Virtual realities are everywhere these days. Headlines blare about these newly emerging technologies, and people all over the world spend more and more of their time immersed in mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR) worlds.

Virtual Reality Changing High Desert Construction

AR technologies like Pokémon GO and Google Glass overlay digital imagery onto the naturally visible environment. In other MR applications like Magic Leap, virtual elements can be inserted into the real world visible to your eyes, and these objects can then respond to your actions.

One application for this technology is already finding a place in architectural design studios where video or still photography compilations are made showing how new design changes would really look in the real life environment. The AR application Augment allows users with a smartphone or tablet to overlay an interactive 3D image onto a printed architectural drawing.

Holographic images can also be mixed with the real world using devices such as HoloLens by Microsoft. These headsets allow the user to add digitally created objects, patterns, and colors into the surrounding visual environment and then move around in the environment and manipulate objects and effects.

Virtual reality is also changing how builders, designers, and clients communicate about a project. One MR software created by the company Object Theory lets a group of people get together as avatars in a virtual, 3D building for brainstorming and coordinating.

Construction sites are also incorporating virtual reality technologies that let workers use Google Glasses to look at design drawings and specifications without having to take off their work gloves. AR and MR applications are also increasingly used for monitoring safety, keeping projects on schedule, and maintaining quality standards.

Murphy Construction Company in Oak Hills, California is a leader in using new technologies on their High Desert building projects.