Many people still see virtual reality (VR) as a gimmick, best kept to the gaming industry. However, there is a lack of understanding of the capability and possibilities of VR. No longer do we design with only paper and drawings. With the increasing need for a more immersive experience to look at how a design works, many are calling for VR to be adopted in the design and construction industry as a standard part of the process.
Because it is an immersive technology, allowing you to step into a building before one brick has been laid, VR can facilitate building design for every stakeholder. It has many uses at the design stage, the main one being to assess the feasibility of the elements and products that go to make up the building. For clients and end users alike, it can give them much more of a real-life experience of what it would look like and how it feels to live there.
Ten to fifteen years ago, the best designers had to showcase their work was 3D data on flat screens. VR is now removing the barriers of navigation to inspire architects and designers in a way that wasn’t possible before.
The tipping point of technology
Industry experts say that we have arrived at the tipping point for technology. In the next few years advances will come faster, so it’s important that the construction industry matures along with it.
Integrating BIM with VR, for instance, was complicated a few years ago. Now, there are many tools on the market to speed up the process of viewing data via VR. When the design for a building is complex, VR gives you the capacity to explore ideas that would cost time and money to pilot or mockup. It enables strategic thinking by being able to visualise a sequence of construction with 4D (3D plus time). This leads to better methodology and understanding of how different elements fit together for engineering, safety and the site team.
There are situations where VR can seem to be not that user-friendly. With a headset on, interacting with other people can be tricky. As the technology matures, I believe these issues will be addressed to improve the overall experience.
VR opportunities
In the years to come, there will be lots of change in the industry and VR will continue to be a medium to communicate ideas and designs. There are few pitfalls, though as a new and evolving medium, we need to make sure that personnel who will benefit from it can rapidly adapt to those changes. There are new people coming into the industry with digital experience products, so finding that magical compromise between the older generation of constructers and a new modern era is a fine balancing act.
There are a wide range of possibilities with VR, and within a digital future, its use is vital to modern construction. Not only can it create an immersive experience for clients and end users, but it can also assist in the tendering process as well. It has the ability to show exactly what a company can do for clients and how they can be involved in refining the design and programme.
It is also a good tool for training, particularly in health and safety. People are able to interact with scenarios to find the best solutions. Before VR, they had a piece of paper with which to imagine the scenario. VR proves the adage “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand.”
It has been used many times as a marketing tool as well. It was used recently on a regeneration scheme, where a marketing suite was built and VR technology was available to give customers the experience and help them understand the benefits of all the spaces inside and out.
It was already possible to see information, with paper from the very beginning to more digital-based data, but the immersive experience VR offers is unrivalled in its ability to offer an interaction with all aspects of a building’s design.
“VR is removing the barriers of navigation to inspire architects and designers in a way that wasn’t possible before.”