Morpholio AR SketchWalk Brings Floor Plans Into the Real World

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Through augmented reality, users will be able to place detailed, digital replicas of creations from the likes of Mies van der Rohe and David Adjaye into their environments.

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Morpholio's AR display of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair.
Courtesy Morpholio 

Morpholio’s AR display of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair.

Architects often extend their design skills beyond buildings. They create bespoke fixtures and custom furnishings, shaping how occupants will inhabit their built spaces. To our fortune, some of these pieces go on to become design icons available on the commercial market. Now with augmented reality (AR), users can place and experience several of these pieces into their current surroundings or onto mood boards.

Courtesy Morpholio
Courtesy Morpholio

In a collaboration with global design firm Knoll, the seven-person team of New York–based design studio and software developer Morpholio and Chico, Calif.–based visualization studio Theia Interactive have harnessed AR technology and Apple’s new USDZ 3D file format, which lets developers create models for AR, to enable iPad users to inspect, say, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair, down to the sheen of its leather upholstery and polish of its chrome frame, in their own space. The AR collection also includes pieces by Eero Saarinen, Warren Platner, Marcel Breuer, David Adjaye, Hon. FAIA, according to a press release.

Courtesy Morpholio
Courtesy Morpholio

To help interior designers and, moreover, clients and consumers better understand and appreciate each piece’s color, texture, form, and scale, Morpholio offers “dozens [of designs] with more on the way,” in the USDZ 3D file format in its Morpholio Board app (iOS 10, free, but with in-app purchases), says Anna Kenoff, co-founder of Morpholio. In the app, users can engage their device’s camera to virtually place and position a piece in the desired space. They can even walk closer to and around the furniture piece, for different perspectives, and add the models to a mood board, creating a 3D collage or a cut sheet to share with contractors or designers.

Courtesy Morpholio

“This isn’t about hitting the buy button on a single piece of furniture,” says Mark Collins, Morpholio co-founder, in the same release. “This is powerful visualization technology that needed to be plugged into the entire interior design workflow, helping homeowners and designers alike to imagine and curate spaces holistically.”

Morpholio is working with other designers and manufacturers, including Porcelanosa, Dyson, Hansgrohe, Phase, and Davis Furniture, to advance the immersive experience for designers and their clients.

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https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/morpholio-ar-sketchwalk-brings-floor-plans-into-the-real-world_o

Madeleine D’Angelo

Madeleine D’Angelo is an intern for ARCHITECT. She graduated from Boston College with B.A.s in English and in French. Previously, she worked as a freelance producer for NPR’s On Point and interned for Boston Magazine.

Wanda Lau

Wanda Lau

Wanda Lau, LEED AP, is editor of tech, practice, and products for ARCHITECT and Architectural Lighting. Along with 10 years of AEC experience, she holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Michigan State University, an S.M. in building technology from MIT, and an M.A. in journalism from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. Her work has appeared in Men’s Health, ASID Icon, and University Business. Follow her on Twitter.