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
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Is the road to the future the path of least resistance? Sasha Reed, Bluebeam (sponsored)
Bluebeam’s Sasha Reed discusses why AEC leaders should give their teams permission to responsibly break things and create ecosystems of people, process, and technology.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: 3D laser scanning for the project lifecycle, FARO Technologies (sponsored)
Brent Slawnikowski of FARO Technologies and Jennifer Suerth of Pepper Construction discuss how implementation of laser scanning has helped Pepper become more successful in the completion of their projects.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Incubating innovation through R&D and product development, Jonatan Schumacher, Thornton Tomasetti
Thornton Tomasetti’s Jonatan Schumacher presents the firm’s business model for developing, incubating, and delivering cutting-edge tools and solutions for the firm, and the greater AEC market.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: The future of computational design, Ben Juckes, Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign
Yazdani’s Ben Juckes discusses the firm’s tech-centric culture, where scripting has become an every-project occurrence and each designer regularly works with computational tools as part of their basic toolset.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: A case for Big Data in construction, Graham Cranston, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Graham Cranston shares SGH’s efforts to take hold of its project data using mathematical optimization techniques and information-rich interactive visual graphics.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Scaling change in a changing industry, Chris Mayer, Suffolk Construction
Suffolk’s CIO Chris Mayer talks about the firm’s framework for vetting and implementing new technologies and processes.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Gaming tech in construction, Lucas Richmond, Gilbane
Learn why Gilbane’s Lucas Richmond is looking outside the AEC industry to build his rockstar gaming and media team.
| Jun 12, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: The world's smartest buildings, Derik Eckhardt, Miller Hull Partnership
Discover what architect Derik Eckhardt learned during his worldwide tour of the globe’s smartest buildings, from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam to Stuttgart to Dubai.
| Jun 12, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Preparing for the AI revolution, Alan Robles, Gensler
Gensler’s Alan Robles shares how the AEC Giant firm is preparing its project teams and clients for the coming artificial intelligence movement.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Applying machine learning to building design, Daniel Davis, WeWork
Daniel Davis offers a glimpse into the world at WeWork, and how his team is rethinking workplace design with the help of machine learning tools.