News: architects have been surprisingly slow to adopt augmented reality as a design tool, according to co-founder of visualisation studio Inition Andy Millns.
“At the moment there are very few architects using augmented reality day-in, day-out as part of their design process,” he told Dezeen in an interview for our MINI Frontiers project.
Augmented reality is a means of layering extra information that can change in real time over a view of the real world, often using a tablet device such as an iPad.
Although hyperrealistic computer-generated renders are now well-established tools in the architectural design process, the use of augmented reality is yet to catch on, said Millns.
“This is really because the [augmented reality] tools haven’t been tightly integrated into their design tools yet,” said Millns.
He attributes the slow uptake of augmented reality within architecture studios to a disjunct between the modelling software used in their normal workflow and that required to produce augmented-reality models.
Most augmented reality activity is currently used for marketing and presentation purposes, said Millns.
“We’ve worked with many property developers on the marketing side to bring their properties to life using augmented reality,” he explained. “You can look at a model and select what type of apartments you are interested in, and it will show you live data of which ones are still on the market.”
Inition’s augmented-reality models were recently used at the Dezeen Watch Store pop-up at The Imagine Shop at Selfridges, where visitors could point an iPad’s camera toward a printed marker that interacted with software on the iPad to render a model on the screen.
Augmented reality devices that are tiny enough to “sit in your eye” will soon add layers of digital information over the real world, says Millns.
Users will be able to see whole cities with information layered on top of them via tiny devices placed in the eye, completely changing their urban experience, he claims.
“When we can track natural features in the city we can [then] bring in all sorts of information layered on to the urban view.” This could include information related to travel, shopping, the proximity of friends and so on.
This augmented reality app in an iPad tracks the printed pattern on the podium to generate a 3D architectural model
The adoption of this technology will be helped by the second major development Millns predicts.
“Most augmented reality so far [works] using a two-dimensional flat marker,” says Millns, referring to 2D-printed marker patterns that interface with digital models on devices like iPads to render augmented reality views.
This tracking method limits augmented reality to fairly rudimentary usages – but not for long.
One of Zaha Hadid Architects’ models tracked by an augmented reality app
“In the future we won’t need [to use] two-dimensional specific markers, the augmented reality app will just track the natural environment”, he says.
Couple this with more sophisticated viewing technologies, and the use of augmented reality will soar, Millns claims: “When we have devices that just sit in your eye and it’s not obvious you are wearing them – that’s when augmented reality will really take off.”
Augmented reality rendering of Zaha Hadid Architects’ model
Today’s augmented reality relies on an intermediary device such as a smartphone or tablet, on which the user sees an “augmented” version of the world.
“One example of using augmented reality that people might be familiar with is using a tablet,” says Millns. “We use a live image via the camera and we layer on objects to make them appear as if they are really there.”
The augmented reality Dezeen Watch Store pop-up allows customers to virtually try on a range of watches. By wrapping a paper “marker” around their wrist and looking at a screen, customers can see the watches modelled on their wrists in real time.
Customers can also explore an augmented reality scale model of Zaha Hadid Architects’ 90-metre Jazz superyacht using a tablet computer.
By pointing an iPad at a printed marker resting on a platform, they can view and walk round the yacht as if it was really there.
Augmented reality models are used for medical research and teaching
Based in Shoreditch, east London, Inition specialises in using new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to create a range of experiences and installations.
Inition has built augmented reality models for several developers to help promote their buildings as well as architects, including Zaha Hadid for whom they developed a model which explored the effects of different airflows and lighting on the building.
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: in our first movie looking at the interface between design and technology, Andy Millns of 3D production company Inition claims virtual reality will soon become almost indistinguishable from the real world.
Based in Shoreditch, east London, Inition specialises in using new technologies such as virtual reality to create a range of experiences and installations.
“Virtual reality was the technology that set me off on this career path in the first place,” says Millns. “I was absolutely obsessed with virtual reality in the early nineties; now it’s very exciting that the hardware has finally got to the point where the experience matches people’s expectations.”
The studio has been working with the developer version of Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset that was announced on crowd-funding website Kickstarter in 2012. The consumer version is currently in development and expected to launch this year.
“Oculus Rift has been sort of the poster child for virtual reality,” says Millns, before going on to explain how straightforward the device is. “What you’ve got essentially is a seven-inch mobile phone-type screen and two lenses. It’s that simple.”
The developer version of Oculus Rift has a very low-resolution screen, but with the pixel density of mobile phone screens rapidly increasing, Millns says it won’t be long before virtual reality becomes as life-like as the real world.
“We’re going to see this year a headset where it’s starting to get quite difficult to distinguish whether you’re actually wearing a headset or not,” he says. “When we start to get super-high-resolution headsets with the type of display technology that we’re seeing on the market now, it’s gong to blur the line between what is reality and what is virtual.”
It’s most recent project using the Oculus Rift device was a collaboration with the fashion designer Gareth Pugh called Monolith, which was installed last month at Selfridges for the London department store’s Festival of Imagination.
Visitors entered a soundproofed booth and put on a special helmet, which transported them on a virtual reality journey through monochromatic cityscapes populated by ghostly figures based on the sculptural costumes Pugh created for the Royal Ballet.
“You walk into the store, put the headset on and you’re immersed in a three-minute experience inside the world of Gareth Pugh,” Millns explains.
News:surgically implanted chips that feed digital information directly into the brain will supersede wearable technology, according to the co-founder of a leading 3D imaging studio.
WiFi-enabled chips mounted inside the skull will be more effective than today’s devices such as virtual reality headsets and Google Glass, according to Andy Millns, co-founder of London studio Inition.
“A much more successful way of doing this would be to bypass the eye altogether and directly interface with the brain,” Millns said in an interview with Dezeen. “We’re already seeing things like this with cochlear implants [electronic hearing implants] on the hearing side.”
Millns foresees a “cyborg scenario,” whereby the human brain is enhanced with digital implants. “The next step would be to have a WiFi or Bluetooth-type interface to augment the processing capacity of your brain.”
Existing virtual reality technology relies on the user wearing a headset, which displays an alternative digital world. These headsets will increasingly become so realistic that people will no longer be able to tell the difference between real and fictional landscapes, Millns said.
“The inevitable future of these things is the ability to have tighter and tighter integration between the display and the human till you end up with a cyborg scenario where you have something embedded inside your brain that has a direct interface to your visual cortex,” he said.
A cyborg, or cybernetic organism, is a living being with both organic and artificial parts. In an interview with Dezeen last year Neil Harbisson, the first officially recognised human cyborg, predicted that humans will “stop using technology as a tool and … start using technology as part of the body.” Harbisson, who has a chip at the back of his skull that allows him to perceive colours, said: “I think this will be much more common in the next few years.”
While such technology is some way away, Millns believes that augmented reality headsets will soon get so sophisticated that wearers won’t be able to tell if they’re looking at real or digital imagery.
“We’re going to get very close this year to a headset where it’s starting to get very difficult to distinguish if you’re actually wearing a headset or not,” he said. “When we start to get very high resolution headsets, with the type of display technology that we’re seeing on the market now, it’s going to blur that line between the virtual and the real.”
The forthcoming high-definition version of the Oculus Rift headset (pictured above), which was premiered at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, will represent a giant leap forward in virtual reality technology, Millns said.
The Oculus Rift headset features a stereoscopic screen that creates the illusion of depth, perspective and scale. Sensors mounted on the outside of the headset track the user’s movement and move the digital imagery accordingly, allowing the user to explore virtual worlds.
Existing augmented reality technology requires a headset
Millns believes the technology will soon allow convincing “telepresence” whereby people feel they are at an event or in a location remote from where they actually are. “Virtual reality is so versatile,” said Millns. “You can create a universe from scratch, it can be useful to immerse someone in whatever world you want.”
Coupled with advances in 360-degree video cameras – which record in all directions simultaneously – the headsets could allow people remotely to attend events happening elsewhere, such as fashion shows.
“We can actually put thousands of people in a seat by the side of a catwalk and they can actually experience what it’s like to be there,” Millns said. “You can put someone in any position in the show and allow them to look around as if they were there.”
Last year Inition developed an “augmented 3D printing” service for architects that allows them to visualise the inside of models of buildings, show the services and structure and show how the building will appear at different times of the day and night.
A video of the interview with Millns will be published on Dezeen soon.
Photography is by Inition, unless otherwise stated.
This movie we filmed at Dezeen’s pop-up shop of the future at London department store Selfridges demonstrates how augmented reality technology could transform retail.
Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs introduces the shop we curated for Selfridges‘ Festival of Imagination, which includes a virtual retail experience for Dezeen Watch Store and a life-size walkaround digital model of Zaha Hadid’s superyacht – both created by technology company Inition.
“The Imagine Shop is an attempt to visualise the kind of products, services and shops we might have in the future,” says Fairs.
Imagine Shop at Selfridges
The space on the ground floor of the department store contains all wall of 3D-printed products and clothing by Janne Kyttanen of 3D Systems, and even features a giant printed ping-pong table.
“The most exciting thing here is that we’ve worked with Inition, which is a 3D visualisation company, to show how augmented reality could be used in stores of the future,” Fairs says.
Inition lead creative Alex Lambert
Inition lead creative Alex Lambert then talks about the augmented-reality projects that his company and Dezeen worked on for this event.
“Inition and Dezeen collaborated on two pieces of augmented reality,” he says, “one for watches available at the Dezeen Watch Store and another for a £300 million superyacht designed by Zaha Hadid.”
Augmented reality demonstration of Zaha Hadid’s superyacht model
Lambert talks through the technology for the yacht models, which works using a tablet camera that picks up the code from patterned markers then displays the 3D model on screen.
“This type of augmented reality relies on a tablet,” he explains. “You’ll see a live video feed coming through the camera and once you point it at the marker the 3D model will appear.”
Augmented reality demonstration of giant Zaha Hadid superyacht model
Two versions of the yacht are included in the shop: a miniature version and a full-size model that glides across the tablet screen.
“We’ve actually created the yacht in full scale,” says Lambert. “It’s a sunny blue ocean with a full-scale yacht sailing past, just to give people an idea of the scale of the superyacht.”
Alex Lambert tries on designs at the virtual watch store
Using the same technology, shoppers can try on designs from Dezeen Watch Store at a virtual watch shop. Shoppers simply attach a band around their wrist and hold it up to a camera, then the chosen watch manifests over the band.
“We take one of these bespoke trackers… turn to the camera, get the marker in view and boom! The watch appears,” Lambert describes.
Alex Lambert tries on designs at the virtual watch store
Inition added texture and shadows to the virtual watches to make them look as realistic as possible. Different models and colourways appear instantaneously around the wrist on screen as they are selected.
“Dezeen are very forward thinking in employing this technology, especially for watches,” says Lambert. “In the future hopefully people will download the app, use a webcam or tablet and try on the watches at home before they purchase online.”
Visitors to London department store Selfridges can take a virtual reality tour created by technology company Inition inside a helmet by fashion designer Gareth Pugh (+ slideshow).
Gareth Pugh worked with Inition to create a “multi-sensory experience” called Monolith, installed at Selfridges for the Festival of Imagination taking place this month.
“The inspiration for this piece really came from the desire to create a totally immersive experience,” said Pugh. “I’ve always believed in the importance of fashion film and new technology as a means of communication.”
Visuals seen during the virtual reality experience
The visitor enters a soundproofed booth and completely covers their head with a pointy black helmet, which Pugh designed specifically for the installation based on costumes he created for the Royal Ballet.
Visuals seen during the virtual reality experience
Using an Oculus Rift virtual reality display embedded in the headpiece, the wearer is taken on a journey through monochromatic cityscapes, undulating walls and figures with silhouettes that are also similar to Pugh’s costumes.
“It’s an abstract narrative based on Gareth’s life, his works and his experiences,” senior creative at Inition Alex Lambert told Dezeen.
Visuals seen during the virtual reality experience
Once geared up, a 360-degree white environment is visible all around. “When you’re inside [the headpiece] you are transported to another world,” said Lambert. “It’s a totally immersive, full 360-degree virtual world that you can look around.”
Visuals seen during the virtual reality experience
The experience begins when staring at a spinning black cube found in the artificial world. “Aesthetically it looks very similar to Gareth’s work, and as soon as you look at that cube and it spins for a certain period of time it starts,” Lambert explained.
Hand rails are installed around the sides of the compact space in case the user loses their balance during the experience. Industrial music by London artist Matthew Stone accompanies the visuals.
Visuals seen during the virtual reality experience
The project was developed as one of a series of experimental installations and pop-ups at the Festival of Imagination that runs all this month, as well as to coincide with the London Collections: Men fashion event that took place in the British capital last week.
Visuals seen during the virtual reality experience
Here’s some more information sent to us by Inition:
Experience fashion designer Gareth Pugh’s virtual reality journey at Selfridges
Creative production company Inition produces a mind-bending virtual reality experience launched by Selfridges to mark fashion designer Gareth Pugh’s first appearance on the London Collection: Men’s Schedule.
The Monolith installation includes a futuristic cutting edge immersive journey into the inspirations and aesthetics of the acclaimed designer’s vision for his new collection.
Gareth Pugh says: “The inspiration for this piece really came from the desire to create a totally immersive experience. I’ve always believed in the importance of fashion film and new technology as a means of communication, but the team at Inition were able to propose a new and exciting way for us to approach this project. It’s an exciting opportunity to re-imagine my aesthetic in a totally new context.”
Pugh worked with Inition 3D artists to ensure the multi-sensory experience truly reflected his inspirations.
“This was a very exciting project to work on, as it was very creatively led but also had a number of new technical aspects that needed to be overcome in order to achieve the desired feeling that Gareth wanted to convey,” says Inition senior 3D artist Lee Spooner.
After entering a soundproofed chamber, users wear a characteristically geometric Gareth Pugh VR headset, which harnesses Oculus Rift technology to bring the 3D visuals to life. Virtual reality has never been used in a retail setting in such a way before.
With hand rails provided in case of momentary loss of balance, the two minute futuristic fashion film and part fairground ride begins, featuring monochromatic cityscapes, undulating walls and signature stark shapes, all underscored by an industrial gritty sound track produced by London based artist Matthew Stone.
Inition has been producing virtual reality experiences since 2001 but with recent advances in technology, imagination can now be less constrained, as perfectly illustrated by the Gareth Pugh’s Selfridges installation.
“Our history of creating bespoke experiences using emerging technology platforms was a natural fit with the pioneering work of Pugh and the innovative approach to retail taken by Selfridges. This is a market with huge potential for digital technologies and Inition is delighted to be pushing boundaries within this space,” says Ainsley Henn, Producer at Inition.
Monolith installation from the outside
“It was nice to be able to let our creativity and imaginations run free, and early on we had a good understanding with Gareth about the direction he wanted this immersive experience to take,” says Lee Spooner.
Gareth Pugh continued, “The title, Monolith, is the perfect description for this piece: something singular and imposing, and in some way otherworldly. I imagine that each person will view it differently, but I would hope that it’s something memorable and engaging. Ultimately the installation requires a little commitment, you need to step into that world – from the padded sound proofed booth to the angular head piece required to view the installation… they’re all considered parts of this unique experience.”
The Monolith installation is now open to the public and is located in the Menswear department of Selfridges (London) on Level 1.
Rather than publish our photos on the contributors’ page of the Print Shift 3D-printing magazine we launched this week, we thought it would be fun to get ourselves scanned and printed out. Here’s how we did it.
First we headed to Sample and Hold, a scanning bureau in Dalston, east London, down the road from the Dezeen office. Sample and Hold has developed its own scanning system featuring 18 professional DSLR cameras mounted in a semicircular grid.
We took turns to sit motionless in the centre of the array as the cameras captured us from multiple angles. Sample and Hold then merged the images to build up a 3D likeness of each of our faces.
This system has an advantage over other scanning techniques because it is near-instantaneous and so can capture natural facial expressions.
However, it is not so good at dealing with the complexity, volume and low tonal range of the average hairstyle, so a Mephisto scanner was used to scan the back and sides of our heads.
This device projected a pixellated pattern onto the hair and recorded the position of each pixel to create a digital model of the hairdo. Sample and Hold merged this with the facial scans to create the final 3D model of each person.
We then took the 3D files to creative 3D-technology company Inition in Shoreditch, east London, to be printed. Further processing was required to make the files print-ready: the 3D models were hollowed out and scaled to the appropriate size and then broken down into a sequence of two dimensional layers to be printed.
Inition printed our heads with a ZPrinter, which fuses layers of plaster powder with a binding agent. All seven of our heads were printed together, which took eight hours. Any unbound powder was then vacuumed and brushed away, revealing the fully-formed 3D models inside.
Unboxing the heads at the Dezeen office was an uncanny experience, as it was the first time any of us had seen a three-dimensional likeness of ourselves. “I wish I’d brushed my fringe,” said Rose while Paul’s reaction was: “Who’s the bald guy?”
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