Reynaers’ AVALON Virtual Reality (VR) Room, installed in the new Reynaers Campus in Duffel, offers the ability to visit a building through a shared virtual reality experience while the design is still in process. Imagine opening the door, turning on the lights and walking into a design. As you navigate the different spaces, you can change the building materials or adjust the sizes of windows and rooms in an instant. A powerful tool for evaluation and experimentation, this exciting virtual world has the potential to radically change the way architects design and optimize a building before it is built.
3D设计软件程序，例如Sketchup，Archicad，Revit（带有插件ENSCAPE）和3DS MAX变得更加普遍，并且建筑师在3D环境中的工作比以往任何时候都更加强烈。然而，模型或渲染可以实际传达的限制是有限制的。例如，完成后的建筑物可能与客户的渲染图像截然不同。虚拟现实体验将3D工作的过程带到了一个新的水平，从设计的最早阶段提供了一种现实的规模，深度，材料，变化的光线和环境条件。
How does AVALON Work?
高端Avalon VR室为客户，建筑师，投资者，承包商，工程师和Reynaers专家之间的共同经验和协作创造了理想的环境。使用实时引擎，可以在Avalon强大的主要工作站中加载实时发动机的任何开发阶段的3D模型，并在建筑行业中的200多个常用软件程序中生产。此外，雷纳运营商可以将模型转换为高质量的可导航场景，以评估设计。
Avalon VR室系统包括25个投影仪，并使用尖端激光技术将超高分辨率的模型投影到所谓的洞穴VR系统的墙壁上。活跃的3D眼镜使您和项目团队的其他成员可以沉浸在该项目的共享3D体验中，同时在建筑办公室的常规设计软件中工作。
The benefits of virtual reality in architectural design
The benefits of working within a virtual reality environment are numerous. From the first model of a design concept to complex BIM (Building Information Modeling) projects, stakeholders can explore and discuss together the feeling of different spaces, the light conditions in a room at different times of the day or year, views outward from the building or between floors. Airflows, mechanical and thermal simulations can be undertaken with simulation data evaluated further to improve the design. Every detail and building component, including different Reynaers systems, can be seen up close, allowing technical issues to be explored in detail. Design changes can be made to the architect’s file on the spot.
VR Room的虚拟现实专家兼运营商Damien Conroy补充说：“在建筑工地上的工作开始之前，可以以这种方式解决问题和潜在的设计错误，节省了时间和可能的巨大成本。”
For some projects complete mock-ups are built during the design process of a building to test different versions of the design. Examples include airport gates and hospital rooms. Virtual mock-ups can save on costs compared to real mock-ups and allow architects to easily increase the number of evaluated variants.
行业虚拟现实的发展
尽管以游戏生产的使用而闻名，但虚拟现实系统在其他设计行业（最著名的汽车和航空航天）中已广泛使用。在建筑行业中，City Scape最近为Gehry Partners和Foster + Partners在伦敦的Battersea Power Station翻新和房地产项目中创建了一次虚拟现实之旅。在这里，虚拟现实技术是帮助在施工开始之前说服投资者和买家对设计的关键。
Recognizing the power of the tool, Reynaers believes in the considerable benefit to architects of making VR technology more readily and easily accessible. After researching the use of virtual reality in other related design industries, Reynaers developed AVALON specifically for the use of architects in day to day practice.
参观Avalon VR房间
在Avalon环境中，办公室会议室转变为行动中的现场建筑工地。当事方可以预留持续4个小时的项目演示文稿的Avalon VR室，或者为期一整天的项目工作课程。根据文件的类型和质量和期望级别，在标准可视化的情况下，系统操作员为项目准备了大约半天，大约为15天，用于实现该项目的3D CAD文件。在访问期间，该操作员可以指导该过程。
访问Avalon VR室后，用户可以使用他们希望的任何建筑位置的全景快照（360秒）返回家中，以供VR使用。视频演练也是可能的。
While exploring the model in the AVALON environment, generative group discussion is supported by the user interface specifically chosen for AVALON. Damien Conroy explains that to date, virtual reality systems are typically experienced through Head Mounted Displays. These user interfaces are not only heavy to wear, but also isolating, which is of detriment to the user experience. The AVALON VR room by contrast is experienced through 3D glasses, allowing for a better shared experience and easier communication between users, which is of course essential to the design process.
The future of Virtual Reality
Architectural design made a profound leap some decades ago with the switch from drawing by hand to drawing in a CAD program. This followed with further development of 3D visualisation and more recently, comprehensive Building Information Modeling (BIM) system models. Today, virtual reality is poised on the verge of leading yet another industry changing innovation, revealing its potential to make architectural design more engaging for stakeholders, as well as more intuitive and accessible for all.
在Avalon VR室推出之后，Reynaers正在制定长期战略，成为将虚拟现实技术带给建筑师以及对全球建筑设计感兴趣的人的领导者。
