Rael: On the Comox Valley Water Treatment Plant project in British Columbia, we had one of the client’s operators do a VR walkthrough of a new plant before it was constructed. How does the platform get them engaged with design? We have a lot more confidence in the designs we hand off to our construction partners. Rael: The QA/QC process is better as well. That means we can resolve RFIs in minutes instead of weeks and avoid months of possible design delays. We’ve found that, on average, teams using InsiteVR can prevent two-and-a-half RFIs for every hour spent in the VR model. With 2D plans, and even other VR tools, you might miss spotting issues. Russell: Part of our job is to help teams quantify budget and schedule impacts from using VR. What are some of its other benefits?Ĭhuck: One of our design teams working on a new residential tower in Boston was able to cut a 6-hour roundtrip from their schedules. This technology existed long before COVID-19 hit. It’s enjoyable to be in sessions with other people that you haven’t seen in a while. Except, of course, now everyone is meeting from the safety of their homes.Ĭhuck: And not to sound hokey, but I find that the platform helps to overcome some of the loneliness and the social distancing that comes with having a dispersed workforce. Rael: Using the platform, it’s as if design consultants, owners, and even end users are sitting next to each other in an office, reviewing and marking up designs. Let’s talk about how this platform can help clients with keeping projects moving forward in light of COVID-19. We can actually see where his orientation is in the model and say, hey, Chuck, come over here and look at this and see how this is lining up. But when you’re in these models and everyone is going to go to the mechanical room, people can tell if, say, Chuck’s not engaged. Meeting on Skype or Zoom, you might be looking at your phone, checking your emails. It’s a much more natural way to review a design. You can see people gesturing, see where they’re walking, what they’re pointing at. When you’re in VR, you’re not just sharing your screen. That’s our guiding principle.Įven watching the process in 2D, I can see how effortless collaboration is and how everything discussed is easily documented. And by enhancing collaboration, we see a reduction in major issues that prevent budget and schedule delays.

They can go where they want, talk to each other, point out concerns. We stream large 3D models onto the Oculus Quest headset so multiple participants can review a design as if they were walking through a completed project. Russell: Other tools typically focus on visualization-one person in VR looking at a fly-through or leading other people around a design model. How is it different from other VR design platforms?

Russell: It’s an architecture, engineering, and construction virtual reality platform that lets designers, owners, and end-users review 3D design models in immersive coordination meetings. Note: This discussion has been edited to provide clear and concise information for our readers. Over Skype, we talked about how the platform can help designers and Stantec clients keep projects moving forward in this time of uncertainty. Stantec’s Ideas editor met virtually with two of our augmented and virtual reality experts- Chuck Lounsberry and Rael Romero-as well as InsiteVR co-founder Russell Varriale. But one platform-InsiteVR-is taking online design reviews to a whole new level. In-person design reviews are now done over screenshares or screenshots using Skype, Zoom, or email, to middling results.

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how project teams work, certainly in the short-term and possibly forever.

You to your next meeting vr