Augmented Reality

[Zach Cross, MLA]

Are any firms or designers using augmented reality to present design concepts in the field?

[Dave McCorquodale]

I confess that I’m not sure what that means…

Dave

[Zach Cross, MLA]

 For example, if the project involved a small city park, you could stand on the roof of a low-rise building or town home and hold up the iPad or put on Google glasses and view what the new park will look like in real time.  I imagine you could place some people in the park as well.

[Dave McCorquodale]

Ah, I see now.  While familiar with the concept, it is not something I utilize.  My initial thought is how to successfully build the cost of a platform like that into a design fee (both hardware and software).  I suspect a large firm might be able to manage it working on large projects, but it may be tough for small firms and those of us who are one-person shops, particularly in residential work.  I do use a 3D program to illustrate designs (Pool Studio), but it’s not anywhere approaching the “reality” that you’re alluding to here.  While not a perfect platform (nothing is, right?), I find Pool Studio incredibly adept at conveying to clients what the final design will be like.  

I’m confident there’s a niche for a designer who also loves technology to utilize this.  It would certainly be a way to set yourself apart from your competitors.

Dave

[Blake Rhinehart]

We have been experimenting with using a Oculus head set to provide VR walkthroughs of our projects. It is time consuming but we have received a strong reaction from clients. 

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Where do you stop? Do we have to show them a virtual reality of a design before we can sell them a design? If people are too simple to not be able to follow a reasonable presentation, I for one, do not want to deal with them.

[Kris Karon]

I find AR is still very expensive, although when stuff like Microsofts Hololense goes mainstream, it will definitely be a must have presentation tool.

For now, I work with smartphone VR and theViewer.co. Its time and money efficient and looks very good, especially with a GearVR or DayDream. See more info on http://theConstruct.co/beta

For me, it seems the way to go. Oculus is still so expensive. And quite inconvenient too 

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