October 27, 2017

DDC STEAM Attends Virtual Reality Expo

On Friday October 27th, 2017 the New York City Department of Design and Construction Lucy Wong, Program Director for Public Buildings, and Anthony Martin Program Coordinator for STEAM Initiatives, attended the Virtual Reality Expo at the Javits Center to learn more about the future of Virtual Reality and its application within the fields of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction. 

A variety of educational seminars, demonstrations, and presentations were scheduled throughout the conference to provide attendees with an opportunity to network and learn about this rapidly developing technology. Seminars for the professional portion of the conference covered a wide range of topics. Including a presentation by Steve Feiner, a Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, who spoke about the research his lab has been doing for over 25 years, creating the first outdoor mobile AR system using a see-through head-worn display, and pioneering experimental applications of AR to fields such as tourism, journalism, maintenance, and construction.

A seminar on real-estate explained how some of the top tier real-estate firms are already implementing virtual reality to increase communication and overall sales by providing potential buyers with an immersive tour of the property, and increasing overall communication between clients and agencies.

Overall the expo was a great opportunity to see the various ways in which virtual reality technology is currently being used and the potential for its future applications in Architecture, engineering, and construction workflows.