What is it?
Framed VR is a virtual online sandbox which allows limitless customisation including being able to import custom made 3D and 2D assets. It is a very accessible planning and prototyping tool, it’s online chat features allow others to join the project and view and discuss the prototype from their own chosen angles.
The app allows character customisation in order to make it more personal to the user and their peers, and even an option to appear as very simple shaped, oval robots varying in colour for better performance or to make sure that nobody is distracted by the character customisation. It also allows you to add your name, status and social media accounts for unmistakable recognition and networking. The free version allows up to 8 visitors to be present in 1 lobby, which is perfect for small/medium sized meetings, especially for a fresh designer like myself.
If you find yourself with no models of your own, framevr has an extended list of free models that you can import and use within your virtual space. It offers a very wide variety of human-made models; however, if you are looking for something very personalised it has a generative AI assistant to create your ideal model, though it is not recommended due to the questionable act of using generative AI within creative industries.
Whilst I can see the benefits of using framevr as a virtual gallery/portfolio, I would consider it to be inconvenient to peers and employers since it would need to create an account to join the virtual space which some people get very put off by. I personally view their excessive advertising of their AI features as off putting, to a person who has never encountered the website before it would be very easy to assume that generative AI is their main tool which whilst untrue, really doesn’t help them expand into a wider creative userbase. The app also has a very limited variety in the actual virtual spaces themselves, usually featuring the same few lobbies with very little difference in atmosphere (unless you are willing to generate your own).
VR compatibility
The main selling point of framevr is its compatibility with VR, which allows all participants in the lobby to be fully immersed into the virtual world featuring your prototypes. This makes it very helpful when trying to imagine how your prototypes will translate into the physical world. This is the main reason I would personally consider using it, since allowing people to get a 360 degree look of my product will build more trust in it and make them envision it on shelves. However, simply using VR is not the best use of resources since I do not see why I would hog the device when it won’t exponentially improve my project. Apart from using it as a personal gallery, I have not found a use for framevr that would make it worth using for the current project, and only situationally in my preferred career pathway.
