Tenebris Lab launch LUX Walker 1.3 ; fully immersive, interactive virtual reality design software for architects, designers, and people who work with 3D data.
Imagine joining a virtual meeting with your client in another part of the world, to walk-through and interact with a true-to-life-scale model of your design, from your desk. With one click.
LUX Walker enables multiple people to join a virtual meeting, walk through and interact with each other in the same virtual design model, from anywhere in the world. Users can present and sell their design to clients, or use LUX Walker as a workflow tool to collaborate with team members, mark-up design improvements and export beautiful 3D renders.
LUX Walker 1.3 released early November, boasting smarter tools and refined graphics. For a more intuitive user experience, the Measure Tool is now equipped with orthogonal, horizontal and vertical snap modes and the Plan Tool has greater scale flexibility. Fog and Volumetric Lighting have been introduced to enhance the quality of graphics rendered in LUX Walker, resulting in crisp, high quality 3D stills for users to export and share. Importantly, Version 1.3 will now feature auto updates, ensuring that customers always have the latest version of the software.
LUX Walker’s menu system is feature rich, with over 200 in-built materials. Furthermore, LUX Walker automatically converts and optimises materials from a user’s 3D modelling software, providing unlimited high-quality textured material imports. Interactive in-built tools allow artists to accurately experience their design from concept to final presentation – transforming the look and feel of a model, reviewing critical design features, and instantly exporting architectural visualisations, in real-time.
Experience
The Time Tool is linked to the exact geo-location of a project, which enables users to experience accurate light refractions according to season, location, or time of day. Understanding the light path during a mid-summer afternoon in the Southern Hemisphere, as an example, will help designers to assess the orientation of a project on site for optimal quality and comfort.
Explore and Transform
Architects are able to explore their model and use the Mark-up Tool to highlight design improvements during, or in preparation for, design crit meetings. The Material Tool and Vegetation Tool allow users to ‘add-to’ a scene, transforming the look and feel of a space with a variety of different surface options for walls and flooring; strategically placing plants and trees to compliment surrounding architecture.
Review
Smart Measure displays the height and distance of, or between, objects at auto axis. Users can cut sections of their model with the Section Tool, and use the Layer Tool to toggle layers for review throughout the design process.
Render
Capture Tool provides zoom and image filters to capture and export highly realistic 3D renders in seconds, reducing the need to outsource expensive and time consuming 3D visualisations.
Founder and architect, Gerard Slee, was motivated to develop LUX Walker, as a result of first-hand experience with the limitations of trying to effectively communicate 3D designs, using standard 2D representations. Creating a tool which renders an interactive true-to-life-scale virtual model that enables multi-user collaboration, is an invaluable tool to reduce communication errors between disciplines, make faster design decisions, reduce project management costs and bridge the gap between traditional and modern methods of design.
Compatibility & Requirements
LUX Walker is compatible with .obj files and most 3D modelling programs; Revit, SketchUp, 3Ds Studio Max, Rhino, and Blender.
VR Mode:
LUX Walker can be used in VR mode with a VR headset, at room scale or seated at a PC. VR mode requires an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive headset (available at most online tech retailers) along with a PC that follows the recommended specs for the Rift and Vive.
PC Mode:
LUX Walker can also be used in PC mode, without a VR headset, for 360 panoramic views.
Pricing
LUX Walker is competitively priced at $100 per month, on a month to month subscription. Users can also sign up for a FREE 60 DAY trial www.luxwalker.com