91视频

A virtual reality experience is out of this world.

With a unique headset strapped on and a controller in hand, a viewer can walk into a virtual apartment, and check out furniture, plants, carpet, art and d茅cor. Of course, a grid pops up on the screen if the viewer is about to walk into a wall in the real world. That is helpful because the virtual scene can seem so real that the urge to want to reach out and feel something like an overstuffed sofa can be difficult to overcome.

鈥淵ou can walk through the furniture if you want 鈥檆ause it鈥檚 not really there,鈥� said Jared Hobbs, executive creative director of Portland software design firm Giant Astronaut.

Such experiences have attracted the attention of the architecture industry in Portland. Some firms are already using virtual reality, while others are studying it for future use. With hardware use now more comfortable, many professionals are exploring practical applications.

Technology isn鈥檛 new, but it鈥檚 better

Virtual reality is a video game technology. Software designers and others use or build onto that technology to create their own apps and interfaces so that individual designs can be explored.

Previously, virtual reality hardware development lagged the software, said Seth Chaffee, head of immersive production at Giant Astronaut. Use of early hardware produced by Oculus, for instance, often made viewers nauseous.

But now headsets such as the HTC Vive offer tracking devices to keep experiences more stable and real-looking. Now that hardware is comfortable to use, the industrial possibilities are much broader, according to SERA Architects associate Brian Stevens.

鈥淭he experience (formerly) was terrible and the hardware made the user feel sick 鈥� not a good thing for a presentation,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut with the release of HTC Vive, you can forget about the hardware.鈥�

Virtual reality offers many advantages for designers. For instance, they can use it to show colleagues and clients exactly how it feels to be inside, outside or on top of a finished project, long before it鈥檚 built. Design details can be experienced in ways impossible via a rendering.

Also, virtual reality can save time and money, ZGF Architects associate Jonah Ross said, because the technology can take the place of a full-scale model when required.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e on the cusp of a revolution and virtual reality is absolutely in its infancy,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 so much potential.鈥�

The real value of virtual reality is as a design tool, Stevens said. SERA Architects is currently using the technology for a few projects, he said, including a new student union for the University of Oregon.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a complicated space with three different buildings and we鈥檙e trying to create a new common space between all of them,鈥� he said.

For a streetscape project in McMinnville, SERA鈥檚 team tweaked its design after using virtual reality. Designers learned through viewing that hangers for artwork would be at the wrong height 鈥� a detail that couldn鈥檛 be detected in a rendering.

鈥淚t was a perfect opportunity to use it, to actually 鈥榳alk鈥� down the street before the construction documents got submitted,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淲e actually changed parts of the design based on what it felt like to be in this space, and with it we can make a lot better design decisions.鈥�

Through hand-drawn or computer-generated renderings (the most common visual tools for architects), arbitrary decisions are made about elements such as field of view, Stevens said. But that isn鈥檛 the way people actually see the world, he said, and virtual reality can accurately simulate any design and put it in human scale.

鈥淓veryone knows it鈥檚 the next technology and we鈥檙e trying to figure out how to best use it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t will completely change the way we do design.鈥�

Cautious optimism and more study

Others aren鈥檛 quite so sure. Ankrom Moisan Architects is studying virtual reality, but executive vice president Murray Jenkins isn鈥檛 convinced it will live up to its growing reputation.

鈥淲hether the hype materializes is yet to be seen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it will have a role in our profession but don鈥檛 know if it will be transformative.鈥�

Ankrom Moisan associate Ryan McCullough spends most of his time looking at possible applications. He is testing several virtual reality systems, including HDC Vive and Oculus Rift. He鈥檚 also checking out related hardware, like the augmented reality system Microsoft HoloLens, which looks like a pair of thick sunglasses.

The device can project a hologram into the viewer鈥檚 real world, McCullough said.

鈥淚 can have a building sitting on my desk,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I can walk around it and make design changes and then watch it change.鈥�

To further illustrate, McCullough gave the example of a project that has a complex hip and gable roof. A detailed look from the inside would not be possible without virtual reality.

鈥淣ow we have the ability to put on a headset and look up at that and say, 鈥極K, this soffit needs to be moved over a little bit,鈥� he said.

Although Bora Architects isn鈥檛 using virtual reality much at this point, architect Kyle Altman said the firm has discussed its potential and is studying it.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for ways to intertwine our design process, and I think it will be used a lot more in terms of clientele,鈥� he said.

After seeing a recent demonstration, Altman believes Bora will use virtual reality more in the design process.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really looking into being able to look at a building before it鈥檚 built and get a general idea about proportion and scale and in terms of dimensions and materials and volume,鈥� he said.

Denise Fornberg, a spokeswoman for Mahlum Architects, said the firm hasn鈥檛 ventured into virtual reality yet. However, she sees how it could be used to secure a lease for a condominium or an office space still under construction.