VR expert wins 'Epic' prize for software
Tuesday 23 October 2018
VIRTUAL reality engineer Michal Cieciura has been rubbing shoulders with top architects and designers after winning funding from Epic Games.
Michal, who works in the School of Built Environment’s VR THINKlab,created a design plugin which caught the eye of the people behind games creation platform Unreal Engine 4.
The plugin originated as a simple tool to help with a THINKlabprojects but is now a recipient of 2018 Unreal Development Grant - and earned Michal an invite to the exclusive Unreal EngineBuildLondon’18 for Architecture.
The event at the Royal Institute of British Architects showcased how visualisation technology is being used in architecture and construction and featured speakers from Zaha Hadid, NVIDIA, Soluis Group, Garou VR and Heatherwick Studio.
Expertise
Michal, a principal software engineer, said: “I decided to make the plugin a little bit more consumer-ready and release it for free on the UnrealEngine Forums. It received positive feedback, so I started recording users’ ideas and suggestions for new features. This eventually led to the creation of a streamlined, standalone plugin.”
His winning entry is a Point Cloud Plugin, technology which provides designers with amazing new tools. Instead of capturing spaces with manual methods,you can deploy a 3D scanner to capture the physical location and import a point cloud object into your model to manipulate it.
Currently, Michal’s software is in beta and supports desktop and VR platforms. It is already being used for a number of individuals,commercial and academic projects in architectural visualisation, construction& engineering, games & entertainment and landscape visualisation.
Siemens to BBC
THINKlab Director, Professor Terrence Fernando said: “We are so happy that Michal won this prestigious award from EPIC in recognition of his contribution to the gaming community. This is an indication of the quality of the VR team within the THINKlab.”
An experienced developer of interactive 3D environments, Michal he has been instrumental in delivering a number of commercial projects for clients including Siemens, Network Rail and the BBC.
The award is part of the larger $5m developmentgrant by Epic Games which was founded in 2015 to help programmers and studios that are developing the Unreal Engine 4.
Find out more
Gareth Hollyman, Senior Press & PR Officer (Science)
0161 295 6895 g.b.hollyman@salford.ac.uk
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