Want to visit my apartment? Take a virtual tour!

Decor, DIY

This post is a bit of a departure from what I usually post but I’m really excited to share with you a project I’ve been working on over the past few months. I had been intrigued with VR for a while so I jumped at the chance to collaborate with ImmersaCAD, a technology company based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, to develop a Virtual Reality (VR) model of my LA apartment that’s accessible to everyone!

LA Apartment Splash-Image v2

The first step was to create a 3D model of my LA apartment using  SketchUp (a free software that anyone can use). Then I used software developed by ImmersaCAD to convert this 3D model into a virtual model that can be viewed on a smartphone using the ImmersaCAD app and the Cardboard viewer (you can order one through Amazon (affiliate link – $6) or directly from Google – $15).

Google-cardboar-and-iphone

So how do you take a virtual tour of my apartment? It’s really simple:

1. Download the ImmersaCAD app onto your smartphone  – it’s free and it’s available for iOS and android).

2. Open the app and select “skip to demos” and you’ll see this screen

ImmersaCAD Demo screen3. You’ll see a white dot – line it up with the image of the EYS LA Apartment tour and then press on it with you finger. Then you’ll see this download screen – it will take a minute for the model to download.

ImmersaCAD downloading screen

4. While this is happening, place your phone into the Cardboard viewer and you’re ready to take the tour!

putting-phone-in-cardboard

Google-cardboard-closed

If you haven’t used a VR viewer before, it’s very simple. You point the white dot where you want to go and then you press on the button on top of the viewer on the right. This will move you forward. To turn you, simply turn your body in the direction you want to look and walk. If you want to back up to where you were, you need to turn around and “walk” in that direction. Here’s a video of what a tour would look like in VR:

I think this technology is pretty amazing and I welcome your thoughts, comments, feedback about the experience, so please comment below and let me know if you liked it, and how it compares to the conventional video tour I made of my apartment. I can’t wait to hear from all of you that take the tour!

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