Virtual Reality: The Latest Architecture and News

Foster + Partners Applied Research + Development team has created VARID (Virtual and Augmented Reality for Inclusive Design). Designed in collaboration with City, University of London (City) and UCL’s PEARL Lab, VARID is a design toolkit that uses virtual and augmented reality technologies. Its objective is to support academics, designers, and architects in better understanding how people with vision impairments perceive their environment.

Within the shifts in architectural movements and styles, furniture design has also evolved throughout the years, transitioning from elaborate curvy lines and opulent materials to simple and functional layouts, and back again, in constant movement. As it continues to evolve, contemporary furniture design is often influenced by technological advances, exploring digital fabrication and user-centered design, while also responding to sustainable strategies. These innovations have elevated custom furniture design, crafting unique pieces tailored to individual needs, preferences, and space specifications.

With the ability to adapt to each user, bespoke furniture design creates unique pieces crafted to meet individual needs, preferences, and space specifications. Delving into augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Tylko creates customized, long-lasting, and sustainable solutions for sideboards, wall storage, bookcases, wardrobes and TV stands. Analyzing their tech-forward approach to creating endless possibilities of made-to-measure furniture, we showcase their design process experience, along with their intuitive online configurator and augmented reality app.

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This article is the sixth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints.

Artificial Intelligence is at the genesis of creating fundamental changes in the way we design and construct buildings and cities. Some of these changes will be abrupt and disruptive to normative practice.  Others will take more time to feel the effect of this new technology, but the change will be pervasive.  When combined with the Metaverse, AI will also offer vast opportunities for the profession to expand and grow.  The kinds of spaces and environments we design in the Metaverse will be, in some aspects, very different from what we currently design in the physical world alone. AI evolves every day, and we are compelled to learn while we innovate. AI has proven it is a powerful tool to assist designers and offers the potential to challenge us to alter our design process. Combining AI with narrative design is one of those challenges.

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This article is the fourth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints.

Of all the attributes that will define the Metaverse the single most important is that of experience. As we move more deeply into the Anthropocene Era humans seem to be shifting their interests from collecting things to collecting experiences. As the demand for experiences grows more intense and detailed, the need for content, and the clever and effective use of that content, will rise exponentially.  From a more detailed perspective, the management and quality of those experiences will determine the initial success of the Metaverse. This is where the concept of a Responsive AI Concierge comes into play.

This article is the fifth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints.

Science fiction writers inspire us with bold and provocative visions of the future. Huxley, Orwell, Assimov, and Bradbury easily come to mind.  They have imagined great advances in technology and oftentimes predicted shifts in social structure that were a result of the human need to open Pandora's Box. A large part of the charm and allure of science fiction is the bold audacity of some of these predictions. They seem to defy the laws of nature and science, and then, faster than you might have thought, the spectrum of human inventiveness makes it so.

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Architecture as a profession is both deeply rooted in the past and driven by innovation. During the past few years, we have seen technology advancing at an unprecedented pace, developing tools and systems that change the way we understand the world. Digital spaces are becoming an accessible reality, as the metaverse is promising to enhance human interaction. Other digital tools such as robotic construction technologies, AI-generated images, and immersive virtual-reality equipment are likely to have a direct impact on the construction industry.

These topics are addressed by forward-looking architects, designers, and building industry professionals. Among others, contemporary artist Krista Kim talks about the economy of the metaverse, architect Alper Derinboğaz draws attention to the challenges facing the new generations of architects, and ICON founder Jason Ballard reveals the implications of technological innovations.

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This article is the third in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints.

"I had lunch on the moon, took a swim in a shadowy lake on Mars, played croquet with the clouds, and chased rainbows under the sea, all in one glorious afternoon" ... how real and meaningful these experiences felt will be greatly influenced by how and where you interact with a Metaverse opening near you soon. While in a fundamental sense, the Metaverse can be seen as a series of overlapping economic intentions, there is a unique and important opportunity for architects and designers of space and place to influence the outcome of these efforts and to create a more humane and vibrant future.

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On June 5, Apple launched Apple Vision Pro, a new type of spatial computer that uses augmented reality goggles to allow users to experience a blend between the digital and physical worlds. The device promises to offer its users an infinite canvas for apps, larger and more immersive than traditional displays, while allowing them to stay present and connected to others. It features visionOS, the first spatial operating system to create this new way of interacting with digital content. Previous concepts like the metaverse have promised to transform the way we experience digital worlds, with architects taking the opportunity to delve into the design of restriction-free virtual spaces. Could this new device bring new ways of experiencing three-dimensional spaces, to better integrate architecture with digital environments?

Architects often face the challenge of effectively communicating their designs to clients, as architectural design is a complex process that involves numerous technical details and decisions. Current methods of presenting architectural designs, such as 2D drawings or renders can be limiting. In addition, clients may not have the same level of understanding of architectural concepts and may find it difficult to envision the final outcome leading to misunderstandings, delays and costly revisions.

To overcome these challenges, architects have increasingly turned to Virtual Reality (VR). However, the limitations of most Virtual Reality software to show photorealistic designs without requiring complicated VR setups has been a challenge.

Can current design and manufacturing technologies be incorporated into vernacular and traditional construction techniques? On the IE University campus in Segovia, a group of researchers from IE University, Princeton University, and the University of Bergamo built an unreinforced masonry structure called innixAR that demonstrates how digital technologies can enhance craftsmanship. This pavilion explores the intersection between the latest augmented reality (AR) innovations and 4D funicular design to allow vault craftsmen to build masonry structures without the need for physical guides and costly temporary molds.

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The promise of the metaverse, this new type of three-dimensional and immersive digital space, is proving to become more and more appealing to architects eager to explore the new realm of virtual creations. As it currently stands, the metaverse does not have a singular definition but is composed of many narratives and explorations. This unknown land is however fruitful ground for architects, who have to opportunity to shape not only the new environment but also the experiences of future users. The SOLIDS project represents one response to these conditions. Developed by FAR, an architect and engineer working with digital environments, SOLIDS uses a generative process to design unique, metaverse-compatible buildings.

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The new technologies of the digital world caused changes in architecture and urbanism. New materials, new construction techniques, and new ways of manufacturing and building have changed how we design and think about construction. Besides, these technologies reveal possibilities of interaction between society and architecture, transforming the understanding of architecture and its purpose.