App lets users visualize new building developments in situ

Whilst we may still be some way off apps that let us see into the future, UK-based Deliverance Software’s new app — Walkabout3d — aims to provide just that. The app’s 3D panoramas can give users a glimpse of how their surrounding may appear once planned building projects have reached their completion. The app — currently available for free from the App Store — feeds off drawings created in Google SketchUp. This free program lets users create 3D images or “models”, which, in the case of buildings or structures, can then be placed within Google Maps. The Walkabout3d app then reads these sketches, and enables its users to explore them in 3d panoramas in real-time. Users can even chose their avatar height to set their first person viewpoint within the app, and there is the option to share designs with clients for them to view. When used on an iPhone or iPad, Walkabout3d’s geo-referenced SketchUp panoramas can be aligned to the device’s direction and orientation. This means that planned building works, once created as a SketchUp, can be explored in 3 dimensions on an iPhone or iPad, as users simultaneously view the current real world landscape. A video demonstrating the app can be viewed here. Architects and engineers everywhere take note: this could be a valuable tool for conveying your designs to clients in a format that is both immersive and informative. For everyone else, be inspired and get thinking: if you’re designing an app for a smartphone or tablet, are you making full use of the device’s location-based capabilities? (Related: Augmented reality app reveals architecture past, present & future — Project management platform hosts architects’ advice.) Spotted by: Katharina Kieck