Using Revit with Google Cardboard (Virtual Reality Goggles)

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Using Revit with Google Cardboard (Virtual Reality Goggles)

I am not sure why Autodesk did not make a big deal or announcement about this but man is it COOL! If you log into Autodesk 360 Cloud Rendering you will notice a few new features under the "Render as" option:

Having heard of Google Cardboard (and messed around with Oculus Rift) I was really interested to check the new "Stereo Panorama" out. So I did what any technology geek would due and purchased a set of Google Cardboard goggles on Amazon. Concurrently, I ran a few test renderings of projects I already had in the cloud...

There is a little tutorial posted on Autodesk's help website for viewing the Stereo Panorama's on your phone.

It is pretty simple... Check the box that says "Preview on Your Phone" and a link is generated. Open that link on your phone (I used my iPhone 5S) and viola!! Immerse yourself in your space...

Click here to purchase the CARDBOARD goggle setup... (Phone not included)...

What do you think, pretty cool, huh?

The possibilities with virtual reality are going to explode in the next few years (similar to 3D printing). To only take a few clicks and get a link that you can open on your phone and immerse yourself into a model is a game changer. This, along with Revizto sending an email out about developing Oculus Rift support will help push the immersive technology revolution!

Can you tell I am excited??

Comments (23)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

+1 Vote up Vote down

-JB · 528 weeks ago

Bring it to RTC!?!?

1 reply · active 503 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

TheRevitKid 72p · 528 weeks ago

of course!

+1 Vote up Vote down

@TroyGates · 528 weeks ago

Autodesk handed out the cardboard goggles at ADN DevDay at AU this year. Its pretty cool.

+2 Vote up Vote down

davidrbeach 15p · 528 weeks ago

Brilliant!

+1 Vote up Vote down

Sam D · 528 weeks ago

When I first read about this Autodesk has it labeled as a stereo panorama. Initially I thought this meant it would sort of be a large format picture for viewing in cardboard. However after trying out my first render I was pleasantly surprised to find that its is instead a full 360 "photosphere" as coined by the cardboard app. This means that you can place a camera directly in the center of a room, render it in the cloud as a still image and then render it as a stereo panorama and it will render the entire room as visible from that view point! Very cool and very powerful to have this ability with the click of a button!

+1 Vote up Vote down

jcurious · 528 weeks ago

Any idea on how much it will cost after March 31st?

+2 Vote up Vote down

jcurious · 528 weeks ago

it keeps on giving me the message "rotate your phone" is there anyway around this?

1 reply · active 500 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

sruthi · 500 weeks ago

Hi even I have the same problem when I tried opening it in my ipad mini.But in the background of the message "rotate your phone" I can see the panorama .So how do I get rid of the message? Did you find out the reason for it?Please do let me know.I kind of need it urgently

+2 Vote up Vote down

mwaraya 1p · 528 weeks ago

FREE until 24:00 PDT, March 31....

+1 Vote up Vote down

droidboi · 528 weeks ago

any one get this to actually work on their android phones?

2 replies · active 527 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

Jason Vestri · 528 weeks ago

Can you specify which android device you're using? This is an early release and we don't have complete coverage for every device and browser type just yet. Thanks, Jason

+1 Vote up Vote down

droidboi · 527 weeks ago

Nexus S

+3 Vote up Vote down

John Hutchinson · 528 weeks ago

I'm an Autodesk employee. Answers to a few of the questions:
- this works fine on my Samsung S5 using chrome. We'll be posting more info about the supported devices.
- the cost will be essentially the same as the mono-panorama. Since we have to render twice as many pixels, it may be a bit more, but this is not a money making feature, it's a convenience for our users.
- the message "rotate your phone" means that it's waiting to sense a signal from the accelerometer indicating that you have turned your phonen on edge to insert it in the google cardboard device. I'll ask for help from one of the engineers.

1 reply · active 528 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

TheRevitKid 72p · 528 weeks ago

John, thanks for reading the comments and offering your input/advice! It's awesome to get input directly from the factory!

+3 Vote up Vote down

John Hutchinson · 528 weeks ago

regarding "rotate your phone" ... I talked to the team, they think perhaps you have screen rotation disabled. This will only work in landscape mode. Hope that helps.

2 replies · active 527 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

droidboi · 527 weeks ago

Thanks John, I think the "Rotate your phone" issue got resolved once I enabled the auto rotate feature. However I think my android phone might not be supported. I also tried the same thing on the ipad (air first gen) still does the same thing as the phone (blank black screen) Is there anything that I might be doing wrong here? Thanks for responding to these questions! Its much appreciated!

+2 Vote up Vote down

Ana · 527 weeks ago

This works on webGL technology. On Android devices, use the Chrome browser. Get the latest update and make sure webGL is enabled. On iPhones, you have to update to iOS 8.0 or higher.

+1 Vote up Vote down

droidboi · 527 weeks ago

OK. So I guess its the WebGL issue that is not letting me use this properly.
Thanks for all the help.

+2 Vote up Vote down

Barbara · 527 weeks ago

If a picture says a thousand words, just what does virtual reality have to say? <--my tag line and you can't steal it.

I love this. I am cautious about telling you just how much I love this, 'cause they just might up the rendering fees.

But WOW! And I did that in native Revit, all by myself. I feel like skipping.

+1 Vote up Vote down

droidboi · 527 weeks ago

Ok folks.. thanks to all of your comments and suggestions this is finally working on my phone. My phone is a crappy nexus S running a cyanogen version. I tried installing the chrome browser, chrome beta and enabling webgl (as suggested in a comment above) none of that worked, probably has to do with the OS version. So I installed the firefox browser and BAM! it worked. Just need to make sure that the autorotation screen option is enabled (again, as suggested above)

Thanks folks, and happy cardboarding! ;)

+1 Vote up Vote down

Tom Smith · 522 weeks ago

It would be very amazing changes on 3D world.

total recall android call recorder

+1 Vote up Vote down

Ronda · 509 weeks ago

Anyone know how much this feature will cost after the FREE window expires?

+1 Vote up Vote down

sruthi · 500 weeks ago

Hi
I have a problem I opened the stereo panorama in my IPAD mini and it shows a message "rotate your phone"
I have enabled autorotate still it doesnt take it.BTW I am able to see the panorama in the background with this message in front of it covering up the whole panorama.Did anyone else have the same problem.And I have a small doubt do they sell google cardboard for ipad mini??I kind of need it urgently !

Post a new comment

Comment as a Guest, or login:

Tweet this comment

Thursday, February 12, 2015