GAROU in London with Epic Games

On October 3, 2018, nearly 300 professionals from the architecture, engineering and construction industries gathered at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London to showcase and discuss real-time technology, and look at some of the exciting new ways Unreal Engine is being used across these disciplines.

The event, Build: London ’18 for Architecture, highlighted some of the many groundbreaking projects created with Unreal Engine, and introduced the audience to new features that would greatly benefit this industry for the future. Attendees also got hands-on time with class-leading projects and virtual reality experiences, seeing for themselves how real-time technology is changing the face of architecture, engineering and construction.

Our presenters included speakers from architectural luminaries such as Zaha Hadid Architects and Heatherwick Studio, and NVIDIA also showcased their RTX video card platform which is helping drive the realization of real-time ray tracing across all industries.

Gaspard Giroud (Garou) also gave a live demonstration of an international collaborative VR meeting inside a virtual model of Calatrava’s iconic Oculus World Trade Center building, with participants spread across New York, Paris and London. All participants were represented as avatars in the VR scene, and Giroud and his companions perused and discussed the building’s architecture together and in real time. It was a stunning demonstration of a shared VR experience, and one that is going to become increasingly common within architectural design and visualization over the coming months.

Epic Games also had a few announcements. Datasmith users were excited to hear that Datasmith for Revit is just around the corner. And we also announced a brand new Unreal Engine training center in Guildford, UK, where hands-on training will be delivered by experts from Epic Games. More locations will be coming soon!

Build: London ’18 was also a chance for attendees to meet, mingle, and connect with others who are actively developing real-time solutions and experiences for their clients with Unreal Engine.  “It’s an incredible opportunity to network with a lot of people who are also pioneering in their field,” said Giroud. 

Nina Timmermans of Reynaers Aluminium, who recently built their own five-sided virtual reality CAVE with Unreal Engine at their headquarters in Belgium, agrees. “Talking with architects that are using 3D, Unreal, virtual reality in their daily design process…this is a real networking opportunity for us.”

The success of Build: London ’18 confirms the growing interest and use of Unreal Engine in real-time architectural experiences. A recent report from independent group Forrester Consulting revealed that 81% of firms plan to try out real-time rendering overall, and 59% plan to put it into production in the next year. 

If you’ve been inspired by what you’ve seen, download Unreal Engine today.

Source:

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/events/real-time-design-shines-at-build-london-18-for-architecture

GAROU brings 'smart cities' to life

Last week finalists Chinatown Bureau and innogy Consulting presented their mobility concept to City of New York as part of the NYCx Climate Action Challenge. Their proposal: an end-to-end, scalable and sustainable concept of Mobility Hubs focused on accessible EV charging infrastructure, including smart charging hardware, community hubs, connected mobility services with added services through engagement with local communities to position NYC as a global role model for sustainable transportation.

GAROU’s role? To create an immersive VR experience to show the City of New York how it can bring a future mobility experience to the masses and demonstrate the joint capability of Chinatown Bureau and innogy Consulting.

Following NYCx guidelines, we collaborated with innogy Consulting and The Chinatown Bureau to design this smart city experience, modelling every aspect of the community in CGI and putting the viewer at the heart of a Flagship Hub at Hudson Yards: drivers checking real-time vehicle data through the app to locate the community, mobility services to keep productivity up while their vehicle is charging as well as other smart city solutions and information on nearby transportation with a focus on green options. You can see the video here.

May 17 was demo day. Together with our partners, we demonstrated the proposed Flagship and Community Hubs to officials from New York City. As strong proponents of environmental sustainability we were grateful to be part of this project and contribute a vibrant and memorable experience that brought New York as a smart city to life.

How successful were we? The event itself proved a hit with the VR users and we can conclude that room-scale VR is a powerful tool to generate empathy and connect with a project or a cause.

Pending a final decision from the City of New York that will determine if our partners were selected to the next round, here are some quick takeaways to keep in mind when creating high-fidelity VR content:

· Room scale VR requires to design for all six directions surrounding the VR user who can look and move everywhere;

· Space and environments that are very sculptural work best;

· Human scale and foreground objects is key for a more engaging experience.

· Exterior spaces and nature are still harder to achieve photo realism

· Using heights and vertigo always works

Interested in creating a room-scale experience? Contact us.

GAROU + NYC Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer @ SXSW Cities Summit

New York, NY, March 12, 2018, GAROU, will join NYCx at the SXSW Cities Summit on March 12 and 13 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, TX. As part of the collaboration, GAROU co-founder Gaspard Giroud will join peers from New York start-ups for a AR/VR fireside chat at the NYC House pop-up to discuss what’s top of mind and share insights into emerging technologies and future collaborations.

The SXSW Cities Summit is a platform for civic leaders and creative urbanists of all disciplines to join together to learn, strategize and form coalitions to transform the cities of tomorrow. With the NYC Mayor’s Office of the CTO, GAROU’s AR/VR technology platform will allow attendees to experience the future of New York and showcase some of Silicon Alley’s hottest tech startups and companies. The platform will also enable virtual access to 17 amazing New York sites and attractions.

“The NYC House at the SXSW Cities Summit is a premier destination for technologists and thought leaders from around the world to connect and explore how the City of New York is building a smarter, more response and equitable city,” said, Jeremy Goldberg, Deputy CTO, NYCx, City of New York Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer. We’re pleased to have GAROU on board.”

In addition to its presence at The NYC House pop-up, Giroud will take part in the AR/VR fireside chat on Monday, March 12. H will present the New York pilot and discuss commercial partnerships with WeWork, Vornado and the future Moynihan Station. He will also discuss the GAROU roadmap which includes features such as photo-realistic visual standards, multi-user access and social media integration, and argue taking an open source and cloud-based approach.

“The GAROU prototype built over the past two years is based on the city of New York. Joining the City of New York at the Cities Summit at SXSW present us with a relevant and compelling showcase to present our virtual-reality browser that uses-real world geography as its primary navigation device,” said Gaspard Giroud, co-founder and CEO, GAROU.

About the Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

The Mayor’s Office of the CTO is led by Miguel Gamiño, Jr. New York City CTO. The Office is making broadband, smart city technologies, digital services, and the tech industry work for all New Yorkers and views technology as a tool to realize Mayor Bill de Blasio’s vision to make New York the fairest big city in America. Visit nyc.gov/cto