After two months of taking screen captures and coding, Web designer Greg Miller has re-created a place intimately familiar to many Americans: Jerry Seinfeld's sitcom apartment.
With the use of the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, fans of the show can now explore a virtual 3D model of the iconic New York residence.
Users can walk around Seinfeld's apartment, explore all the rooms, and are free to find all 11 episode-specific references that Miller put into his virtual re-creation.
To start, Miller sketched out the entire apartment in a 3D model, he told Fast Company. Then, over two months, he watched Seinfeld and examined screencaps to figure out the minute details of the apartment. He even found 1990s-era labels for Jerry's cereal collection.
Don't own an Oculus Rift? You can still explore the apartment here. "Jerry's Place" is Miller's tribute to fellow Seinfeld fans.
Oculus Rift was designed by Palmer Luckey as a reasonably affordable ($499) device for gaming, but startups like PocketCake are using the technology to bring virtual reality simulations to the architecture and real estate markets.
Luckey told Fast Company that he believes that the future of gaming lies in virtual reality, and thus his headset was created as a way for users to feel as if they are inside the game they're playing. It uses sensors to follow the movement of your head as you look around, cretaing an immersive gaming experience. But it works for exploring your favorite television character's home, too.
Here are screen captures of views of Jerry's Place through the Oculus Rift headset:
Watch this VR model progress video from Greg Miller:
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
PBK, DLR Group among nation's largest K-12 school design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 K-12 School Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Turner Building Cost Index dips nearly 4% in second quarter 2009
Turner Construction Company announced that the second quarter 2009 Turner Building Cost Index, which measures nonresidential building construction costs in the U.S., has decreased 3.35% from the first quarter 2009 and is 8.92% lower than its peak in the second quarter of 2008. The Turner Building Cost Index number for second quarter 2009 is 837.
| Aug 11, 2010
AGC unveils comprehensive plan to revive the construction industry
The Associated General Contractors of America unveiled a new plan today designed to revive the nation’s construction industry. The plan, “Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth,” is designed to reverse predictions that construction activity will continue to shrink through 2010, crippling broader economic growth.
| Aug 11, 2010
New AIA report on embassies: integrate security and design excellence
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) released a new report to help the State Department design and build 21st Century embassies.
| Aug 11, 2010
Section Eight Design wins 2009 Open Architecture Challenge for classroom design
Victor, Idaho-based Section Eight Design beat out seven other finalists to win the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom, spearheaded by the Open Architecture Network. Section Eight partnered with Teton Valley Community School (TVCS) in Victor to design the classroom of the future. Currently based out of a remodeled house, students at Teton Valley Community School are now one step closer to getting a real classroom.