ARVUS spatial planning

ARVUS is a collaborative, cross-platform VR and AR workplace planning tool that helps planning teams make decisions faster.

About the client

M.O.O.CON is the leading consultancy for identity-creating and sustainable buildings, processes and working environments.

"ARVUS always makes an extremely good impression. The abstraction of the modules and the direct translation into the VR environment is immensely valuable. We can discuss the space more concretely and change configurations immediately. This allows us to go much more in-depth in terms of content and achieve results with increased certainty."

—Caroline Sturm. Workplace Concepts Expert | IPMA M.O.O.CON

The Challenge

The process of designing a new work environment begins with the right space planning. For this reason, infrastructure and workplace design consultant M.O.O.CON wanted to improve the visualization pipeline of their functional planning and change processes through a digital tool that could optimize decision making at an early stage. The spatial concept design happens during M.O.O.CON-client workshops in which both parties work together to create a functional, attractive, and human-centric office layout. 

Until now, M.O.O.CON conducted these workshops using printed floor plans and different paper cards for each available planning module, such as meeting rooms, work areas, and storage facilities. M.O.O.CON then documented the results with photos and additional notes and handed them over to planners who created an architectural design and visualizations, which were then shared with the clients. 

The challenge was to find a solution that could shorten the time between workshop decisions and the delivery of the first 3D images of the project. All crucial decisions had to happen at the very beginning of the planning process. To achieve this goal, the planning team needed to reach a common understanding fast.

This is how ARVUS was born.

The Solution

ARVUS is a collaborative multi-platform VR and AR workplace spatial planning tool that makes planning teams get on the same page faster. It allows M.O.O.CON to optimize the decision-making process between planners and project collaborators by providing an easy-to-understand and highly interactive visual representation of a space. Users can distribute modules in a digital or analog blueprint or choose to work with both simultaneously. 

In ARVUS’s analog form, spatial planners and collaborators distribute a set of physical cards on a paper blueprint. Each card represents specific modules, such as focus rooms, common spaces, and coffee areas. Once the distribution is complete, ARVUS scans the blueprint and modules using artificial intelligence (AI) on a tablet or smartphone. The result is an instant digital 3D representation (digital twin) of the physical workplace.

In its fully digital form, ARVUS transforms the entire analog process (blueprint, modules, and module distribution) into a fully autonomous digital process. It allows users to import floor plans from ARVUS's database and work with the modules directly from a tablet or a smartphone without the need for any physical items. 

Whether starting from an analog form or going fully digital, ARVUS allows users to work together on-site or remotely. It also enables users to jump into their recently-created space using a virtual reality (VR) headset. Its live view feature allows participants to view in real-time what the person inside the VR headset sees. Moreover, users can move, rotate, add, and delete modules in the digital spatial layout and instantly see these changes in VR.

The Result

ARVUS has allowed M.O.O.CON to significantly optimize their clients' decision-making and change process during B2B workshops. It offered users a much more objective, engaging, and collaborative approach to the planning process than a 2D physical representation. Abstraction was made concrete by a hands-on view of the project. Users can now be inside their planned workspace from day one. Also, the freedom to interpret the spatial distribution on paper, on a screen, or both gave workshop participants more confidence to make decisions. 

We delivered ARVUS as a first prototype together with a very mobile set of hardware consisting only of a tablet and a standalone VR headset. We're currently developing ARVUS further to support new work modes such as working from home (WFH), work from anywhere (WFA), and remote work in general.

In 2021, ARVUS won second place at the prestigious ICEBERG Innovation Leadership Awards.

Follow ARVUS's progress and get early access!

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