Streamlining 3D visualization and asset management for immersive collaboration

Worldbuildr and FrankNDesign: A Unity case study

The demand for location-based entertainment (LBE) in venues like theme parks, museums, and interactive exhibits is rising, and with it, the need for increasingly intricate attraction design.

Managing the extensive amounts of 3D data required for these complex projects can be challenging, especially without a cohesive platform that supports real-time design visualization and seamless asset management. This lack of efficient tools can hinder collaboration between creative and technical teams, slowing down project timelines and increasing costs.

To address these challenges, Worldbuildr, a technology solutions provider specializing in digital twins for the LBE industry, partnered with FrankNDesign, a creative firm specializing in theme park design. Together, they leveraged Unity’s real-time 3D technology and digital asset management (DAM) solutions to develop an application that facilitates improved visualization of architectural 3D model formats within an immersive 3D collaborative environment while securely handling the management of all project assets.

Results of Worldbuildr’s application

• Efficient iteration: Facilitates faster design decision-making by identifying potential issues earlier and reducing costs.
• Improved asset discovery: Enhances accessibility and reusability of assets across multiple products.
• Real-time transformation: Converts static 3D models into interactive, real-time-ready versions in 15-20 minutes, while also preserving metadata.
• ROI predictions: Simulates real-world scenarios to project the return on investment (ROI) for designs based on crowd flow and other dynamics.

Read on to learn how Worldbuildr used Unity’s tools to build an application that overcomes the challenges of real-time 3D visualization and asset management for better collaboration.

Understanding the limitation of traditional architectural models

Traditional 3D modeling tools (such as Revit) are highly effective for producing detailed blueprints of complex structures like stadiums, cathedrals, and skyscrapers. However, they lack interactive and dynamic features, which restrict real-time visualization and interaction, creating limitations for collaborative design processes.

Challenges of conventional 3D modeling tools

• Static geometry: Traditional modeling software creates static representations of buildings, lacking the real-world elements necessary in order to simulate actual operations.
• Limited interactivity: Without coding knowledge, it is challenging for non-technical stakeholders involved in a project to create interactive environments that reflect dynamic changes such as different lighting conditions, doors opening and closing, and media elements projected on walls.
• Lack of ROI investment projection: Conventional modeling tools lack the ability to simulate crowd flows and guest spending patterns, making it difficult to verify the financial feasibility of a design.

The solution to these challenges is to import the models into a real-time 3D engine, where they can be used in interactive environments. This process, however, comes with its own set of technical challenges.

• Asset Management: As assets increase in number and complexity, managing these efficiently becomes critical. Without effective asset management, teams can waste valuable time searching for files or recreating assets, which impacts both timelines and budgets.
• Platform extensibility: With numerous stakeholders needing access to the same project, designs and models need to be accessible across all devices. This cross-platform requirement can add complexity to development, as compatibility must be ensured.
• Model optimization: Architectural models are typically large and highly detailed. Without proper optimization, these models can lead to long load times and poor performance, making it challenging to maintain high-fidelity visuals.
• Version control: With multiple team members working on a shared project, managing different versions of a 3D model and ensuring all stakeholders are viewing the latest updates becomes crucial. Tracking changes, branching, and merging versions is essential to prevent conflicts and misalignments.

The solution: Worldbuildr Digital Twin Application

With input from FrankNDesign, Worldbuildr leveraged Unity to develop an intuitive collaborative application that simplifies the technical challenges of preparing 3D models for real-time 3D use and enhances asset management across multiple projects. This results in better stakeholder collaboration, enabling faster and more informed decision-making.

How it works

The Worldbuildr Digital Twin application supports the seamless import of architectural 3D models into immersive, real-time 3D environments – regardless of their complexity.

Users can drag and drop models into the application. Within 15 to 20 minutes, those models will be optimized and prepared for real-time 3D visualization. They are then uploaded to a cloud repository, facilitating easy asset discovery, management, and storage.

Worldbuildr also incorporated real-world simulations, like crowd flow, guest movement, lighting changes, and media projections, into their application. This enhanced level of interaction supports the validation of financial projects by simulating ticket sales, guest engagement, and operational costs.

Why use Unity to build an immersive collaboration application?

While developing a new product is challenging every step of the way, Unity’s foundational flexibility and resources made it easier for Worldbuildr to navigate the conceptualization and development of their application.

Streamlined asset management with Unity Asset Manager

Unity Asset Manager was instrumental in Worldbuildr’s development process, offering a centralized, intuitive system for uploading, managing, and integrating assets.

By eliminating data silos and centralizing asset storage, Unity Asset Manager improves workflow efficiency and consistency across development teams. Key features that Worldbuildr used in their application include:

• Asset Discovery:
  • Easily search assets using filters, license types, tags, images, and metadata
  • Browse assets through collections that reflect the organization’s own folder structures
  • View assets with clearly laid out information and rich reviews of the content in a responsive UI
• Asset Management:
  • Easily categorize assets with advanced metadata tagging
  • Share assets or collections of assets across organizations, projects, and teams with easy-to-use interfaces that allow for granular grouping of users and assets
• Asset Transformation:
  • Automatically convert assets from traditional 3D formats (e.g., BIM, CAD) into optimized real-time 3D-friendly formats.

Using Unity Asset Manager as the back-end DAM for their application allows Worldbuildr to optimize each uploaded asset systematically, converting it to formats ready for real-time 3D use across various devices.

Users, technical or non-technical, can upload and optimize their models straight from Revit, and as assets are added, categorized, and managed in the application, Asset Manager makes them readily accessible for collaborative workflows.

Platform extensibility

Choosing Unity was a strategic decision for the Worldbuildr team, not a matter of personal preference. Early on, the team evaluated multiple engines, but Unity’s broad platform support enabled the deployment of the Worldbuildr application across a wide range of devices, from high-end workstations to mobile devices with minimal graphic capabilities.

The assurance that users working on the same project can access the same scene and assets, regardless of the device they’re using, sets Unity apart as the ideal choice for Worldbuildr’s expansive, multiplatform needs.

Efficiently solve merge conflicts with Unity Version Control

With a fully remote development team, Unity Version Control has been key for the Worldbuildr team to efficiently manage and collaborate on code for their application. Unity Version Control directly integrates with the Unity Editor and enables version tracking, branching, and the merging of project files, ensuring smooth collaboration between team members working on different aspects of the application.

Future plans for enhanced functionality

Worldbuildr’s roadmap includes adding new features and capabilities, like expanded asset pipelines, advanced interactivity, and enhanced real-time simulation functions, all aimed at making it easier than ever for creative and technical teams to collaborate and realize their visions.

Future developments will continue to leverage Unity and upcoming Asset Manager features. By adopting Unity’s real-time 3D and asset management solutions, Worldbuildr is positioned to meet the evolving needs of the LBE industry.