Image Credit: Lynn Hey/ News & Record

This is the second post in a series about tech-enabled pre-occupancy evaluations, opening up a new world of possibilities for AEC.

Working Digitally Removes Physical Costs and Constraints

In an industry where project bids can be fierce, and profit margins tight, effective use of technology can be a force multiplier to staying on time and on budget - even under less than ideal conditions like those we find ourselves in this year.

Shifting to digital and virtual design review, and leveraging technology like VR that allows you to do so at scale, is a game changer in a number of ways. For one - outside of VR, there is no way to instantly and immersively walk through projects at 1:1 scale early in the phases of design development.

BIM + VR makes pre-occupancy evaluations accessible and experiential in ways never before realized. They can be approached early on with an attitude akin to rapid prototyping. This is a huge competitive advantage in industries like restaurants and retail, where competition is stiff. They can swiftly prototype and hone their spaces and refine the brand experience and touchpoints of all types, directly alongside their evolving customer base.

When working virtually, real-world constraints such as space, labor, and materials - along with their associated costs - are nullified. It doesn’t cost anything extra to digitally A/B test design options, nor does it take up any extra resources or time. In VR, with the click of a button, you can showcase limitless combinations and variations of an idea or project - and any and all relevant stakeholders can experience it as if it were already built, and they were there. Without geographical constraints, virtual review and collaboration can also help get a broader and more accurate survey sample of potential customers and end users.

VR swings the door wide open, ushering in faster and more powerful ways to understand options and iterations, without the sustainability nightmare of having to build out mockups.

Virtual reality once sounded so futuristic. For innovators in the AEC industry, VR for building is today’s technology, enabling engineering and construction teams to make giant strides forward in productivity. VR has broken through the barriers of the tech world and is now designed specifically with builders in mind. With enterprise-grade VR headsets more available and affordable than ever, VR technology for AEC no longer requires a technologist to implement or use. The ecosystem of VR software providers, like IrisVR, offers AEC companies powerful partners to help guide them through competition-shattering digital transformation.

This is the first in a series about tech-enabled pre-occupancy evaluations, opening up a new world of possibilities for AEC.

Using BIM to Bridge the 2D Communication Gap

As long as there’s been built environments, there has been a communication gap between designers and builders, and those who use and maintain them after. This gap often happens because things get lost in translation when looking at 2D plans and renderings representing 3D models, something that requires a great deal of spatial thinking.

There are always looming possibilities of change orders and rework during the building and construction administration phases, which can quickly cut into ever-narrowing profit margins. This is before you consider that, even with meticulous planning, research, interviews, and change orders completed on site, it’s often not until after a space is built and occupied for some time that more major issues and inefficiencies become apparent.

You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site

- Frank Lloyd Wright

2020 has been a year. Despite shutdowns and other pandemic-induced changes, the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) space has seen tremendous growth. How industries work has shifted dramatically in 2020, with newly remote workforces demanding better tools and technology to stay productive and new pressures placed on old industries to rise to the needs and challenges of a COVID response efforts around the world. Few industries have experienced this as much as the built world. While the digital transformation of the AEC industries was already on the horizon, it has been dramatically accelerated in 2020. AR/VR - both hardware and software - is the answer to many companies’ sudden need for cutting edge technology to stay competitive in a fast-changing world.

As an architect, IrisVR Founder & CEO Shane Scranton saw the potential that early virtual reality technology had for the built world. Fast forward to today, the IrisVR team partners with leading AEC companies around the world, like Gilbane, making game-changing immersive technology simple for enterprise AEC.