The Importance of Immediacy: Talking BIM, VR/AR, and Supersensor Integration with Rune Huse Karlstad

AEC Business

In this episode of WDBE talks, we sat down with Rune Huse Karlstad of Varjo Technologies to talk through the real-world use of VR/AR hardware and the capacity for BIM technologies to integrate and visualise sensor data to help add value for clients. Our discussion covered the increasing role VR headsets play for the sector, obstacles to adoption, and what Covid 19 revealed about the reality of where we are with tech implementations.

Rune Huse Karlstad is the Business Developer for AEC, Oil, and Gas with Varjo. After starting his career as a skilled construction worker, Karlstad became an advocate for BIM technologies after retraining as a BIM Construction Engineer at Fagskolen Oslo. This led to him operating as a BIM Technician with Rambøll and BIM Co-Ordinator with ADF Gruppen before focusing on design review, sites inspections, and remote collaboration.

“I think people underestimate the potential of actually experiencing your models in 3D. Look at how things are done today – it’s 3D models on a 2D plane, just a computer screen. That can make it hard to fully understand the design layout and for clients to engage with. It’s often difficult for them to relate that to a drawing or understand the space they’re given when starting to work on a project. Using 3D models and virtual reality allows us to experience the models one-to-one scale as they would if the building were finished. It’s a huge benefit, especially when it comes to the time it takes for everyone to understand the basics and get feedback. People can lose days looking at paper drawings and not fully get the grasp of what you’re building or what you’re getting. But being inside VR? It’s much more efficient.”

Our discussion covered

The real-world benefits of deploying BIM and VR in unison
The importance of securing quality client feedback
The challenges of tech implementations during Covid
The need to remove obstacles to adoption for VR/AR technologies
Future threats and opportunities for the industry

You can meet Rune at our WDBE 2021 event on September 28, 2021, where he will be a
keynote speaker. You can r eview our program and register for the event at WDBE.org.