When Facebook announced this past March that it was buying Oculus VR for a reported $2 billion, it signaled the beginning of a new movement in the U.S. tech sector—virtual reality for the masses.
One of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns to date—raising some $2.4 million from 9,522 investors in 2012—Oculus VR aimed to shake up the highly specialized, cost-prohibitive virtual reality hardware market by offering a low-cost, plug-and-play VR headset geared for gamers.
At $350, the Oculus Rift was a fraction of the cost of competing hardware solutions at the time (several similarly priced systems have since been launched), and a tiny sliver of the cost of fully loaded CAVE (computer-assisted virtual reality) systems and VR simulators popular in the military and scientific communities, which can run in the $20,000-30,000 range.
With Mark Zuckerberg’s deep pockets behind the technology, it won’t be long before every gamer is fully immersed in VR environments. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play, and communicate,” said Facebook’s founder.
The technology is a natural fit for the AEC industry. Many firms are already building highly detailed BIM/VDC models of their most complex projects, so VR looks like the logical next step.
“Most people—including many in our industry—cannot read plans very well, so there are huge benefits in visualizing the design,” says Christopher Rippingham, BIM Manager and Construction Technology Specialist at DPR Construction. The firm is one of the industry’s early adopters of fully immersive VR modeling, operating a full-service VR showroom at its Redwood City, Calif., headquarters.
What you'll need to host truly immersive VR sessions
VR Headset or CAVE System
There are two approaches to creating a fully immersive VR experience: surround the users with a series of screens or projections, known as a CAVE (computer-assisted virtual environment), or have them wear headsets. Headsets are much less costly—the Oculus Rift starts at $350. Advanced 3D TVs and computer monitors can also be used, but the experience will be less immersive.Beefed-up Workstation
VR sessions require tremendous processing power. Attempting to host a VR session on a MacBook Pro will likely result in a choppy, sluggish experience for the user. VR technology provider WorldViz recommends that VR workstations have an i5 or i7 processor with high clock speed, at least 8 gigabytes of RAM, and a dedicated graphics card.Advanced Controller
For power users, a keyboard will suffice for navigating a VR model. Not so for novices, especially clients. Our experts advise you to look into the many gaming controllers, data gloves, hybrid keyboards, joy sticks, and other VR controllers on the market. They’re relatively inexpensive and can greatly enhance the user experience and productivity during VR sessions.Dedicated Showroom Space
The beauty of modern VR headset technology is its portability. Sessions can be held virtually anywhere—at a client’s office, a Building Team co-location site, even the job site. Our VR experts recommend creating a dedicated showroom area for VR sessions, with ample, professional-looking space, a powerful workstation, and all the tools and accessories needed to create a great experience for clients.Accessories
VR technology firm PocketCake offers a mobile workstation, the VRSCA, that allows up to eight persons to navigate a VR model simultaneously for group coordination meetings or guided tours. WorldViz sells standard and custom avatars that can be placed in VR models to make the spaces more lifelike. The firm also offers a 3D sound system for more realistic acoustics.
There, DPR worked with VR technology provider WorldViz to install a corner CAVE (with multiple projections to create a 90-degree view) and a fully immersive, headset-based walkable VR environment. The firm has used advanced VR for several applications, including constructability reviews and virtual mockups.
“The technology helps us drive a more predictable outcome for clients, whether that’s the look and feel of a design or a specific detail that is going to be constructed,” says Rippingham. The ability to immerse clients in the space they’re eventually going to occupy “helps generate excitement and creates a volunteer army to help us with some of the issues we need to tackle,” he says.
Suffolk Construction doesn’t have an in-house VR studio, but the firm has applied advanced VR on several projects to date, most recently on the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s 620,000-sf, 13-story Brigham Building for the Future, currently under construction in Boston.
“As an experiment, we modeled the entire project and had the doctors and support staff walk through the proposed spaces using a CAVE environment,” says Peter Campot, the firm’s Chief Innovation Officer and President of Healthcare, Science and Technology. “We told them that they could change anything they wanted during a two-week review period, but after that they could only change colors. We got tremendous buy-in, and there have been minimal changes so far.”
By using VR, Suffolk has almost completely eliminated physical mockups on select healthcare and S+T projects, while greatly reducing change orders—resulting in considerable savings.
“We’re looking at a process of walking every client through a project virtually before we build it,” says Campot. “Nine times out of ten, the reason they have changes is due to the client not understanding what they agreed to. If we can walk them through that, we eliminate that unknown.”
Campot and Rippingham identified five solid applications for VR in the AEC field:
Virtual mockups. VR reduces the need for costly physical mockups and can be a more effective tool. Virtual mockups can be tweaked based on user input relatively quickly and retested in an iterative design process. “You can refine the details much faster,” says Rippingham.
Constructability reviews. The technology offers a much richer environment for hashing out the details on the problematic components of a job. “We’re getting away from the ‘figure it out in the field’ mentality,” says Campot. “It all starts with getting it right in the model.”
Facilities operations training. Even before the building is completed, the Building Team can walk the facilities management staff through the inner workings of the design, conduct basic training on the systems and equipment, and gather feedback for improvement.
An architect at AECOM’s Kansas City, Mo., office experiences a virtual reality simulation of a high-rise condo design concept. VR technology provider PocketCake created the VR model and powered the demonstration using its VRSCA mobile workstation and the Oculus Rift headset. PHOTO: COURTESY POCKETCAKE
Safety hazard analysis. “We’re putting our teams into the virtual reality environment so that they can more effectively analyze projects for fall hazards and other potential safety issues,” says Rippingham.
Real estate sales and marketing. VR can be a powerful tool for commercial real estate developers in preselling their space, especially on speculative office and condominium projects, where presales can greatly affect financing.
5 VALUABLE TIPS FROM EARLY ADOPTERS
Here’s some helpful advice from our experts on implementing VR in your firm:
1. Define the desired outcomes up front. Manage client expectations, says DPR’s Rippingham: “When a client says they want to look at their space in a virtual reality environment, we ask them what they’re trying to achieve and we make sure they’re aware of the level of effort required for each use.”
2. Be prepared for extra work—and costs—to create the VR model. You can’t just throw Oculus Rift on your BIM model and start navigating. The BIM model needs to be converted for VR use, which takes time and may require the expertise of a third-party specialist.
“This is a limiting factor due to the fast pace in which designs evolve on most projects,” says Tim Meyers, Designer with 360 Architecture. “The technology seems to be improving rapidly and may eventually be integrated with our current design tools so that we [will be] able to use it more efficiently on projects.”
3. Designate a tour guide for client sessions. Clients can easily get lost or disorientated when attempting to navigate a VR model solo. Look into VR setups that can accommodate multiple users simultaneously.
4. Beware of motion sickness, especially with the headset. Have people walk or move slowly through the model to avoid queasiness, advises Campot. The last thing you need is to get your client nauseous.
5. Consider adding avatars to the models. This is especially helpful for virtual mockup applications; for example, a surgeon avatar could simulate the steps required to conduct a procedure in an OR. “We didn’t do that initially and quickly realized it has a tremendous amount of value,” says Campot. “The client’s level of understanding of the space starts to kick in when they can test out the space for safety and efficiency by simulating procedures.”
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
Long-awaited San Francisco center is music to jazz organization’s ears
After 28 years, SFJAZZ is getting its first permanent home. The San Francisco-based nonprofit, which is dedicated to advancing the art of jazz through concerts and educational programs, contracted local design firm Mark Cavagnero Associates and general contractor Hathaway Dinwiddie to create a modern performance center in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood
| Apr 12, 2011
Entrance pavilion adds subtle style to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
A $13 million gift from the Otis Booth Foundation is funding a new entrance pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. CO Architects, Los Angeles, is designing the frameless structure with an energy-efficient curtain wall, vertical suspension rods, and horizontal knife plates to make it as transparent as possible.
| Apr 12, 2011
BIM Grows Up: Separating Hype from Reality in a 3D World
While BIM adoption still lags in both design and construction, some enterprising owners, architects, and contractors are unlocking the potential of this dynamic technology.
| Apr 12, 2011
Metal cladding: Enhancing design with single-skin panels, MCMs, and IMPs
Single-skin metal panels, metal composite panels, and insulated metal panels can add both aesthetic and functional value to your projects, if you use them correctly.
| Apr 12, 2011
American Institute of Architects announces Guide for Sustainable Projects
AIA Guide for Sustainable Projects to provide design and construction industries with roadmap for working on sustainable projects.
| Apr 11, 2011
Wind turbines to generate power for new UNT football stadium
The University of North Texas has received a $2 million grant from the State Energy Conservation Office to install three wind turbines that will feed the electrical grid and provide power to UNT’s new football stadium.
| Apr 8, 2011
SHW Group appoints Marjorie K. Simmons as CEO
Chairman of the Board Marjorie K. Simmons assumes CEO position, making SHW Group the only firm in the AIA Large Firm Roundtable to appoint a woman to this leadership position
| Apr 5, 2011
Zaha Hadid’s civic center design divides California city
Architect Zaha Hadid is in high demand these days, designing projects in Hong Kong, Milan, and Seoul, not to mention the London Aquatics Center, the swimming arena for the 2012 Olympics. But one of the firm’s smaller clients, the city of Elk Grove, Calif., recently conjured far different kinds of aquatic life when members of the City Council and the public chose words like “squid,” “octopus,” and “starfish” to describe the latest renderings for a proposed civic center.
| Apr 5, 2011
Are architects falling behind on BIM?
A study by the National Building Specification arm of RIBA Enterprises showed that 43% of architects and others in the industry had still not heard of BIM, let alone started using it. It also found that of the 13% of respondents who were using BIM only a third thought they would be using it for most of their projects in a year’s time.