Microsoft has unveiled a new wearable hologram device that could revolutionise the way architects design and see the existing built environment.
Billed as the first fully untethered, see-through holographic computer, and tapping into existing Trimble tools such as SketchUp, HoloLens is a headset device with high-tech lenses that brings 3D models to life as full-scale holograms.
“Architects are dealing with shapes and spaces and light. They dream in 3D, and then need to translate this design into a set of 2D documents,” Trimble’s MR Program Manager, Aviad Almagor explains.
In a video spotlighting Trimble’s partnership with Microsoft, architects aided by HoloLens will work with a physical model that gets translated into a 3D hologram with the flexibility and ability to run “quick iterations”. This means users can interact directly with their holograms, adding or removing design details to existing buildings and visualising what a final version might look like.
“The thing that we can do for architects is really give them much higher confidence around decision-making. One way we can do that is they can now literally immerse themselves in the scene they are building, and see street-side, how the building’s going to look,” says Microsoft’s Studio Manager, Ben Sugden.
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On site, HoloLens allows for the visualisation of design data in the context of the real environment, which will ensure designs are implemented correctly. The “self-contained” wireless computer, cooled by onboard fans, also means users can move about freely in their offices and on a project site.
Other benefits of the product include creating new ways to communicate and collaborate, in real time, with remote teams from around the world.