XR Next Steps
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report
Hey Autodesk, we've been talking about VR/AR/MR/XR for a long time around these forums and at AU, but we've all collectively accepted the tech just wasn't mature enough to go mainstream. Well, based on your IrisVR acquisition which has yielded Workshop XR, it seems it's time to revisit the discussion.
I want to offer a wholesale directive on what we'd like to use XR for. Some context, I'm a Mechanical Engineer and I work in both building design and product design, so I'm in Revit, Fusion, Navis, AutoCAD, Recap, and a few others regularly. I was also a PM and BIM Manager before I went independent, so I have a good feel for what everyone needs.
1. ACC Design Reviews
Workshop XR is heading in the right direction for this one. I've seen the industry move heavily to ACC in the last year, so making an ACC-native tool that doesn't require manual exports to view models is the best approach, business and consumer wise. I haven't personally used WXR so I can't speak to efficacy, but having an "on the table" view and a "full size" view are 2 wishlist items I'd hoped for. Also, an in-canvas issue tracker was the right decision. Good job, keep building out this workflow.
2. Offline Reviews
Right now the big limitations to field model reviews are supported hardware and internet access. The list will extend beyond Meta as devices create their own stores, but we don't want you to build an app for every store any more than you do. Rather than figure out how to access ACC content on each device, we'd like more rudimentary manual control.
As requested in the Revit Ideas Forum, we'd like a button (in every design program) to export models for XR review. Standards dictate we get to USDZ or GLB files, but we also know how big those can get. I don't know how yall do it, but NWC files are tiny and rendered content in Autodesk Viewer is so fast. Work your magic with one of those methods to simplify the geometry before you USDZGLB it and let us choose where to store it. We can handle the rest.
Wishlist item here but the tools to view those files offline are a little clunky. It'd be just swell if yall made the Autodesk Viewer an Android/iOS app, with offline viewer mode, and GLB/USDZ support.
3. Live Design
We all want the Tony Stark setup, but until the future gets here, I think Fusion is ready for an XR mode. This would be easier than you think - you'd be relying on the headset to handle the physical environment and just reconfiguring the design environment to be transparent.
Essentially, by pressing the "XR Design" button, Fusion would hide the UI, and move all menus to floating buttons (with dropdowns). You'd use your headset, connected to your computer, to pin the Fusion window in space. Using the same interaction scheme as you do in WXR, allow the model to be manipulated with the controllers / your virtual hands. The intermediate problem here is that your desktop background would be floating as well. As an intermediate stop gap, it's be cool for Fusion to make its background white with a gaussian blur so you have slight separation between your "modeled environment" and "real environment" in situ.