Arcosanti Virtual Reality

The Cosanti Foundation is developing an innovative Virtual Reality STEAM based educational program which can be utilized by K-12 students and educators throughout the state of A​rizona. Virtual Reality provides a unique opportunity to create a truly exciting and engaging learning experience. The use of this technology will support learning and deepen student understanding by supporting instructional objectives.

 Our unique program is being designed to ensure that the VR technology is coupled with cross curricular educational activities that align with the Arizona State Standards. It will be used to enrich learning and engagement across all subject areas, from improving creative writing to understanding science and math topics through enhanced visualization and immersion. Careful planning and implementation will take place to ensure students benefit from the investment in technology.

Development of the VR program was initially geared towards rendering 3D still images and fully guided experiences that the viewer could be led through. The work has now progressed into creating real time explorable renderings with embedded 360 images and videos which are more versatile and exciting.  Real time renderings allow the viewer to control the VR environment that they would like to explore. Recently there has been an alignment of projects and technologies at Arcosanti that has enabled real time interaction from VR to the real world via digital twinning, controlling and observing real world system from the virtual world, this functionality is a huge jump for both our educational capacity and our ability to explore the possibilities of connecting VR to the real world and communicating between them by way of the MR systems being developed by Chase Bowmen and the real world systems being put in place by Rob Jameson and Adam Taylor.

Arcosanti VR has been in development for about 2 years, enabling new ways experiencing the concept of Arcology…

Beginning with the goal to envision the next phase of development at Arcosanti, Tomiaki Tamura provided architectural plans, and guided Seth as he brought those plans to life(virtually), Juliana Cardoza has now joined the project as an architecture 3D modeler.

During the development phase Seth also began the process of digitally twinning Arcosanti and Cosanti. Using traditional 3D modeling and photogrammetry he was able to replicate the stunning local landscape and recreate the awe inspiring architecture of Arcosanti and Cosanti.

With the digital twin of Arcosanti created, all sorts of things are now possible, such as the interaction between the real world, VR, and MR. We have direct connection from the Unreal engine to the Arcosanti Smart Lighting project, and more direct connection with utility systems at Arcosanti is possible in the future. As an example imagine visiting Arcosanti from a college campus halfway across the world via a VR headset and being able to see how much solar power we are using at any given time…the possibilities are endless.