At the forefront of virtual reality: Sudbury's Kris Holland develops technology to digitally archive real-world spaces.

• Author: Romaniuk, Colleen

While virtual reality technology has been around for over 50 years, its application to everyday life has been slow to catch on. But that's not to say that it can't be useful--rather, we are just learning the extent of its usefulness today.

Kris Holland, Sudbury entrepreneur and president of Pure Realism, a VR content creator that digitally archives real-world spaces, believes that content is key.

"If you don't have content, the technology is meaningless," he said. "So how do we go about creating and capturing that content?"

In May, Holland was approached by one of his business partners with a problem: how do you connect with businesses around the world without all the necessary travel? Businesses spend thousands of dollars on travel expenses every year, not to mention, the steep carbon footprint left in their wake.

Holland began exploring remote meeting options. He ventured into VR because his partner's business, which focused on steel fabrication and furnace rebuilds, had a heavy visual aspect. After developing a customized platform, he realized that meeting rooms wouldn't be enough.

"It became clear pretty quickly that one of the issues that existed is getting the real world into the digital space."

During his research, Holland stumbled upon a lot of different techniques that just didn't measure up.

They were too slow, too imprecise, to create exactly what he was looking for. So he developed his own technology to bridge the gap.

He went to work on a new camera rig featuring 16 cameras combined with lasers to capture real-world spaces in vivid detail. He brings this rig into a physical space, takes piles of photos, and then relies on software to align them.

The software then creates and textures a 3D model to produce the final product.

The process itself is called photo-grammetry, and the end result is a digitally archived space.

When you put the VR headset on, you can immerse yourself into a detailed, life-like experience. You are transported to a place that exists in real life.

"One of the things that we allow companies to do is to put people into a space, allow them to explore, allow them to understand the space in a safe way."

Holland's innovative device competes with existing technology because of the speed of capture. It was important for him to be able to develop a fast, simple, and straightforward process that anyone could use.

Typical camera rigs might have two to three cameras, and it could take weeks to create a detailed...