The architecture and design firm NBBJ announced that it has formed a partnership with a startup, Visual Vocal, to develop a virtual reality (VR) productivity platform.
NBBJ wanted a VR tool of its own to streamline its design process. The firm’s design teams create buildings using 3D modeling software, but have found it difficult to share those plans with clients. Email, for instance, is time consuming and doesn’t allow for comprehensive feedback.
VR, though, will let NBBJ include more people, including the general public, into the design stages.
“NBBJ’s decision to launch Visual Vocal is representative of our ongoing mission to find more informative and inspiring ways to engage clients in the design process,” NBBJ Managing Partner Steve McConnell, FAIA, said in a statement. “This partnership will radically shift the way design feedback is sourced and integrated into projects, and the speed at which it can be done.”
Other firms collaborate with VR companies, but NBBJ said that this is the first time an established designer worked a VR set-up into its own offices.
In addition to architecture, the arrangement could lead to advancements in aerospace, product design, biotech, and other industries that use 3D modeling.
NBBJ has designed the headquarters for several tech giants, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Alibaba. Both NBBJ and Visual Vocal are based in Seattle.
Related Stories
AEC Tech | Apr 24, 2019
PlanGrid Delivers BIM Data in 2D and 3D Directly to Mobile Users in the Field
One of the construction industry’s most widely-used mobile technologies makes critical data accessible in the field with first major Autodesk integration after acquisition.
Digital Twin | Apr 24, 2019
Can Digital Twin make project management more efficient?
One leading owner’s rep is pushing that idea with its “OneModel” BIM-sharing approach.
Movers+Shapers | Apr 19, 2019
AEC angel investor
Jesse Devitte is among the prescient venture capitalists who’ve bet on the AEC industry finally coming around to design and construction technology.
AEC Tech | Apr 17, 2019
4 fundamental relationships between buildings and machines
If and when AI drives the entire process of design, construction, and operation, buildings could become exponentially smarter with resources, money, time, and performance.
AEC Tech | Apr 12, 2019
NBBJ creates Design Performance Group whose goal is to connect building design with occupant wellbeing
The firm also wants to advance energy efficiency in its projects.
AEC Tech | Apr 10, 2019
Speaker Update! Accelerate AEC Innovation Conference, May 13-14, NYC
BD+C's third-annual Accelerate AEC Innovation Conference (May 13-14, NYC) will explore AI in architecture, offsite construction, smart buildings, AEC business innovations, big data in construction, and much more.
AEC Tech | Mar 26, 2019
Embracing collaboration tools from outside the AEC industry
Let's take a look at the available technologies from outside AEC that are seeing greater adoption within the industry.
AEC Tech | Mar 24, 2019
5 ways designers and builders can use business intelligence with data they already have
Tricky construction budgets, large project teams, and unique designs needing extensive coordination are all problems increasingly being handled with new software tools and data.
AEC Tech | Feb 8, 2019
BI(m): BIM data without models
A new breed of data tools creates a valuable opportunity for the next wave of BIM and facilities management, one where “pure data” is at the center, writes John Tobin of SMRT Architects.
AEC Tech | Jan 9, 2019
Our robotic future: Assessing AI's impact on the AEC profession and the built environment
This is the first in a series by Lance Hosey, FAIA, on how automation is disrupting design and construction.