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SPOTLIGHT/IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES

THE NEW REALITIES

HOW VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY

ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE WORK

AMY PECK
Founder and CEO
EndeavorVR

THE YOU ARE HERE INDICATOR—usually found on
wayfinding maps in malls or large public spaces—
doesn’t always solve the problem of how you get ‘there’.
Now, not only do we have the ability to get there, we can
even bring ‘there’ to you by using Virtual & Augmented
Reality (VR & AR).

Within the commercial real estate realm, we’ve already
seen some widespread adoption of AR/VR. And as the
technology evolves, there will be even more robust
use cases. The time is now to look at how to bring this between our real and digital landscapes. When thinking
technology into your workflow. about how to leverage XR in your business, it’s important
to consider a broader vision. Companies can utilize
AR…VR…MR…XR? XR across all business lines—architectural design and
Along with Virtual and Augmented Reality, you may have engineering, interior design, sales and marketing, even
also heard the term Mixed Reality, or MR. To confuse training—essentially the entire BIM lifecycle and beyond.
things even more, the umbrella term for all the realities is Alongside this direct business utility, virtual desktops,
XR or Extended Reality. virtual meetings and remote technical assistance will
become standard practice in the near future.
To clarify, AR is the next computing platform. Everything
you currently do on your desktop or mobile device, you will Within AEC, the value of XR is clear and there are many
eventually be able to have projected into your field of view powerful software solutions and platforms that can
using a wearable such as Magic Leap or Apple’s heavily- enhance every stage of design, visualization, collaboration,
rumored AR Glasses. sales and marketing. There are existing tools that will
allow ingestion and translation of 2D and 3D architectural
VR is really a destination. You are fully immersed and renderings into game engines such as Unity and Unreal.
experience a 3D environment as if you were actually there. From there, architects and designers can continue the
design process from within the environment.
MR or Mixed Reality is a blend of the physical world with
the digital world in a way that makes both seem real. It is Visualization in VR is one of the most valuable and
also where a person may be projected into a virtual world, widespread solutions. Architects can share VR
but that person appears as they are in real life. walk-through models for stakeholders and clients.
Designers can build out infinite versions of the space.
XR for Architectural Engineering & Construction (AEC) Contractors can plan and project manage. Collaboration
There are myriad use cases for this technology, but as between teams can be done remotely, yet in the virtual
the future screams towards us, we will focus less on environment, with tremendous savings in both time and
one reality or another and more on seamlessly moving budget.

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