Opening to William Street Mall at Yagan Square, ECU’s new city campus will offer new vibrancy through its dynamic digital media façade, and an immersive entrance that envelops Perth Busport, with activated streetscapes and lively common laneways that will connect Roe, Queen, and Wellington Streets.
For now, it’s still just a hole in the ground, and whilst work has started, it’s not easy to visualise just how impressive the final development will be.
To counter this and provide the general public with a unique point of view, ECU partnered with Rare to develop a solution that did just that – provide a unique point of view.
Rare, working in partnership with ECU and Method, a technology studio based in New Zealand, has developed an augmented reality app where users could view a virtual 3D render of the final building via mobile (Android and iPhone) phone.
Accessed via printed barcodes on hoardings, also designed by Rare, seven viewports studded around the site offer seven unique views. Swing your camera to the right or the left and you’re presented with a view down the length of the building. Step back and point your phone skyward and the building towers over you.
So how did we do it? Using the architect’s renders and modelling we created a 3D render of the building. The tricky part was ensuring the render faithfully represented the building and its finishes.
The building’s bronze detailing was a particular challenge. As was the orientation of the building when overlaid onto the real world. Our first attempts had the new campus sitting squarely on top of Yagan Square. In the end, all easy fixes given the complexity of the project and the levels of coordination required.
To date four of the seven viewports are live. The rest come online over the next couple of months.
So, if you’re in the area and fancy a sneak peek at what the future holds, take yourself down to Yagan Square, pick your spot, scan the barcode and watch as the ECU City Campus virtually springs to life before your very eyes.
