North East rainscreen cladding manufacturer, Sotech, launches Sotech VR (SO:VR) – a fully immersive virtual reality experience.
SO:VR allows users to examine complete 3D models of Sotech’s market leading rainscreen cladding systems in real time.
“Our intention”, said Claire of Sotech, “Is to help inform conversations and decisions made by architects specifying rainscreen cladding systems. Imagine, for example, being able to pick up, rotate and examine a range of rainscreen cladding systems in real time, or being able to see how that panel looks. All of this is possible through 3D and virtual reality technology and Sotech is way ahead of the curve; building the foundations of its part of the metaverse today for its customers and clients.”
The announcement follows news from Mark Zuckerberg announcing his company’s strategic shift towards ‘the metaverse’, a virtual world in which users can meet up, complete projects and work together from the comfort of their own homes or offices.
“The metaverse is the next frontier in connecting people, just like social networking was when we got started,” Zuckerberg shared in his most recent founder’s letter. “Over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards.”
Sotech’s VR Experience is live and ready to use. Customers and suppliers are being invited to put on a headset and explore Sotech’s virtual showroom and 3D models, in their own homes or at Sotech’s head office in the North East.
“The Sotech VR Experience, known internally as SO:VR, is the future of sales and marketing as more and more users acquire VR hardware,” said Chris Dutton, the VR system architect. “In the future, VR will be integral to the design process. Using VR to view a design while it is being created will be commonplace and used to share ideas between colleagues as well as make critical decisions on how the building process will take place and how it affects the surrounding area.”
Meta has pledged to spend $10bn a year over the next decade creating the metaverse. This will allow developers to create the needed systems to integrate each VR user into one ecosystem as well as create the experiences and tools required to make it a success, as funding will be available for all kinds of projects.
Competitors such as Apple and Microsoft are also pursuing similar aims that Big Tech executives describe as part of the next evolution of the internet. The acquisition by Microsoft of Activision/Blizzard recently for $69 billion dollars is another indication of big changes on the horizon.
With these changes in mind, Sotech has pledged considerable time and budget into creating the foundations of its entry into ‘the metaverse’ and is the first manufacturing company of its kind to output functioning 3D models of its rainscreen cladding systems that can be experienced, adapted, and examined in a virtual reality portal. Whilst the metaverse technology is currently being built, the Sotech VR Experience will work as a standalone experience without the need for access via Meta.
Sotech will continue to develop its 3D and VR application, adding features and improving on the quality of the experience as time goes on.
Click here to learn more and experience SO:VR for yourself.
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