This week at the 2017 AIA National show in Orlando, Florida, Vectorworks, Inc., is showcasing not only their flagship Vectorworks BIM software but also highlighting the emerging importance of “immersive technologies” in AEC practice.
Demos at AIA
The Vectorworks folks are doing demos in their booth on three new immersive technologies that are set to bloom in years to come. Both virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and panorama—and this tech could be seen as under the umbrella of 360-degree photography—are all new immersive technologies set to come online in a more common way within the industry in the next year.
Already introduced last September in 2016, web view and virtual reality will receive substantial usability and visual improvements, such as ambient occlusion—a method of calculating ambient lighting in a scene that improves visual qualities in 3D graphics.
01 – The new web view and VR features in Vectorworks 2017 add great value to AEC professionals and all designers working with environments. In this view (web view mode) a client can fully explore a model environment.
With support for mobile devices and VR and AR capabilities, Vectorworks has seen growth in its ability to project, for example, a 3D model on top of a plan, and the company’s mobile apps run on both Apple iOS and Google Android platforms. Lastly, using Panorama capabilities designers and clients can experience the model in wide, immersive view.
“Depending on the types of projects or the phase of design, an architect’s workflow can vary greatly,” said Dan Monaghan, vice president of marketing at Vectorworks. “This can lead architects to use many different software programs to get jobs out the door. Although BIM is essential in today’s processes, the truth is, as an architect you need more than BIM, and Vectorworks offers more.”
Demos Friday – Saturday
The 2017 AIA National Convention and Expo run through 27 – 29 April. There will be many excellent demos in the Vectorworks booth, and we have published a schedule here.
To learn more about Vectorworks visit them online here.