Coquitlam residents could soon use virtual reality to get an early look at proposed developments slated for their neighbourhood.
While architectural renderings are commonly used to depict large-scale projects, Danny Bandiera, city city’s manager of information communications technology, said the high-tech initiative would give residents a street view showing how proposed buildings would fit with their areas.
“You are immersed in it,” he said. “You are basically standing on the street looking up. It gives residents and council a better idea of the proposed development and how they reside next to the other developments.”
The virtual reality headsets could be available at open houses and files could be made available online for people to look at on their desktops at home or over their phone, he said.
Not only would participants get to see buildings in context with the existing neighbourhood, it would also give a better understanding of architectural details and how the buildings look at different times of day or year, among other variables.
While the program is still in the pilot phase, over time, Bandiera said the city would build up its repository of files and a virtual Coquitlam would start to emerge.
“If we already have a Coquitlam VR world built, it’s just a matter of putting in that proposed development,” he said.
It is still too early to know the cost of using virtual reality in the planning process, he said, noting images created by the 3D modelling software Sketchup, which the city currently uses, can be converted into VR files relatively easy.
He said more details would emerge as city staff conduct their testing.
“Right now, we are just in the pilot stage,” he said, later adding, “It is still early in the game.”
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