VR boosts design of Hard Rock expansion

HTC Vive’s Vive Pro HMDs and the Vive virtual-reality platform were used in the design and development of a $1.5 billion expansion of the The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Construction firm Suffolk-Yates and creative studio Theia Interactive were able to resolve 90 percent of the construction details for the expansion in VR with Vive Pro, saving Hard Rock International money and time. 
 
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel is the brand’s flagship destination. The extensive expansion includes a 450-foot guitar-shaped tower—a first-of-its-kind design that will feature an additional 630 luxury guest suites, a redesigned and rebuilt 6,500-seat event center and a 10-acre pool complex complete with waterfalls and private villas.
 
“Vive has been and will be our go-to VR system for projects,” Stephen Phillips, chief technology officer/co-founder of Theia Interactive, said in a statement. “When doing architectural design review, our customers need to be able to reach up and touch the door frames and look under cabinets with the assurance that every inch is perfect. The benefit of highly accurate spatial tracking and full coverage is invaluable.” 

With Vive Pro, precise room-scale tracking enabled the physical exploration and interaction of architectural designs in a virtual space, enabling Hard Rock and Suffolk-Yates to physically explore and interact with models and designs—from furniture to fixtures to equipment—in virtual reality with scale and accuracy, in the most realistic fashion possible. 
 

“VR helped us get all the details just right, which is especially important for customer-facing spaces,” said Kyle Goebel, senior VDC Manager, Suffolk-Yates. “We were able to have rich, dynamic discussions about stone ledges behind the headboards, curtain mechanisms and even the color of soap in the bathrooms.”