TechViz - Blog - AR / VR for engineering

Many businesses have integrated virtual reality in their processes, especially since the covid-19 pandemic. More and more sectors undergoing digital transformation are taking advantage of enterprise VR to access cost-effective tools to conceive better products and collaborate more efficiently with 3D data.

[Updated on May 18, 2022]

When talking about the digital transformation of the construction industry, 2 technologies come to mind and are being used by professionals of the AEC sector (Architects, Engineers, Construction): Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Virtual reality (VR). As they offer the chance to experience the project while still in the design phase, BIM and VR have proven to be an efficient investment. They've already been making a fundamental change in the way the construction industry plans, designs, develops and manages a construction project. Also, they enable all the people collaborating around a project to have the same level of information, while making the process more reliable, productive and cost-effective.

With the recent democratization and availability of VR technology, many companies are racing to adapt Virtual reality (VR) to the workplace. If it may be too late for business to develop a new set of policies for remote work, they can still make the experience productive and engaging for their employees. Especially by giving them the right equipment to keep collaborating competently on their projects.

A point cloud is a set of points in space, generally produced by laser scanning (LiDAR) or photogrammetry. Depending on their density, these points help you visualize the external surfaces of objects or environments. Therefore, they are often used in the construction industry, along with BIM models.

But such sets of data can do a lot more for your industry. 3D scanning technology enables you to capture a digital copy of an object, when creating a CAD model from scratch can be long, costly and complex. Let’s see why point clouds in virtual reality can be a great asset for your industry and how to use it efficiently.