Virtual Reality For Home Design (Is It The Future?)

What do you think about spending a little money now to save you thousands in the future?

A home renovation project or building a new home from scratch is most likely one of the largest financial investments of our lives. In these construction projects, every cent matters. There are many unforeseen costs that can pop up in a project that really hurt the bottom line and can cost you thousands in added costs, higher mortgage payments, and overall stress. 

Fortunately, there are many things you can control. One such important thing you can control is the design. More importantly, knowing exactly what your design will look like before the first board goes up. 

Today Interior designers, architects, and engineers have tools that can be used to help you visualize your next project. One of those tools is incorporating Virtual Reality (VR) software into your design project. 

In this article, we are going to talk about how you can use virtual reality to better understand your home project and how it can save you money and time. Maybe even more than you think. 

What Is Virtual Reality In Design?

Simply put, virtual reality is a computer-generated model of a building or environment that a user can interact with in a digital sense. Designers build these computer-based models and use special pieces of technology to allow a user to walk through the digital space on relative scale. 

Think about a video game. Games like Call of Duty or another first-person point-of-view game

like Minecraft where the player is immersed into a game world as though they are standing in the scene that’s unfolding on the screen. 

Relating back to the design world, this first-person point of view allows the user and the client to walk through their project well before the construction process begins. 

What Are The Advantages Of VR For Home Design?

There will undoubtedly be more advantages that unfold as VR technology progresses. As businesses latch on to and incorporate VR into their workflows, new uses and operating procedures will be invented and streamlined. 

At the moment, virtual reality lends itself to many advantages for a home design project. 

Home Programming / Floor Plan Creating

From a design perspective, the flow of the space (and multiple spaces) is perhaps the most important part of the design. Whether your home goals are sustainability, functionality, style, or resale, the floor plan can make or break a home. 

We can try to think about every little detail or task that might come up as we stare at the 2D paper, but until you are actually standing in a room or walking between the laundry and the living room, you can’t truly know how that will feel. This is why virtual reality for home design is so effective in establishing the floor plan you didn’t know you need. 

Exterior Visualization

Curb appeal. It talked about on all of the big HGTV shows, the first thing you see driving up to a house, the first thing a potential buyer sees at their first showing, and probably the first glimpse of the construction drawings you see sitting down with your contractor. 

What does that mean? The exterior of your home matters and getting it right from the start can save you money and time. Checking out the exterior of your project in a VR space allows you to walk around and see exterior elevations from a variety of angles. From the sidewalk, from the driveway, maybe down the street, or in the backyard. 

See And Feel Scale Of Your Project

No, scale is not the one you stand on in this case. Visualizing the scale of your project in VR gives you a chance to see how large (or small) things are relative to you. Standing in your virtual living room in VR lets you see and feel just how tall the ceiling is, how large the windows will be, or how the couch will interface with the walkway to the back door. 

Think about the scale of the exterior of your home also. Get an idea of how tall the roof is, how large is the house relative to the lot and what will the set back feel like. There are lots of different ways VR can be used to measure and visualize the scale of your project. 

One could argue that visualizing scale is the most powerful advantage of using virtual reality for home design.

Interior Design

In addition to being able to visualize floor plans and walk through our home. VR technology along with 3D rendering can really help bridge the gap between ideas and reality. 

Designers have a variety of software they use to create digital models of the space you want. These programs integrate with VR technology and let you see your dream home. 

Reduce Revisions

One great thing about VR is that it takes out a lot of guesswork in looking at 2D plans. Don’t second guess if you want 10 ft tall or 11 ft tall ceilings. Dont second guess if the dining room will look ok that close to the front door. Using virtual reality for home design is a powerful way to reduce the number of revisions. 

This ultimately saves you time in the design process. Depending on the contract you have with your drafter and contractor, it might also save you money by reducing the number of times the drafting and design team has to rework your project. 

Reduce Potential For Change Orders

After your job has gone to bid and the construction process has started, things get more difficult to change. Changing things during this process is often called a change order. 

Basically, a change order is when there is a change during construction that alters the original scope of what your contractor is being paid to do. If you decide to add a window or bump out a room, expect a change order and understand that there is usually an additional cost associated with that change. 

There is no worse feeling than watching your home go up and realizing that something is not going to work as you had hoped. This is where VR can plan such an important role in helping you or your client visualize things ahead of time and not find issues while in construction. 

What Are The Disadvantages Of VR For Home Design

The advantages of using VR for home design are plentiful and really can help from a technical and project standpoint. There are some disadvantages that have been associated with VR, though they primarily are user satisfaction. 

For anyone that has not used VR before, it might be a little overwhelming at first. Many people report feeling nausea or motion sickness at some points. 

VR can also cause eye strain. The VR goggles do add a lot of visual stimuli and if you have not used them before, can be a lot to take in for the first time. 

The headset has also been reported by some to be a little cumbersome and heavy to use. 

Do You Need VR To Walk Through Your Home?

You might be wondering if you absolutely need to wear the VR headset to fully take in your home project. The short answer – it depends. 

There are a few other options available to you if you dont think you can stand to dive into the VR goggles or maybe you had bad experiences with them in the past. 

There is the option to view the VR or digital walkthrough on a computer screen or maybe even a smart whiteboard where you can still interact with the space and get a sense of scale. 

However, if you are looking for a totally immersive experience, taking the plunge into the VR headset can be a memorable one. 

Why Should Home Designers Use VR For Home Design?

Design studios that spend a lot of time working for clients, whether they are prospective homeowners or business owners, should consider incorporating a VR experience into their workflow, and here’s why:

Separate Yourself From Competition

Since VR is a relatively new technology, not everyone has picked it up. Consider incorporating a VR walk-through into your design process to show your clients you are on the leading edge of technology.

Plus let’s face it, everyone is interested in new technology and it’s an added bonus to see new technology being used on YOUR project. 

Reduce Changes

As we mentioned earlier, reducing changes or revisions is one reason to use VR. incorporating a VR walk-through into the design process can help you steer and guide clients to a final design solution much faster. You can often make changes in real-time to a design with the client in the room. This can greatly reduce the back-and-forth of design iterations in a project. 

Improve The Client Experience

We want to provide value to our clients and it’s important to not only give them an excellent finished product but also to give them the best experience possible. One way we can increase the client experience is to have them as involved as possible in the design process. 

Giving a client the opportunity to see their project at a couple of different phases can really add value to their experience. VR is another opportunity to add input to the design process. 

The Wrap-Up

Using virtual reality for home design really can be a game changer in a lot of respects. The technology available in today’s world allows designers and homeowners to see their projects come to life in a computer-generated world. Seeing a project before construction starts affords a lot of time, money, and convenience factors not seen before. 

For your next home project, consider having a virtual model created before you get started with the construction. Spending a little time and money upfront might save you a lot of money with costly change orders and unrealized concerns. 

Not only can VR save you money, but it can also give you peace of mind that when you sign the notice to proceed with construction, you know what you are getting and all you have to do is sit back and wait. Which can be the toughest part!