Solution
Theia converted Suffolk-Yates' baseline Revit models, CAD files, and contract documents into a fully immersive VR environment, running on Silverdraft Demon VR Workstations powered by NVIDIA Quadro GV100 GPUs. Biweekly review meetings ran in the construction trailer city at the job site, with up to 20 people in the room. One person wore the headset while everyone else watched a live video feed. Design decisions that would previously have required physical mockups got resolved inside VR instead.
We started using VR at a very high level. But it soon took on a life of its own as we opened up the virtual walkthroughs to input from key tradespeople and maintenance staff.
— Kyle Goebel, Senior VDC Manager, Suffolk-Yates
The guitar tower alone presented a coordination challenge unlike most projects. With 60+ room configurations and no two floors the same, the traditional approach of building physical mockups for every variation wasn't realistic. VR made it possible to walk through every configuration before a single room was built.
The review process extended well beyond room layouts. Sightlines across the 13.5-acre pool complex were evaluated. Backlit hallway panels were revised after being seen in context. Hoist sizing for bathtub installation was confirmed in VR before delivery.
High visual fidelity VR reveals true scale and better actual sense of what the entire team is trying to accomplish.
— Bill Fishkin, President, Theia Interactive
Outcome
Physical mockups were still built for some configurations, but far fewer than would otherwise have been required.
We had nowhere near the number of iterations we would have had without VR. Each iteration we didn't do saved the client hundreds of thousands of dollars.
— Kyle Goebel, Senior VDC Manager, Suffolk-Yates
As projects become more complex and the need for accountability increases, we see significant value in leveraging virtual reality technologies. VR enables us to deliver the kind of predictable and efficient results our clients really appreciate.
— Christopher Mayer, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, Suffolk-Yates
The Seminole Hard Rock expansion opened on time. It remains one of the largest and most complex AEC projects Theia has supported, and one of the clearest examples of VR moving from a nice-to-have into a necessary part of how large-scale construction gets done.
