Prospect, the first virtual reality program for architects and engineers that allows users upload design files from Rhino, Revit, and more and explore them digitally and at human-scale, has a new home. Today, February 25, The Wild, a company focused on collaborative AR and VR for the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, announced that it had acquired Prospect from parent company IrisVR.
Prospect’s power lies in that it’s an easy way to share and work on BIM-integrated files at human scale, and gives users the power to tag and write notes on incorrect geometry, errors, or anything else that catches their eye while “walking” through a space, as well as change materials on the fly to preview a different look for the project. Pulling back in scale, Prospect, created in 2014, allows users can also view 3D site models as if they were looking at them over a table, and even run sun and shadow studies while in-model. IrisVR touted the program’s collaborative functions as some of its biggest selling points; while VR headsets like the Oculus or HTC’s Vive could be used to explore, they weren’t required, and both users and guests were able to join meetings through avatars representing where they were in the scene.
Similarly, The Wild, founded in 2017, also allows for the import and inspection of BIM models imported from Autodesk’s Revit or BIM 360, albeit in virtual workspaces more akin to an offsite meeting (with the option of shrinking down and climbing inside).
In its announcement, The Wild pointed out that this kind of virtual collaboration had become more important than ever during the coronavirus pandemic, as architects, engineers, construction workers, and clients still need to meet regularly but video calls are often insufficient.
“VR is entering a new chapter with lighter, more accessible hardware and customers that are beginning to deploy enterprise VR at scale,“ said Shane Scranton, CEO and cofounder of IrisVR, in a press release. “By joining forces with The Wild, our products will continue to help teams catch errors earlier and make decisions faster, while also building towards a future of deeper integrations and broader hardware support within The Wild’s ecosystem.”
Currently, users of either platform have nothing to worry about for the immediate future, as The Wild indicated that it and Prospect will continue to operate separately. However, the acquisition should help The Wild improve its presentation, prototyping, and design review capabilities, with feature intertwining sometime down the road not outside the scope of possibility.
The Wild also pointed out that:
With this acquisition, The Wild will serve customers in architecture (Perkins + Will, KPF, Interior Architects, Leo A Daly), engineering (PAE Engineers, Thornton Tomasetti, Black & Veatch), construction (Mortenson, Gilbane), real estate, and enterprise (ZoomCare, Verizon).
