Realtime Environments and Virtual Reality

This is an exciting and emerging technology which offers a real alternative to slower 3D rendering systems.

Once a 3D model has been produced (from our own designs, or from your designers' or architects' drawings) it may be imported into “real-time” computer environment - think computer games, but no guns or zombies! This enables the viewer to freely walk or fly through the model, giving the next-best experience to actually being there.

Using these techniques we can produce anything from a fly-over of several square kilometres to a tour of a building, taking in landscapes, large-scale design and engineering works through to the detail of how you might navigate a proposed building.

Animated objects can include vehicles and wind turbines. The technology can be used to demonstrate any existing or designed environment, from parks, residential, commercial or industrial sites, to highway, power and infrastructure projects.

From the real-time environment it is possible to generate walk/fly-through videos which have the benefit of a) not requiring high-end graphics hardware and b) being easily viewable on a website. The moving image is a tremendously powerful medium - thus the popularity of YouTube. Video can, and should, be harnessed to communicate design intent.

Having said that, interactive navigation of 3D spaces via the web is a new technological frontier - one we are actively pursuing.

Usage

This technology is excellent for Public Exhibitions. However, we also believe that it has great benefits in scheme design and assessment. For example, we can observe and assess moving vehicles or wind-turbines from any viewpoint. Architects and developers will particularly appreciate the ability to walk through the design before it is built - your understanding of the design will be changed!

Project examples (please note that the videos will run more smoothly once they have finished dowloading):

Mires Beck - walk and fly-through

The content and scale of the Mires Beck Garden lends itself well to exploration in 3D. Here we pass through the design, first in Walk-through, then Fly-over.

Tansterne Power Station

This simple proof-of-concept took the 3D model which was developed for producing photomontages, added some random trees and replaced the water body with animated water. A few more trees needed, but you get the idea...

Wincolmlee Industrial Estate

This is an industrial area of Hull for which we produced a sustainability review. We created the 3D model from map data and used it in various design presentations.

A5 Highway Improvements

This 3D model started life as the basis of photomontages for a new highway project, but we couldn't resist taking the camera for a drive. We also added some turbines, which definitely don't belong there, but they add interest to the video.

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