Background
The project will be in collaboration with v2i, a Gold Coast-based company making use of advanced visualisation technology to support urban planning, master planning, project visioning and community creation. Working on a wide range of major, national and international architectural and community infrastructure projects, the company uses technologies from conventional CAD through to green-screen film-making to provide design insight into project processes and outcomes.
The major goal of the proposed project is to produce a software application or tool-set that could be used in a Virtual Reality (VR) facility or desktop-based visualisation environment to allow architecturally-minded users to rapidly develop virtual environments (VEs) suited to the property development industry, ie. including buildings, vegetation, terrain, and features such as lakes, golf courses, etc.
Aims
The overall aim of this project is to:
- Develop software for the rapid construction of virtual environments
suited to the property development industry
- Construct a Virtual Environment delivery platform to suit laboratory and remote desktop visualisation equipment.
The major goal of the proposed project is to produce a software application or tool-set that could be used in a Virtual Reality (VR) facility or desktop-based visualisation environment to allow architecturally-minded users to rapidly develop virtual environments (VEs) suited to the property development industry, ie. including buildings, vegetation, terrain, and features such as lakes, golf courses, etc. The aim of the project is not so much a full-scale, CAD-type toolset integrating with commercial packages, but more the development of rapid prototyping tools that will accept rendered architectural models (delivered in 3ds or VRML formats, among several possibilities), providing complementary functionality and allowing integration with terrain, vegetation and landscape features to provide realistic walk-through and presentation environments. Specific areas of interest are immersive, 3D architectural walk-through capability and high-resolution, near-photo-realistically rendered environments.
Process
A rapid-prototyping approach will be used, with a limited, working prototype to be developed in an initial, three-month phase to allow for early product feedback in the project lifecycle. This will also allow a decision point for continuing with a second phase, involving more intensive cooperation and participation of the commercial partner with the goal of developing a functional VE complete with design tools, for use in small-scale trials with a trained audience, within 12 months.
The second phase of the project will entail direct financial commitment on the part of v2i to support development of commercially viable end products for sale, licensing or commercial exploitation. It will proceed with University project team members working directly with v2i staff, to provide both closer involvement of v2i in design and development activities, and allow the University team members to gain a greater understanding of v2i’s business, priorities and activities. Thus, the project will provide not only technology transfer opportunities for v2i’s commercial benefit, but research and development opportunities for Griffith University students and staff in a context directly applicable, and of value, to industry.
Participants
Dr Andrew Lewis, Prof. Michael Blumenstein - Griffith University
Industry Participants
V2i Pty Ltd
Southport, Gold Coast
Reports
Progress
Report - May 2008 (98KB PDF)
Project Proposal -
(66 KB PDF)