Happy new year everyone! I thought I'd kick off the year with a blog post! Late last year I needed to update my laptop. Chris and I decided to make sure my new laptop was ‘VR Ready’ and thus began my first venture into Virtual Reality, or VR. Sure, I had previously used the old-style stereoscopic glasses and even Google Cardboard with BIMx. I’d even tried on a few VR helmets over the years, but it’s only now that I believe VR is really hitting a tipping point, especially with ARCHICAD. So here’s an account of my VR journey so far, some lessons learned and what I anticipate for the future.
VR vs AR vs BIMx
First of all, what is VR and how does it compare to AR and BIMx on Google Cardboard? Let’s start with Google Cardboard. That’s where you load up a BIMx project on your smart phone, switch it to cardboard mode and place it into a cardboard goggle. As you turn your head the phone's gyroscope sensor turns the model, giving the illusion that you are in the model. You can read more about it here(link is external). And watch a video on it here(link is external). While this is fun, affordable and effective, the experience is nowhere near what VR offers.