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by chiaro 3757 days ago
I studied architecture. I can't wait to get my hands on this, it feels very much like the killer app for that niche. What separates the students from the men and women who have developed their "vision" is the ability to go back and forth between how you imagine a space will feel to walk through and the lines on the paper. This shortcuts that completely.

With some snap to line and plane functions, mirroring, copy-paste etc this would be pretty usable for rapid prototypes. Imagine importing the blueprint for a cathedral, drawing a few lines in 3D space to define its verticality then blowing it up to its true scale so you're standing in the pews.

4 comments

You just made me imagine how it would be to play a Sim City type of game in VR. I could create a city and then walk in it or drive through it or fly over it. So many different possibilities. I can't wait.
Remember Roller Coaster Tycoon (2 or 3?) where you could ride the coasters you designed in FPV? Can't wait to induce motion sickness without ever leaving my desk.
Oculus has a couple of roller-coaster demos already. They are amazingly immersive, even on the first dev kit.
And for me, highly nauseating (also for everyone else who has tried one using my Oculus).
Oh man, SimCopter was an enormous amount of fun for just that reason. You could even edit cities using SCURK (SimCity Urban Renewal Kit) and build your own ideal place to zoom through. Nothing's ever really captured that fun - some come a bit close, but never with the in-person feel of it.
I've been struggling to "get excited" about VR, but I think this thread (including the roller coaster/sim city comment) puts it into a bit more perspective. I think the initial tech requirements are putting me off, I don't want that headset on my desk or even on my head. I'm getting old, feeling bad about that. Ironically I am excited about AR. The MS HaloLens demos were amazing
This is exactly the reason I used to quote when asked "why VR?" back in 1989 when I headed the VR project at Autodesk.

Maybe that day is finally coming.

It still feels better to mix and apply real paint to a physical surface with an actual brush held in one's hand. More time spent lashed to an electronic apparatus feels less like relaxation these days.
I think you missed their point, they were talking about doing work as an architect designing buildings, not relaxation
or a new user confusing 'reply' with 'add comment'.