[jondiggsit]

Absolutely both. Internally, we'll model something, move an element, etc., and we're able to evaluate the idea until it feels right.

For clients, I don't know any other way at this point. Showing a novice a 2D elevation does nothing for them. They will nod, make comments, and play along, but until you sketch a person into the drawing, they don't even understand that the front door is ten feet tall.

[jasonfarnon]

"I don't know any other way at this point. Showing a novice a 2D elevation"

I think 2D prints aren't the baseline, and since at least the late 2000s even run of the mill architecture firms have been using 3d studio-type renderings with clients. Maybe I don't understand how the visionpro works. Your clients arent actually physically moving their body, right? What's the advantage of looking around the space in a visionpro vs large monitor?

[JSR_FDED]

I’ve been through this (but with different software than the author used). The level of immersion, the sense of being there, is dramatically better with the Vision Pro.

It was the biggest unlock when it came to choosing a staircase design. Hard to picture ahead of time and expensive to change later.

[DonHopkins]

I worked with DUS Architects in Amsterdam on a staircase designer / visualizer for their enormous fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D house printers, using Rhino + Grasshopper + Unity3D.

"Complexity is free when you are drawing with a nozzle."

One thing about their use of plant-based bioplastic is that if you didn't like your staircase or house after printing it, you could shred it, melt it back down, redesign it, and print out a different one again.

>On a plot in Amsterdam-Noord, DUS Architects turned a six-metre FDM printer called the KamerMaker into a research laboratory disguised as a house — extruding honeycomb rooms from plant-based bioplastic to ask whether a building can be downloaded, printed on site, and shredded back into feedstock when it is done.

https://houseofdus.com/

https://web.archive.org/web/20180509103603/http://3dprintcan...

https://www.studiomatrx.org/guides/3d-print-canal-house

>The KamerMaker: a desktop printer, grown enormous

>The instrument at the centre of the project is a machine called the KamerMaker — Dutch for "room maker" — installed on the site from September 2012. Conceptually it is disarmingly simple: it is a fused deposition modelling (FDM) printer, the same layer-by-layer, melt-and-extrude technology found in a hobbyist desktop machine, scaled up until it stands roughly six metres tall inside a movable, container-sized pavilion. It was developed by DUS in dialogue with the desktop-printing world — the Ultimaker community was part of that lineage — and it can print single elements up to about 2.2 × 2.2 × 3.5 metres.

Much earlier (1997-2000) I worked on The Sims architectural editing tools for walls, floors, windows, doors, swimming pools, ladders, diving boards, object placement, etc, including the staircase placement tool, which was extra tricky because it spanned two stories, punched holes in the floor, and reserved two contiguous floor landing tiles upstairs and downstairs. Orchestrating the undo/redo edit records in the right order was diabolical. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-exdu4ETscs

The Anti-Heisenberg Teleporter added by House Party was not actually classified as a staircase although it spanned two floors and had landing tiles. But it worked since the staircase tool (and other specialized tools like windows, doors, pool ladders and diving boards, etc) were actually just special modes of the generic universal object placement tool.

Stairs Aesthetics In Every Sims - Sims 1, Sims 2, Sims 3, Sims 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43IwecyTHYU

The modular clown themed roller coaster construction kit in Makin' Magic was amazing!

The Sims 1 Was Made in 2000...and it's still amazing:

https://youtu.be/x00rH9eIJgo?t=216

LGR - The Sims 1 & 2 Legacy Collection Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUDt4BoMg-s

[jondiggsit]

I'm amazed hearing about how your skills and knowledge extend to multiple disciplines. First time I've heard of DUS Architects - this is real modern architecture, sitting the crossroads of art and science. Very cool.

[swiftcoder]

> What's the advantage of looking around the space in a visionpro vs large monitor?

A lot of people don't grasp scale correctly when looking at a monitor. It's not an intrinsic skill in the same way that our perception of being inside a 3D space is

[jondiggsit]

Really? Who? I've worked with two dozen AD100 Architecture firms. Most will farm out a couple static renders that will never again be updated throughout the evolution of the project.

Yes, they can move around if they want. We set a boundary in the foyer of my office, so they have about 15 feet of movement.

If you haven't ever put on a 3D headset, it's hard to describe the advantage. Do I think it's 100% necessary vs. just looking at a screen, no, but it's cool.

[jasonfarnon]

Yeah sorry I was mistakenly thinking about non-interactive 3D walkthroughs. But still, that would be better than prints as a point of comparison.

[seemaze]

Are there any productive tools or workflows you employ for modeling directly in VR? Or is it more useful for review and evaluation of models developed on traditional workstations?

I'm AEC adjacent and am trying to talk myself into picking up a pair strictly for personal architectural projects..

[jondiggsit]

We really only use it for architectural intent. There is a dream that is BIM on residential projects, but unless the project has an extreme level of technical constrains, it's often cost prohibitive to model EVERYTHING. I'm really hoping that AI assisted design tools will bridge the gap. Imagine uploading architectural and structural drawings and AI correctly modeling HVAC duct size, mechanical room requirements for pumps, boilers, etc., modeling electrical chases, vent pipes, exhaust ducts, ERVs, etc., in a local code compliant manner. I know it's coming and I can't freaking wait.

We have on occasion used our Matterport 3 lidar scanner to model existing structural conditions to help us figure out a problem.

Re Matterport 3 - we use it as a communication tool for remote work sessions with engineers, architects, clients, etc. Saves everyone a trip to the site. Helps us document progress, preserve historical details, uncover discrepancies between field and plan, etc.

[jmtulloss]

I am working on this at bear.build. It's early, but I would love to get your feedback if you have some time. [e-mail]

[jondiggsit]

We tried using this software - https://www.prevu3d.com/digital-twin-use-cases/design-engine...

It looks cool, but it wasn't applicable for our day-to-day.