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Khalid Adil | Thoughts and Work

Khalid Adil

The Hidden VR Revolution is All About Content

May 2, 2016 By Khalid Adil

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’ve no doubt heard of virtual reality goggles that claim they will change how we interact in the world. This vision, featured in countless sci-fi movies and tv shows, finally seems within our grasp. From the Oculus Rift, to the Samsung Galaxy VR, to the HTC Vive, the virtual reality market is exploding this year, with the promise of AR (augmented reality) looming on the horizon.

With all of this growth in the VR market, there is sure to be a massive rise in the demand for virtual reality content as well. After all, it’s hard to enjoy a $600+ pair of virtual reality goggles if there are few games to play or movies to watch.

Traditionally, 3D modelers were hired for their expertise in software packages such as Maya and AutoCAD to create sophisticated and detailed models that could be used for virtual content. Not only was this expensive, it was incredibly time consuming. While well worth it for a movie or video game with a multimillion dollar budget, the revolution in 3D content consumption is creating another, more subtle revolution.

The way 3D content is being created today is rapidly changing. Devices such as the Matterport camera (currently priced at $4,500) and the Occipital Structure Sensor ($350+) currently allow users to capture 3D representations of objects and spaces for uses as varied as real estate to custom orthodontics. While very sophisticated, these devices are only affordable to a niche market of users with deep pockets and particular use cases in mind. The average person can’t afford to create 3D content yet. Or can they?

To counter these intricate pieces of hardware, a small group of companies are using a software technique known as “photogrammetry” to approximate the same result, using only photos; no advanced hardware required. Software, such as Agisoft PhotoScan and the cloud based alternatives 123D Catch and Autodesk Memento, allow users to take a series of photos and transform them into 3D models of similar quality as those generated by specialized hardware.

Photogrammetry House

This image above is of a 3d model house generated using Autodesk Memento and a series of images.

These advanced software packages already yield impressive results and will only increase in power and sophistication as time progresses. Coupled with the rapid advancement of the quality of cameras present in our everyday smartphone, this is already allowing users to create 3D content in much less time than ever before, and with little to no skill required.

Image source: re:publica

Filed Under: Thoughts Tagged With: photogrammetry, virtual reality

Case Study: Summer Lakes Community Website

December 2, 2015 By Khalid Adil

Client: Boe Creative
Technology Used: Drupal 7 CMS, PHP , SASS, Zen Grids, Sketch, Feeds, ImageOptim

More information coming soon!

 

Check it out online: http://summerlakescommunity.com

Filed Under: Web Development

Case Study: Harper’s Preserve Website

August 2, 2015 By Khalid Adil

Client: Boe Creative
Technology Used: Drupal 7 CMS, PHP , SASS, Zen Grids, Sketch, Feeds, ImageOptim

More information coming soon!

 

Check it out online: http://www.harperspreserve.com

Filed Under: Web Development

Case Study: Cypress Creek Lakes Website

May 13, 2015 By Khalid Adil

Client: Boe Creative
Technology Used: Drupal 7 CMS, PHP , SASS, Sketch

More information coming soon!

 

Check it out online: http://www.cypresscreeklakes.com

Filed Under: Web Development

Case Study: Faith in Practice Website

February 21, 2015 By Khalid Adil

Client: Faith in Practice
Technology Used: Drupal 7 CMS, PHP , SASS, Sketch, Galleria, Feeds, ImageOptim

More information coming soon!

 

Check it out online: https://www.faithinpractice.org

Filed Under: Web Development

Case Study: Koreatown Collection Website

November 2, 2014 By Khalid Adil

Client: MJW Investments, Inc.
Technology Used: Drupal 7 CMS, PHP, SASS, Compass, Sketch

The client came to us with the need for a website that showcased 3 of their communities (Chateau La Fayette, La Fayette Marquis, and City Park View) in Los Angeles, California.

The website needed to be able to display an overview, floor plans, amenities, and a gallery for each property. Amenities such as banks, restaurants, and night life nearby the properties were to be showcased on a map so that prospective residents could visually see the benefits of living in each location. Also necessary was a form for current residents to request maintenance and a form for prospective residents to contact the property owners.

Challenges:

This was my first Drupal website, so there was a lot of learn in a short period of time. I learned all about creating a responsive website using Content Types, Views, and integrating things such as OpenLayers into the website. Having only previous experience with Photoshop, using Sketch as a design tool was also a new experience, and there was a learning curve in how to extract all the measurements and assets I needed to create the website.

After the handoff from the designer, I started by first printing a copy of the website pages. I took a pencil and broke down each page to see if there were any logical groupings. After finding a logical grouping in the properties and amenities, I then searched for each potential field that would be necessary to create the Property and Amenities “types” so that I could use information entered into those fields and render that on the front end of the website.

Next, the OpenLayers integration step took place. Through a copious amount of research and asking lots of questions, I figured out the integration and was successfully able to create the OpenLayers map and create a “view” of all the nearby amenities in list form as well.

Creating forms was relatively straightforward, and that’s exactly what I did next. I created a form for the residents and thereafter created the form for prospective clients.

The final step was styling the website so that it was pixel-perfect to the mockups. I jumped into SASS not knowing much except for a few basics I had learned through online courses and my knowledge of general CSS. The trickiest part of this step was ensuring that all sizes of browsers and devices were accounted for so that using the website was a positive experience no matter which device was used. I tested on my laptop, tablet, and iPhone throughout this process.

After a designer QA and some fixes, the website was ready to be taken live!

Check it out online: http://www.koreatowncollection.com

Filed Under: Web Development

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