NBBJ to develop virtual reality productivity platform

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.

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Procon Consulting, Virginia Tech, and Woods Bagot about SPOT, the autonomous robot for construction progress monitoring applications, and how Woods Bagot's new "futurist" is promoting innovation at the international design firm.

Coronavirus | Mar 11, 2021

The Weekly show, March 11, 2021: 5 building products for COVID-related conditions, and AI for MEP design

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders about building products and systems that support COVID-related conditions, and an AI tool that automates the design of MEP systems.

The Weekly show, Mar 4, 2021: Bringing AI to the masses, meet the team behind the award-winning Central Station Memphis hotel

AEC Tech | Mar 4, 2021

The Weekly show, March 4, 2021: Bringing AI to the masses, and Central Station Memphis hotel

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders about the award-winning Central Station Memphis hotel reconstruction project, and how Autodesk aims to bring generative design and AI tools to the AEC masses.

AEC Tech | Jan 28, 2021

The Weekly show, Jan 28, 2021: Generative design tools for feasibility studies, and landscape design trends in the built environment

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Studio-MLA and TestFit about landscape design trends in the built environment, and how AEC teams and real estate developers can improve real estate feasibility studies with real-time generative design.