3D Model on HTC Vive and 3D Print Directly from Virtual Reality

 HTC Vive is the favored virtual reality (VR) headset over Oculus Rift, and the headset makers saw an opportunity to create content for an expanding user base by creating Vive Studios. Vive Studios recently launched MakeVR Pro in collaboration with Sixense, which caught my attention because it has a built-in CAD engine that allows for 3D object modeling in a virtual environment.

Rotational and positional accuracy make the experience more like traditional CAD in terms of user control, and the creatorsbaked some tutorials into the app to help users adjust to the system.

Export Standard Object Files for 3D Printing

Besides allowing you to export standard object files for 3D printing, MakeVR Pro can connect you directly to the online 3D printing service Shapeways.

The goal is to create a hybrid digital workshop whose form factor is close to a real workshop, allowing designers and engineers to work on 1:1 scale digital versions of a product that could either already exist in a physical form, or be created as a new object that is designed precisely to fit in a given three-dimensional area.

The MakeVR Pro improvements make it easier to transition to the new version from traditional 2D CAD modeling. (Image courtesy of HTC Vive and Sixense.)

Amir Rubin, Cofounder and CEO of Sixense said of the upgraded MakeVR Pro project,“Our collaboration with Vive Studios has made for a professional-grade creativity experience that provides a powerful yet easy way for people, ranging from 3D print enthusiasts to industry professionals, to build precision models while immersed in a virtual environment.”

Using the two HTC Vive controllers, the 3D multi-touch interface allows users to design in a separate way than by using keys and a mouse.

Depending on how easy it is to be as precise for engineers using CAD software, modeling in VR may turn out to just have some visualization advantages.