by Brianna Crandall — June 24, 2016 — On the Chicago Theatre stage, in front of more than 700 people from DIRTT’s worldwide team of distribution partners and employees, customized prefabricated interiors manufacturer DIRTT unveiled the first-ever demonstration of its new ICEreality mixed reality technology for design and construction.
Mixed reality overlays virtual reality with the real world. Users see the physical world around them, including people, while experiencing and manipulating virtual objects.
In the case of DIRTT and ICEreality, the three-dimensional (3D) design of a proposed interior space is placed into real environments. Designers and owners walk through the design making changes and keeping track of the budget while creating new iterations in real time.
Building owners and tenants design, experience, modify and price their interiors in ICE while the software simultaneously produces the construction directions for DIRTT to build it to the decimal point of a millimeter.
DIRTT’s ICE software platform is the backbone of the company’s ability to deliver unique custom prefab interior spaces to their clients on a two-week lead time. ICE was designed from the beginning to engage with new technologies such as mixed and virtual reality, and ICEreality is the latest advancement.
The company’s video-game patents allow them to leverage the investments in gaming technologies, integrating them into the interactive intelligence of ICE, which runs DIRTT’s sales and marketing, project management, production and implementation.
Building owners and tenants design, experience, modify and price their interiors in ICE while the software simultaneously produces the construction directions for DIRTT to build it to the decimal point of a millimeter.
The layering of the virtual over the real is said to remove the feeling of being disembodied during a full virtual reality experience, thus enabling a more comfortable and powerful experience with ICEreality.
With this cloud-based system, DIRTT’s ICEreality experience is available from any location and on several devices, including personal smartphones. It is an incredible shift that removes communication barriers, says the company.
Barrie Loberg, DIRTT’s VP of Software Development and leader of the team developing ICEreality, said:
DIRTT’s ICEreality technology approach takes something that was very private and opens it up for collaboration, understanding and participation. You can virtually build or add to what’s already physically around you, and you can do that in a group experience, regardless of location.
This completely changes our ability to share the virtual experience and how we create and design. It’s a new form of communication that has the ability to expand our entire world, and I think eventually it’s going to be a normal part of our everyday lives.
Once the interior spaces are completed, DIRTT foresees facilities teams using mixed-reality headsets to gather additional information about their space, including training and ordering new components for repurposing rooms.
The decision to add ICEreality to the company’s virtual reality experience creates a more comfortable experience. The layering of the virtual over the real removes the feeling of being disembodied during a full virtual reality experience. ICEreality is a powerful and exciting technology that will revolutionize the design and construction world.
Loberg and the ICE software team continue to develop DIRTT’s ICEreality technology and its real-world business application, with the ultimate goal of providing DIRTT’s regional partners around North America with the ability to offer the experience to their own clients.
Visit DIRTT’s Web site or visit YouTube for a glimpse of ICEreality in action.
DIRTT Environmental Solutions (Doing it Right This Time) uses its proprietary 3D software to design, manufacture and install fully customized prefabricated interiors for customers in the corporate, government, education and healthcare sectors, with four U.S. manufacturing facilities and more than 100 sales distribution partners throughout North America, the Middle East and Asia.
