larsen says architects shouldn’t wait to dig in: “Get a PC-based VR system like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift for exploring design from BIM tools, and play with mobile VR using cardboard and Gear VR and Google’s View to distribute your designs in VR to clients and collaborators alike. The most important thing is to start experimenting.”

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This article originally appeared on Autodesk’s Redshift, a site dedicated to inspiring designers, engineers, builders, and makers.

Kim O’Connell is a Washington, D.C. area writer specializing in history, nature, architecture, and life. In addition to writing for a range of national and regional publications, she is a former writer in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Shenandoah National Park. She can be reached via her website, kimaoconnell.com.

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