Virtual designs enter the real world with new interactive HoloLens platform
– Lorraine Bardeen, general manager of Microsoft HoloLens
California software developer Trimble has launched the mixed-reality SketchUp Viewer platform for the Microsoft HoloLens, allowing architects to alter hologram images in the real world.
During a product launch presentation, architect Greg Lynn demonstrated how architects using HoloLens can experience SketchUp models in mixed reality as holograms placed in the real world and virtually inhabit and experience their designs. This enables them to view and analyse various different design scenarios in the context of the building’s physical environment.
According to Lynn, the technology – which is the first commercial application for the Microsoft HoloLens available in the Windows Store – will allow remote teams to review and collaborate in order to resolve constructability issues on projects in real time – a new paradigm he described as “Experiential Design Review.”
“This will bring the design to life and bridge the gap between the digital and physical,” he said. “Using this technology, I can make decisions at the moment of inception, shorten the design cycle and improve communication with my clients.”
Earlier this year, Lynn represented the United States at the 2016 Venice Biennale. He showcased how the Trimble technology allowed him to envision and plot dimensions for a drastic redesign of a Packard car factory in Detroit that has been abandoned for half a century, turning it into a new cultural and education complex.
Chris Keating, general manager of Trimble's SketchUp, said: “Empowering people to design and communicate better in 3D is part of our DNA. Across the SketchUp platform, we are dedicated to the idea that technology should get out of the way of our users. With SketchUp Viewer, we are taking another big step toward delivering the ultimate experience for designers and their clients – the experience of inhabiting their own work."
Lorraine Bardeen, general manager of Microsoft HoloLens, added: “We are thrilled to deliver new innovation to SketchUp, one of the most widely used applications in the architecture, engineering, construction and operations industry.
“SketchUp Viewer can dramatically improve collaboration, decision making, efficiency, quality, and safety by giving users the unique ability to bring digital content into the real world, real-time as part of their current workflow."
With SketchUp Viewer, users can view models that have been published to their HoloLens device, browse and download models from Trimble's 3D Warehouse or pull project files down from Trimble Connect – a cloud-based collaboration platform. Then, in Tabletop mode, models can be scaled, moved and rotated as needed to best fit the available space or specific design review requirements. Models can be anchored and re-anchored in the physical environment, so designers and engineers can walk around the project and examine it from any vantage point.
SketchUp Viewer Trimble Microsoft HoloLens architecture design 3D mixed realityHololens gets first public outing as part of new Mars experience at Kennedy Space Center
EXCLUSIVE: New virtual reality platform for architecture from NBBJ, plus Bruce Wright of SB Architects talks to CLAD about VR
Hololens on sale to developers with US$3,000 price tag
Microsoft adapts augmented reality for sports market
Microsoft HoloLens will have 'major implications' for architecture and design
Hololens will be available to developers 'within a year' says Microsoft CEO
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Aman sister brand Janu launching in Tokyo in 2024 with design by Denniston's Jean-Michel Gathy
The Peninsula London unveils Peter Marino-designed spa inspired by London’s famous parks
First glimpses revealed of Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair's subterranean spa retreat
"Architecture is alive" says Ma Yansong, as Shenzhen art museum opens exhibition showcasing work of MAD Architects
SHA Mexico to debut in January 2024 with genome-inspired design by Sordo Madaleno
Why shouldn’t sports facilities be beautiful? Across Asia, architects are creating landmark buildings for the public, discovers Christopher de Wolf