Architects have to go out of their way to convince their clients with their designs and creative concepts because the mediums they employ to express their ideas are complex for an average person to grasp.
These mediums including blueprints, scale models, and 3D modelling have been synonymous with the concept of architecture for the past at least two decades.
Though these mediums may make sense to you, they hardly add any value when it comes to conveying your ideas to someone else. If a person has never laid his or her eyes on a blueprint, it would be extremely difficult for an architect to spell out the proposed layout of the building in a convincing way, primarily due to the lack of clarity.
Needless to say, finer points are left to the client’s imagination. It leads to confusions and disputes when the final product comes to life in the real world. A few months later, the clients stare at their homes in disbelief and cry out, ‘this is not what I had asked for’. And, you feel like all your hard work has gone down the drain.
Now imagine a completely different scenario. You ask your client to put on a headset or goggles and transport him or her into the world of Virtual Reality (VR). The client walks through the house, takes a look at every nook and corner, gives feedback in real time, request amendments and approves the layout and design with complete confidence and surety. The client removes the goggles, claps in excitement and says, ‘This is exactly what I want my home to look like’. And, you immediately get down to work.
This is how VR is revolutionizing the architecture industry in Australia and around the globe. No matter how big the scope of work is or how many people are collaborating on a project, VR makes it extremely easy for you to convey the most complex designing ideas.
The medium of your communication is not verbal, a whiteboard or a piece of paper, but visual in real time, eliminating any chance of communication gaps or missing details. The best part is that your clients are able to not only look at the designs but also interact with them and take an active
• You can interact with and alter designs directly within the virtual space.
• You can transform files created with industry-standard 3D rendering software into immersive VR environments.
• You can build and rearrange objects and add some aesthetics on the fly.
• In a VR environment, you can walk around, observe, and interact with
your designs. You can identify structural issues and resolve them before
even breaking ground, saving time and money.
VR will change your whole approach to designing process and project presentation. It will help you scale up your business a lot faster. Here is how:
Project presentations are the most common way to convince prospective clients with your design ideas in the architecture industry, right? Well as of 2018, there is no better technology than VR to showcase your expertise and creativity. Nothing really comes close.You will definitely have an edge in the face of competition. This technology will help you to establish your brand even when you are a start-up, struggling to compete against the industry’s most recognized names.
As already mentioned, conveying your designing ideas to your clients
is the most frustrating aspect of the project presentation process.
With VR, you can ask your clients to get involved in the designing
process from the very beginning. You can amend or redesign on the fly
based on the client’s feedback. It will help you avoid rounds of
revisions and save time and money.
As a technology, VR has already made a great deal of progress over the past couple of years. Cell phones have made VR so easily accessible and cost-effective than implementing it in your business is now a breeze.
VR is the focus of all top technology companies of the world including Google and Facebook. They are trying to integrate it with other future technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality so that users can enjoy a more immersive experience. They have already achieved this to some extent. Innovations are underway on such a large scale with billions of dollars being invested that VR is definitely the technology of the future. It is going to be a matter of just a few years before your clients are able to open and close the doors, switch on and off lights and interact with your designs in a more immersive way.
VR will either altogether replace or add a tremendous amount of value to your traditional marketing methods. Today VR could be a choice, but it will become a necessity in the near future. By adopting it today, you will always be on the top of your game and since you would be familiar with the basics of the technology, it will be easier for you to adapt to new innovations, rather than struggling to apply them in your business at a later stage for the first time. And, it’s going to make a huge difference.