Present your Projects in their Urban Context: AR and Virtual City Models

Devin Lewis of SCB and Mike Hoppe of Geopogo will walk participants through newly developed tools to automatically place building designs within their accurate urban context. These tools replace physical models and physical mockups with more profitable low-cost virtual models which can be billed to clients.

The event will start in the AIAEB office with instruction on how to use a desktop tool to place BIM models into Virtual City Models, including Oakland, Berkeley, and SF. Using the desktop tool, designers and planners can freely navigate around and into their BIM model within its accurate urban context, capturing videos and still renderings from any vantage point, including looking out the windows of the BIM model. Virtual City Models can be used to accurately project shadows, clearly present urban data in a visual form, and promote, pre-lease, and pre-sell property, among many other applications.

The event will progress to the nearby construction site for the new Grosvenor-developed, SCB-designed tower at the corner of Shattuck and Berkeley Way. On site, participants will experience how full-size BIM models can be placed directly on the project site, within their urban context. Users can capture videos and still images directly within the viewing device, either a set of glasses, an iPhone, or an iPad. The co-presenters will have Magic Leap's new best-in-class ML2 glasses for participants to use, and participants are invited to bring their own iPhones and iPads.

These tools can revolutionize the clear presentation of proposed designs to the project team, to regulatory officials such as city planners, and to the public when appropriate as with the proposed BART transit villages at the Ashby and North Berkeley stations.

Host or Publisher AIA East Bay