Filed under: Uncategorized
The Arch Virtual development is excited to share Acadicus, a VR training platform that provides everything needed to create virtual education experiences.
Pediatric VR training created by Dr. Nick Slamon
Work with our extensive library of environments and assets to create and configure a VR training scene. If we don’t already have what you need in our library, we’ll build it for you!
Hold live multi-user VR training sessions, or capture instructor demonstrations as 3D spatial recordings students can access and follow along with anytime, anywhere, as many times as needed.
To learn more, contact us at http://www.acadicus.com/contact
Filed under: architectural resources, archvirtual, city planning, collaborative design, real estate, rl architecture, Uncategorized, urban planning | Tags: 3D, animation, AR, arch virtual, architecture, archtech engine, augmented reality, autodesk, BIM, CAD, cities, city, collaboration, community, design, downtown, dubuque, education, game engine, geography, GIS, google, government, historical, interactive, iowa, jon brouchoud, kml, main street, maya, planning, realtime, replica, resource, simulation, tour, Unity3d, urban, virtual, walk-through
Introducing Virtual Dubuque, a premiere development of our new Realtime Cities initiative by Arch Virtual, built with ArchTech Engine.
Read the full post HERE.
This new community resource will provide free and easy to access windows into interactive, customizable 3D models of cities. To learn more about how we can build a realtime model of your city or architectural project, send us a note here. We’re currently seeking development partners to build new features, create custom content, and build out additional architecture and cities around the world, so please send us a note to learn more.
Over the past year,we have been partnering with local businesses and organizations in Dubuque, Iowa to develop features and sponsored content, including a project in the Historic Millwork District for a local real estate developer (coming soon!), as well as the Masonic Temple, where international members of Demolay will be working with industry pioneers in developing a world-class learning environment, using Virtual Cities as its core platform.
Read the full post HERE.
“We’re harnessing the same technology used to make the latest iPad apps and XBox 360 games, but we’re not making a game, we’re building dynamic and ever-changing models of cities that are designed to serve as true community resources that can be easily accessed directly from a website,” said Jon Brouchoud, Founder of Virtual Cities.
Using ArchTech Engine and the Unity3D platform, we’re now able to transforms buildings, geography and entire cities into realtime 3D environments that are easily accessible, and can be embedded on your website, or deployed to a tablet. These interactive models can be geo-referenced to real-world coordinates, dynamically linked to databases, and layered with interactive content.
As visitors explore virtual cities, links to websites and additional information about nearby buildings, parks, and businesses appear automatically. For example, when you approach a restaurant, you can click through to read their menu. If you’re near a historic building, you can learn more about its past. Businesses and organizations can customize and enhance their space in the virtual model, layering it with more information or interactive features.
Read the full post HERE.
Proceeds from sponsorship and custom content are then re-invested in the ongoing development of the city model, enabling Realtime Cities to add more features, build new parts of the city, and refine models with more detail.
But a virtual replica is just the beginning.
“If you’ve ever experienced the Voices Gallery in the Millwork District of Dubuque Iowa, for example, you’ve seen how a building can be completely re-imagined into a destination that celebrates the unique architectural character of a place, yet transcends it to become something completely unique,” said Brouchoud.
“That’s really what Virtual Dubuque, and the Realtime Cities initiative is all about. A replica of the city as it is now will certainly have interesting use cases, but I’m looking forward to seeing how cities can be re-imagined within an environment where anything is possible.”
Read the full post HERE.
Read the full post HERE.
Filed under: rl architecture, Uncategorized, Unity, Unity3d | Tags: animation, arch virtual, architecture, arcspace, BIM, blueprints, CAD, cg, collaboration, computer, faculty, graphics, import, jon brouchoud, replicate, rutgers, school of business, simulate, simulation, student, ten arquitectos, virtual, visualization, walk-through
Construction is now officially underway on the new Rutgers School of Business, designed by the renowned architecture studio Ten Arquitectos (frequently covered by arcspace), but you don’t have to wait until construction is complete to explore the new design! Arch Virtual recently completed a virtual prototype of the new facility for Rutgers University, replicating the design based on architectural CAD drawings, BIM models and blueprints provided by the architect, then publishing them into realtime 3D with the Unity3D game engine. See a video preview of the virtual model below, and see some screenshots of the model here.
Read the rest of this post on our new site HERE.
Rutgers University leveraged the best of several virtual platforms throughout design development of this project. In early design phases, Arch Virtual replicated the design in Second Life, which was ideal for recreating the schematic and conceptual models and making the design accessible to students and faculty (seen here). That model was then brought into OpenSim, where it was integrated into a more comprehensive model of the campus, including more of the context surrounding the Business School’s new building site.
When final construction documents were ready, we interpreted the architect’s CAD drawings and BIM model with Autodesk Maya, that could be brought into the Unity3D game development engine. Rutgers worked with Tipodean Technologies to export their OpenSim islands, including buildings surrounding the new business school. Tipodean converted them into Collada mesh format, along with the textures, which were then added to the Unity3D environment. The final result is a blend of the architectural model alongside meshes exported from OpenSim.
Read the rest of this post on our new site HERE.
With the model in Unity, Rutgers will now be able to embed the virtual model into a variety of formats. For example, they can embed the model directly a website or Facebook page, but could also publish the same model to be accessible from Android or iPad mobile devices, or as stand-alone applications that can be installed on a Mac or PC and run locally without being online, and at full screen.
To follow the progress of the virtual Rutgers School of Business, join the Rutgers University Virtual Worlds facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/ruvw3d
To learn more about how Arch Virtual can translate your blueprints, CAD, or BIM file into a virtual experience, contact us here. http://archvirtual.com/?page_id=3388
Read the rest of this post on our new site HERE.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D, animation, architectural, city, collada, dae, design, import, mesh, model, planning, second life, SL, urban, walk-through
(Read the rest of this post on http://www.archvirtual.com !)
This long awaited ‘holy grail’ feature in Second Life has now finally arrived on the main grid! The subject of numerous false starts, April fool’s jokes, and much controversy – it is now possible to import 3D models directly into Second Life. The implications from an architectural urban design and city planning perspective are obvious. Having to rebuild architectural models with a patchwork quilt of 10 meter prims was only feasible for the most dedicated and patient developers, and the frustration of abandoning 3D models that already existed as a matter of daily practice in architectural software in order to build the same model all over again with prims just wasn’t an easy sell to most would-be SL residents hoping to use the platform for architectural visualization and collaboration.
(see the rest of this post on http://www.archvirtual.com !)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D, arch virtual, architecture, city planning, education, online, participatory, simulation, training, Unity3d, urban planning, visualization, walkthrough
Check out our new site here! http://www.archvirtual.com
It’s been a while since our last post, but we’ve been hard at work on some new projects we hope to publish soon! In the meantime, check out our newly renovated website: http://www.archvirtual.com We’ve made some exciting progress in technologies and methods for bringing architectural and city models into virtual environments, along with interactive features to augment and enhance those models. We will be posting more about these projects and services soon, so stay tuned!
Here are some pieces from the new website front page:
Architectural Simulation: Import buildings and entire cities into online 3D environments that can be accessed from a browser or embedded directly into your own website. We use cutting edge game development technology that enables you, your clients, project stakeholders or community members to explore, interact and collaborate within immersive 3D environments that are easily accessible.
Virtual Architecture: Use virtual environments for long-distance collaboration, education, training, simulation and more. We create virtual spaces that help organizations achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency for a variety of use cases. Contact us to learn more about how your organization can make use of virtual environments.
Design Collaboration: Nobody knows how your new building should function and perform better than you. Being able to witness and participate in the design evolution through interactive workshops, puts you, the end-users of your building, and other project stakeholders in the driver’s seat of the design process. Instead of waiting weeks to see the results of design changes, see them take shape immediately. Contact Arch Virtual today to learn more about how we use virtual environments to offer a whole new approach to building design.
Check out our new site here! http://www.archvirtual.com
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AEC, architecture, collaboration, innovation, jeffrey philips, jena ball, jibe, opensim, ovo innovation, prototype, retail, startled cat, Unity3d, virtual
This blog has moved – read the full post HERE.
What a year so far! Lots of great Unity3D and jibe projects, a pair of OpenSim builds, and even some Unreal and Web Alive work. This year has been all about platform diversification, and some of the biggest and technologically innovative builds I’ve had the pleasure of working on.
Yet it seems somehow fitting that the ‘dream come true’ project brought me full circle back to Second Life, with a project for a Fortune 500 firm to design and prototype the firm’s physical retail spaces. This project truly raised the bar for architectural brainstorming and collaboration around physical architecture and the built environment. Jena Ball (Startled Cat) and Jeffrey Philips (OVO Innovation) touch on some features of the project, and the advantages of innovation and collaboration in their paper, “Immersive Virtual Worlds as Innovation Platforms: http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/05/26/immersive-virtual-worlds-as-innovation-platforms/
The full white paper describes the concept in greater detail. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
“More recently, the authors of this paper worked with a Fortune 500 firm to design, prototype and model both the look and feel of the firm’s physical retail spaces and the experiences the firm wanted customers to have in retail establishments. To accomplish this task we immersed the team – clients and consultants – in Second Life, building new retail establishments and interacting with those retail spaces using avatars. We believed thatworking as avatars in an infinitely malleable 3D environment would not only spark their creativity and encourage experimentation, but be quicker and more cost effective than trying to do the same work in a sterile conference room.
“As we developed the retail spaces, their avatars moved through the spaces, recommending changes and generating ideas on the fly in a setting where rapid prototyping was exceptionally simple.
“Working with trained innovation facilitators and a “real” world architect specializing in virtual world development the firm’s participants generated more ideas, a much larger range of ideas, in far less time, at a fraction of the cost than in previous attempts. We were also able to create a significant number and wide variety of prototypes for consideration. The immediate feedback and ability to modify the prototypes in real time while participants watched and commented significantly increased the speed and effectiveness of the prototyping as well. We easily tested dozens of ideas based on the architecture, technology, allotted space, traffic flow, the needs of customers, and the skills of the firm’s retail personnel. It is important to note that all of this work was done with a team whose members were distributed all across the US and never met face to face. All interaction and prototyping was conducted in Second Life.”
“Virtual worlds allow rapid, iterative prototyping in three dimensions with little cost. Architects, for example, can quickly and easily create mini or even full-scale models of homes to show to their clients. Likewise, it is quick and easy to make adjustments based on client feedback in real time as it is given. This kind of iterative prototyping not only speeds up the development process, but encourages idea generation and out-of-the-box thinking as well. Rapid, iterative prototyping is so natural in these spaces that you’d think the virtual worlds were designed for this purpose alone” (bold emphasis mine).
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: architecture, gigaom, harvard business review, remote, virtual collaboration, web worker, workplace
This blog has moved! See this article on our new site here: http://archvirtual.com/?p=3287
The results of this Harvard Business School study, and many others like it, provide enough ample and compelling evidence to suggest that virtual collaboration is a powerful means of achieving new levels of efficiency and effectiveness:
“Remarkably, an extensive benchmarking study reveals, it isn’t necessary to bring team members together to get their best work. In fact, they can be even more productive if they stay separated and do all their collaborating virtually. The scores of successful virtual teams the authors examined didn’t have many of the psychological and practical obstacles that plagued their more traditional, face-to-face counterparts. Team members felt freer to contribute–especially outside their established areas of expertise. The fact that such groups could not assemble easily actually made their projects go faster, as people did not wait for meetings to make decisions, and individuals, in the comfort of their own offices, had full access to their files and the complementary knowledge of their local colleagues.”
As information-based virtual collaboration gradually turns the corner to mainstream adoption, it won’t be long until the benefits of 3D collaboration are as unequivocally proven (if they haven’t already), and virtual worlds like Second Life and OpenSim will soon prove to be an ideal modality for gathering a virtual team together to collaborate within a realtime, 3D collaborative environment.
This blog has moved! See this article on our new site here: http://archvirtual.com/?p=3287
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D, animation, architecture, crit, design, modeling, second life, studio, study, virtual
As the pendulum swings back into Second Life for some exciting new consulting projects, I’m reminded just how fun it is to build with prims and how much potential virtual environments hold for architectural practice and collaboration. You can quite literally *feel* the space as it takes shape, understanding and perceiving it in a way that no other medium affords. It’s somehow subtle and elegant in the way the virtual design experience retains the serendipity and chance of crude cardboard study modeling yet enables just enough of the precision of a 3D modeling application – but not so rigid and exact as to zap the design flow of its creative energy.
Read the rest of the story on our main site at http://www.archvirtual.com
This site has moved to
www.archvirtual.com
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: architecture, build, construction, design, e-learning, education, edutainment, exhibit, fundamentals, installation, metaverse, museum, opensim, process, second life, strategy, virtual
Virtual Architecture 101 (SLurl) is a free, interactive, self guided, educational installation in Second Life, designed to provide visitors with a sampling of architectural fundamentals, design processes, strategies and best practices for creating effective virtual world projects. The installation also includes case studies and offers specific tips, tricks and techniques covering a wide range of virtual world development topics. It is not intended to be an all-inclusive resource, but to simply provide a sample overview of design basics and strategies. If you want brush up on some fundamentals, or if you are planning to develop a project in a virtual world, this installation is designed to serve as a starting point and a place to gather ideas and inspiration for making your project a success.
Read the full post on our main site here: http://archvirtual.com/?p=3201
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: games, GLS, learning, madison, society, wisconsin
How lucky am I to have such an incredible conference in my own back yard here in Madison, at the University of Wisconsin? Mid-June is an incredible time of year in Madison, and I would encourage anyone interested in the intersection of virtual worlds, game development and education to make the trek to this conference.
Read the full post on our main site here: http://archvirtual.com/?p=3162
The ARCH 