b'of future semi-autonomous and autonomousimpressing clients with virtual walkthroughs. files in order to optimize the geometry and make vehicle systems. Martin and his graduate studentsIts something that were actively involvedthe overall VR experience as smooth as possible. wondered if that same technology could bein, says Alan Robles, associate at Gensler inBut its the interactivity that will take this beyond adapted into a wearable version for constructioncharge of interactive design. Were engaging thepretty walkthroughs.workers. Within five to 10 years, most cars onmakers of these technologies, and were using ourWaiting for the Robot Power Suitthe road will have these DSRC systems, withown projects as test beds. Robles oversees the GPS on the cars and radios able to communicatedeployment of VR and AR tech within GenslerPowered exoskeletons, or exosuits, have with other cars. he says. We wanted to see iffrom the firms Los Angeles office and is evenbeen in development for decades, with many [we could] use it to give road workers a littleemploying it in the ongoing redesign of thatprototypes shown off for military and medical advance warning. office. Our L.A. office is kind of a living lab, anuses. One current manufacturer is Ekso Bionics, The result is the InZoneAlert safety vest, whichexperimentation environment. As we develop thewhich has a lightweight, powered harness that has the same DSRC system as the cars but rebuiltnext iteration of our office space, were using VRthe firm has said could one day aid construction to a form factor that can be worn comfortably.tech to internally vet our perspectives and explorelaborers in lifting heavy loads and reducing strain Tests conducted by Martins team have shownpossible design changes. and risk of injuries. But that is still a potential that workers and cars can be reliably alerted toapplication, as exoskeleton manufacturers such each others presence, presenting the possibilityas Ekso primarily target their products to the that driverless and semi-autonomous vehicleshealth-care sector.could one day be programmed to automaticallyOne tech firm is taking a different approach avoid construction workers. to getting exosuits onto the jobsite. We decided We started with the safety vest, since we knewto disrupt a large category in the construction they were already required, recalls Martin. Weindustry, says Arron Acosta, CEO of Rise needed to fit into what the worker already wears,Robotics. His startup firm has been researching otherwise there will be less compliance. possible uses for its Cyclone Piston technology, According to Robles, VR also is being useda mechanically driven energy-storage system Scattering wearables across the jobsite willby Gensler to design the Culver City Creativethat Acosta helped to develop as a student. The yield smarter results, Martin says. Instead of oneCampus in California. This building will featurelightweight, cable-driven piston originally was big wearable, you need to be thinking of lots ofoperable exterior glazed surfaces, and VR letsdesigned to store energy to power an exosuit for little devices talking to each other, says Martin,us evaluate how those systems will look andworkers lifting heavy loads. But following the who has been researching and developingfunction. A Gensler team also is using VR in thetrend in wearables, Rise Robotics is looking to wearable technology since the 1990s. Forrenovation of the lobby of the U.S. Bank Towerenhance an existing tool on the jobsite, rather construction, these technologies will have to bein Los Angeles to examine alternative designs. than invent a new platform.incorporated into whats on the jobsite. TheyreWe looked at the common tasks on the going to have to fit into the way people areGensler also has deployed its VR headsetsconstruction site to see where this technology already using their equipment and clothing. among multiple users to explore design filescould fit in, and we kept coming back to the A prototype of the InZoneAlert vest was puttogether. Weve done experiments with video- general contractors portable air compressor, says to the test on mock-ups of road constructiongame engines, [such as] Unity and Unreal, toAcosta. We applied our cycling-cable piston to sites, with test use cases for how we can implement themair compression, and weve developed one that as part of projects. Weve been able to developfills five times faster. Our pump-up time [to 125 intelligent cars zooming by. We were ablea live collaborative environment, essentially apsi] is 23 seconds, with a recovery time of seven to show with the initial feasibility study thatmultiplayer game. People at separate locationsseconds. Acosta also notes that preliminary a vehicle traveling 45 mph in a straight linelog in with wearables like the Oculus Rift [VRtesting has shown that the firms piston-driven could give a road worker five to six seconds ofheadset], have live meetings in a virtual space andair compressor has a quieter operation than a warning that a car was coming right at them,have different discussions about components oftraditional air compressor, generating only 61 db.says Martin. Like any warning system, Martindesign, evaluating our physical experience of the and his team were concerned about false alarmsdesign. Acosta thinks replacing a standard piece desensitizing workers. There were some minorMajor VR platforms such as the Oculus Riftof gear is his firms Trojan Horse into the inaccuracies, but, even with that, we were ableor the HTC Vive are a hot target for tech firmsjobsite. Right now, were targeting nailing to distinguish clearly between vehicles beinghoping to build the software that will link VRapplicationspneumatic nailers for framing, in-lane, half a lane away or a lane away, he says.to design and construction workflows. IrisVR isflooring and finishing trim. Were hoping to In early tests, the prototype vest performed witha New York City-based firm focused on gettingniche ourselves into being the carpenters best over 90% accuracy. the most commonly used design file formatsfriend.Martin originally developed the InZoneAlertcompatible with these platforms. Architects andWhen it is introduced later this year, the feasibility study with graduate student Jasonengineers will be able to load up their Revit filesfinished product, known as the Robotic Air Forsythe, now a professor at York College ininto the headset and refine their model fromCompressor, will be light enough to be worn like Pennsylvania. Martin now is working withwithin. This can be used as a design tool, saysa backpack. We want to allow air tools to go graduate student Kristin Hines to develop theGeorge Valdes, vice president of products atfully cordless.vest further. Right now, we wouldnt deploy theIrisVR. Youre not just looking at the model.An air compressor light enough to sling on vest since very few cars on the road use DSRC.Its a design review. You can do markups in VR,your back is technically wearable, but Acosta But within five to 10 years, most cars on the roadcapture images from whatever youre looking atsees it as a first step toward fully powered suits. are going to have these systems. So, if we canin VR and export that metadata back into yourWe think that, by 2018, materials-handling establish the feasibility of the vest now, it can beworkflow. exosuits will be worn by contractors and builders ready by then, he says. Valdes admits the VR experience is still notto pick up packs of concrete, loads of shinglesNew Realities in Design Workflows perfect, but he says the real challenge is educatingreally, for any heavy lifting. But, before then, we While VR and AR visors are still rare sightsarchitects, engineers and other industrybelieve they occasionally will be wearing their air on the jobsite, the technology already is beingprofessionals about how far the technology hascompressor, and that that may be able to later deployed in the design phase. Architectural firmscome in just a few years. Were focusing onserve as the power plant for a wearable suits are finding uses for VR and AR headsets beyondextracting 5D data from Revit and other kinds ofpistons. visit:enr.comwww.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer 23'