Designing The Future

Is it time to see the world of architecture, construction and design digitally?

- By Tiana Cline

HOW MUCH OF YOUR TIME IS spent inside? This may be the digital age where everything and everyone is connected but where we are now is also known as the ‘indoor generation’. Our living and workspaces are continually intertwining with technology shifting how we look at construction. It’s not only about the metaverse, but how we design and develop the built spaces around us.

Steven Pinto is someone who is heavily invested in virtual reality (VR). He’s the CEO of two South African technology companies – New Reality and CTRL Robotics – that have managed to attract a global client base.

“There is a commercial aspect of digital twins that is finding its way into mainstream. I think companies are going to start to realize the use of VR in their everyday lives so that they can become more productive and efficient,” he says.

For Pinto, digital twins – creating digital representations of physical entities – and VR are the starting point of a new wave of architecture that isn’t limited by the constraints and costs associated with physically visualizing an end product.

“We’re going to see a lot more adoption of VR tech. There are currently architects in Cape Town doing international work that include VR walkthroughs – these are technically digital twins,” he explains. “Architects aren’t game developers so you need to be able to bridge that gap so that they can use digital tools more effectively.”