Up until now, Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR) have been all but a blip on the technology radar. It was the stuff of science fiction, left to people’s imaginations. Recent advancements in technology over the past few years (and even months), means that this is no longer the future. This is now. And it’s here to stay.
Virtual Display Homes will be the way of the future for property developments. Builders and developers alike can save 100’s of thousands of dollars compared to traditional display homes, be ready to hit the market much sooner, and have the flexibility and availability that VR provides. Viewport has developed a system of creating realtime Virtual Reality tours that are bundled with Augmented Reality apps, providing two digital solutions to what used to be physical models. The system we developed also gives our clients a 2-3 minute HD video and 24 8K images, plus unlimited 2K images from within the realtime engine itself.
Not many people realise it, but over 90% of the phones in people’s pockets around Australia are incredibly powerful Augmented Reality devices. At the beginning of 2018, Apple and Google both publicly released huge updates to the way phones can operate with Augmented Reality, and phones are getting more powerful than ever, with the latest iPhones having the equivalent graphics processing power of modern game consoles.
The Teneriffe AR app, which can be downloaded free through the app stores, iPhone and Android links above, puts a 3D projection of the entire development right at your fingertips, complete with houses, trees, moving cars and accurate land heights and roads. To be able to walk around (or even through!) the development like a giant as its projected onto the floor below is an incredible experience – the scope of the Teneriffe development can’t really be imagined until you see the whole thing complete in AR.
In the sales office there are activator markers on the floor which produce the largest model, but we also included a smaller model which can be activated from markers in brochures or other print media. For those of you not at the sales office or without a brochure, we included a very simple tap-to-place function to place the model on any flat surface.
Virtual Reality allows a user to place a headset on, and instantly be transported to another location. The headsets display stereoscopic vision, meaning a separate image for each eye, displaying what the user sees in full 3D. Used in the automotive industry, tourism, entertainment and education, VR is also an essential tool for property development and construction – allowing users to visit places that are yet to be.
Optimised for a GTX1080ti (high end graphics card) and running on an HTC Vive Pro (high resolution virtual reality headset), the Teneriffe VR project is state-of-the-art software running on state-of-the-art hardware. You are able to walk around freely through a massive area of the development, visit the barbecue areas, stroll down the street, go stand by the lake. Butterflies float past, and leaves fall from the trees. If you wade out onto the lake (not recommended in real life!) you can even see little fish swimming around underneath you.
As well as the external view, Viewport also constructed two full interiors and exteriors of homes for Konstrukt Group and Monte Group. The houses are fully furnished with high fidelity 3D models of furniture, as well as all finishes and fittings to the builders specifications, giving the user a perfect view of what their future home to be could look like – from any angle and any room they choose. You can even switch between material options, changing the flooring, carpet and cabinetry right in front of your eyes so you can see what different colour schemes looks like in situ.
This technology is changing the way we produce 3D imagery. What used to take days to render, can now be rendered in a matter of seconds by upscaling the standard view of the realtime engine. Stills, and even animation, are now far cheaper and more agile to produce once we have built the realtime walkthrough. At Viewport the quality we are achieving in our Virtual Display Homes is second to none.
Teneriffe VR is available for viewing at the Teneriffe sales office, Goulburn Valley, at Viewport HQ, Perth, and will soon be launched globally on Steam VR.
This technology is changing the way we produce 3D imagery. What used to take days to render, can now be rendered in a matter of seconds by upscaling the standard view of the realtime engine. Stills, and even animation, are now far cheaper and more agile to produce once we have built the realtime walkthrough. At Viewport the quality we are achieving in our Virtual Display Homes is second to none.
