Mixed-Reality Fabrication

3 units

The translation from digital design to physical construction has long presented challenges and opportunities for architects, engineers, technologists, fabricators and contractors. Mixed-reality is a process of overlaying virtual objects in real-world space. Wearing a HoloLens or similar assists construction workers to accurately locate the correct parts where they are needed. In lieu of using robotics, humans are already quite adaptable for different types of construction and mixed-reality enhances their skill and precision. While accuracy and efficiency are benefits to the contractor, the benefit to architects is allowing for non-standardization to be more easily incorporated in the design. The course will explore the use of mixed reality in half-scale to full-scale fabrication prototypes to understand its challenges and benefits.