Say Hello! 👋 - General - Arkio

I’ll kick us off!

Hai there, I’m david I grew up in rural parts of New Hampshire and have mainly resided in Boston since 2010. I got my b.arch from the Boston Architectural College in 2017 where I spent most of my time doing digital fabrication projects and community workshops. I wrapped up my studies with a thesis that looked into virtual reality and it’s impact on our physical existence, which was filled with more grammatical issues than cohesive thoughts.

I have a lot of interests in how the digital and physical components of our lives come together. Before I knew anything about vr, I was running a spoon making workshop where each spoon was designed digitally, partially milled on the cnc, and finished by hand in the woodshop. It’s kinda neat to look back at those moments and see how they sorta lead to the tech world. I’m a new-ish member of the official Arkio Team but I’ve been an active user for a bit and I’m excited to help build this community and create a more resourceful space for our users to connect with.

When I’m not battling the headset or copying+pasta an app together, I might be gaming on the switch, PC, hiking, or trying to get my cat to show love.

\ IMG_2350590×787 315 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/5be39e376beb4224f90106bf276c5c4fa81554ce.jpeg "IMG_2350")

post by dace on Apr 10, 2024

dace Arkio Team

Hello!

I’m Dace, based in Seattle, USA.

I’m an architect, and huge advocate of using XR to enable effective decision-making in facility design, construction, and operations.

When I’m not helping you realize tangible business benefits from using Arkio, you can find me remodeling my rustic cabin, falling down in backcountry powder on my snowboard, or motivating paddlers in a whitewater raft.

\ image960×956 93.1 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/dc7d1b59bdf6427d365c193b11d831ca26c19bfe.jpeg "image")

post by jsdbroughton on Apr 12, 2024

jsdbroughton

Hey everyone, I’m a long-time listener and first-time caller.

Architect and furniture with Alsop & Störmer by “birth”, transitioned to masterplan delivery (Kings Cross, Brent Cross, London Olympics 2012 amongst others) transitioned to Data Wrangler for design and practice management information while at Allies and Morrison. The first forays into AECO Tech were beta-testing Bentley GenerativeComponents for Microstation, not for whizz-bang Foster roof structures, but for data extraction from pre-BIM CAD. ProtoBIM?? Later, beta-testing of ExplicitHistory for Rhino was somewhat generative, but again, there was lots of analytics.

After abandoning London with my family in uk-lockdown-1, I’m now 100% remote in the top-left corner of England, surrounded by cows, sheep, lakes, and mountains.

Now, at Speckle, I celebrate partnerships and developers wherever they are.

jonathon

post by david on Apr 16, 2024

dace](https://community.arkio.is/t/say-hello/22/51 "Load parent post")

@dace welcome aboard the Arkio ship ! Excited to cook up some construction ideas with ya!

post by david on Apr 16, 2024

jsdbroughton](https://community.arkio.is/t/say-hello/22/51 "Load parent post")

@jsdbroughton what a honor! Glad to have ya jumping aboard the Arkio community I’m excited to have a Speckle member hanging in the forums. I’ve been a big fan of the way Speckle has built their community, I pulled a lot from your discourse setup and how your team engages with the members.

Maybe we can consider a design-challenge that crosses the powers of Speckle and Arkio

post by Johan on Apr 19, 2024

Hello spatial designers

My name is Johan, as the co-founder and head of product at Arkio I’m focused on supporting our development team, specifying the features that go into the product and help with the development of Arkio using input from our users

I was born in the Netherlands where I also got trained as an architect. During my +15 year career, I switched from designing buildings to programming design tools Since 2016 I got hooked on immersive technologies for design collaboration as they offer the best input and user experience, our own hands and eyes!

I’m keen to hear what everyone thinks about Arkio and how it’s used and I’m always up for a chat when you want to talk about your ideas for Arkio!

\ Johan_Leanne_Yaku_bike_small800×633 167 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/26c801a3bc8b8c5a47b3b4195566b285d134fbec.jpeg "Johan_Leanne_Yaku_bike_small")

When I’m not wearing a headset I can be found biking and traveling with our little dog IG@shibbayakuku I also enjoy playing tennis, games (video and board), reading, and long fireside chats with a beer

post by RO100 on Apr 22, 2024

RO100

Hello! My name is Roshon, but my friends often call me Ro or Roro. I’m from Boston, Massachusetts, where I was born and raised. As a proud father of three young adults, I consider myself a hardworking and all-around cool guy. I enjoy surrounding myself with positive individuals, exploring new experiences, and focusing on the beauty in life. My passion for art and architecture has been a lifelong pursuit, leading me to embrace design with Arkio since its initial launch. The intuitive user interface of Arkio has been instrumental in my self-taught design journey, and I eagerly anticipate the innovative ideas and creations that the community will generate. When I’m not immersed in work or enjoying time with my kids and Arkio, I can be found biking with colleagues, at the gym, watching good movies, or gaming on my quest , PS5 and PC.

\ 20211204_095815~~21920×1652 233 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/33469011d91135767e4a11146cdfd83df5702f61.jpeg "20211204_095815~~2")

post by david on Apr 24, 2024

Johan](https://community.arkio.is/t/say-hello/22/51 "Load parent post")

@Johan Finally, I can follow along with your adventures!

post by david on Apr 24, 2024

RO100](https://community.arkio.is/t/say-hello/22/51 "Load parent post")

I can confirm to the community, @RO100 is very much an all around cool guy . Also hard working, look at all of these virtual worlds you’ve been building!

post by jin on Apr 25, 2024

jin Ambassador

Hello Arkio Designers!!

My name is Jinsuke (or just Jin for short). Although I was born and raised in Kawasaki, Japan, I’ve also spent several years living in Chicago, USA. My journey in architecture has led me through professional experiences in Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Chicago.

In my current practice, I specialize in the design of wooden structures, with a keen focus on my local community. In Japan particularly , there’s an acute need for expert dialogue to address the public’s earthquake-related anxieties. I’ve found that the caliber of our communication is now intrinsically linked to the spatial quality we create.

Architectural visualization transcends mere verbal exchange; it’s essential for bridging linguistic divides and enhancing communication across different languages. I’m a firm believer in the power of the right tools to facilitate clear and effective communication.

My passion extends to hands-on carpentry, both as a pastime and in my professional life. Concurrently, I’ve embraced digital advancements, incorporating tools like BIM and digital fabrication into my workflow. I’m particularly fond of Arkio, which is tailored for architects and designers, and I’m convinced that such tools are pivotal in restoring the architect’s fundamental societal contribution.

When I’m not immersed in my work, you’ll find me exploring the outdoors, observing the growth of my daughters and our 8-year-old Shiba Inu or just taking a peaceful nap. Additionally, making music with much younger friends infuses me with vitality and a profound appreciation for life’s rhythms.

\ IMG_20333024×3024 499 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/2172ad2e506c8b095abdbf15c0ecca7da45cb3b7.jpeg "IMG_2033")

post by david on Apr 25, 2024

Welcome welcome @jin and your pup! Hopefully we get some Kengo Kuma like models from you in the future

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post by digib_rit on Apr 26, 2024

digib_rit

Hey Arkio-Community!

My name is Britta an I’m working at a theatre in Germany.

I’m the head of the digital media department there, which means we’re experimenting with new technologies and researching the use of them in the theatrical context.

That already resulted in productions, using multiplayer-VR-settings for example.

I stumbled over Arkio and thought that could be a great tool, to try new stage settings on stage, before they are built (in Germany we call this a “Bauprobe”). So I’m just trying out some things at the moment and just see where it goes.

I also like to pop my head in a headset outside of work - at the moment mostly to clean some dirty stuff in the Powerwash Simulator - but also love to live the analogue live, playing boardgames, meeting up with friends or just relaxing.

Unfortunately I don’t have a cute pet to attach, so I just share this mole living in my office with you.

\ Jennifer240×320 33.8 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/00538fedf1454fff661b8f5dd7c3a20c5e897a2e.jpeg "Jennifer")

Have a nice day!

post by david on Apr 26, 2024

Welcome @digib_rit! The theatre work sounds pretty interesting, you should consider sharing your findings in the Studio. I think you take the for most interesting pet

post by Missy on Apr 26, 2024

Missy Selected

david](https://community.arkio.is/t/say-hello/22/51 "Load parent post")

Hi all,

I’m Juanita, a Landscape Architect in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m always interested in learning new ways to communicate design solutions. If I’m not actually designing, I’m thinking about design.

Looking forward to checking out the new release!

post by david on Apr 26, 2024

Hi @Missy! Happy to see you found your way here from the discord server. Would love to know how your residential project is coming together !

1 month later

post by Mykola on May 28, 2024

Mykola

May 2024

Hi to everyone,

My name is Mykola, and I am an engineer in South California. I have many years of background in BIM and construction in Ukraine, Russia, and Europe. Last several years I have worked with VR, XR, and 3D technology. Now, one line of my work is integrating, and it has developed new VR products in the US. Arkio is an amazing product and I like working with him.

\ photo_5384148123431064754_y960×1280 116 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/9c49707af84c72968976acf61b5a18eae93a06d6.jpeg "photo_5384148123431064754_y")

post by david on May 29, 2024

May 2024

Welcome to the community Excited to have you jump aboard! What a good looking pup too, those eyes would easily derail any focus I had

12 days later

post by Hulksmash2004 on Jun 10, 2024

Hulksmash2004

Jun 2024

Hey everyone! My name is Jason. I’m from just outside Cleveland, Ohio where I have spent most of my life. I have been working in the architecture industry for about 25 years and am currently a designer, project manager, and draftsperson for a residential design/build firm. I just started working and designing in Arkio in the Fall of 2023 at which time I became interested in its potential use in my design workflow, spatial applications, and its overall design capabilities. This is something I hope to continue to work and expand on with various designs concepts and approaches. I also found it to be a nice way to step back from the rigidness of the daily architectural grind and be more free, expansive, and open with my designs.

post by david on Jun 11, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srvccfBgyjM&t=115s&ab_channel=GaelRancArchitecture.

Jun 2024

Ayy welcome @Hulksmash2004 ! Great to see another student from reality-check joining in. I really enjoyed seeing how your seasoned architecture skillzzzz translated into modeling techniques in Arkio Pumped to see another great modeler enter the community!

\ image1920×3414 226 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/49da2f4d7c40b4aae7021eb202ef1b184f1baa23.jpeg "image")

12 days later

post by GaelR on Jun 23, 2024

GaelR Ambassador

Jun 2024

Hello everyone! I’m not new to the world of Arkio, but I’m introducing myself now (better late than never).

My name is Gael, and I’ve been passionate about nature and landscapes since I was a child. I grew up in Lozère, a mountainous region in central France. I’m also a technology enthusiast, and these two passions led me to study architecture, where I discovered the immense potential of this discipline. I wanted to combine architecture, landscape, and technology. Since 2015, at the beginning of my architecture studies, I’ve been experimenting with virtual reality and Arkio for quite some time now. I wrote my research thesis on virtual reality topics titled

“VIRTUAL REALITY AS AN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TOOL: What does virtual reality induce in the design practices of architects?”

Later, I continued my research on augmented reality and developed design methods: In short, it involves using AR to place virtual elements at the project site that influence the perception of the place and thus design architecture with very precise framings on the project site influenced by these virtual elements. I then proceed with a drone scan of the terrain and a 360 photo of the project site to continue doing the same thing but in VR, which offers more options for moving around in space. So, I’ve named it “hyper-contextualization.”

Today, I’m an architect at an agency in Paris but continue to develop this approach in my personal projects. I’ve presented this method in a YouTube video that traces the creation of one of my projects, which you can find here if you’re interested:

Besides that, I love hiking and rock climbing, a sport I enjoy both indoors and outdoors! I love traveling for work or leisure and have been fortunate to visit China, Armenia, Canada, Mexico, and various places in Europe. I hope to add Japan and Norway to this list one day!

\ Me at Huangshan in China1803×1352 259 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/38087db33dbe214923bd8435a0088df8797ce1f3.jpeg "Me at Huangshan in China")

17 days later

post by david on Jul 11, 2024

Jul 2024

Ah! @GaelR you snuck on by and I missed post. Welcome welcome! What a list of amazing travels You gotta put Iceland on that list sooner or later.

27 days later

post by vr_vagabond_pro on Aug 7, 2024

vr_vagabond_pro

Aug 2024

Hi all,

my name is Joerg Fischer/vr_vagabond/vr_vagabond_pro.

I got in contact with 3D drawing and modelling many years ago in my education and spare time with Autocad and 3Dmax. Also analog on paper.

I got into AR and VR about 3 years ago in my workplace at Bayer. We got some Quest2 and Focus3 and tried out a lot of VR use cases for Design Review, Training and Meetings. We were/are also doing a lot of 360° VR and AR stuff.

The biggest challenge is to make the enormous potential visible to the people. They must get an idea about the possibilities and how to adapt it to their needs.

I really fall in love with this technology and I am always passionated to explore new options to use it or learn experiences from others.

At these explorations I came into Arkio which I used currently to plan my backyard and visualize it to my wife. You know: happy wife, happy life. It was sometimes that difficult to explain her my ideas.

With my private Quest3 I was able now to build (draw, model) the terraces, the raised bed and some plants and let her move around it (and get her approval).

I’m 53, married, 2 kids. Diploma in Physical Engineering/Biomedical Engineering. Live near Cologne and Düsseldorf. Like music. No sports.

post by david on Aug 7, 2024

Aug 2024

Hey there @vr_vagabond_pro, welcome to the community!

As someone who also has used Arkio to confirm design decisions with my partner, I can confirm this helps Would love to see how the project, or any of your explorations, goes over in the Studio !

I'm having some trouble with locking

1 month later

post by Ripe on Sep 18, 2024

Ripe

Sep 2024

Hi !

My name is Ricard Petersson living in southern Sweden. I’m up to a private project designing and hopefully soon building an additional Home office-Guesthouse-Garage/Boathouse beside my villa.

I found Arkio while google for a way to experience my Architect 3D generated drawings in VR with my Oculus 2. Even this did not succeed yet by the file format issue, I am impressed by the Arkio user friendly interface etc.

@david already told me about file formats so I will ask my Architect for the right ones

12 days later

post by david on Sep 30, 2024

Sep 2024

@Ripe welcome welcome! Together we will battle the file formats, one .obj at a time

1 month later

post by Greg on Nov 11, 2024

Greg

Hi everyone and greetings from Ireland! I am an architect with a practice in Dublin and have been using Arkio as part of our design development workflow. Most of our projects are residential in nature and vary in scale from single buildings to larger urban developments. I’m looking forward to seeing what the latest beta can do and what others on the group here come up with too!

post by Johan on Nov 11, 2024

Welcome to our community @Greg! Some users might recognize you from one of our first featured Arkio sample projects! You can learn more about Greg’s work and his firm Davey+Smith at this blog

post by K0nscious on Nov 13, 2024

K0nscious

Hi everyone , Im Jey

Grew up in boston moved to Phoenix, Arizona 2012. Looking forward to learn more about arkio. Right now im starting my journey in permaculture, also love crafting, building and working with others. I dont have a backround in architect work or anything of that nature but I always find myself coming up with different plans/designs in my head now finally able to make something of it. I used arkio to help me with my permaculture/landscape plans for my backyard! This software is no joke . It really helped bring my yard to life. Im still learning and can’t wait to see what else I can do. Nice to me everyone and hope to work with everyone in one of those group projects.

post by Johan on Nov 14, 2024

Welcome to the community Jey

Great to hear about your usage of Arkio for landscape design. If you have examples you want to share we’d love to see them in our Studio to learn more!

post by K0nscious on Nov 15, 2024

K0nscious

Should I post it here or somewhere else?

post by Johan on Nov 18, 2024

You can best post any work you’d like to share on the Studio page. Looking forward to seeing more!

2 months later

post by FB_Devon on Jan 14, 2025

FB_Devon

Jan 2025

Hi everybody, I am Nathalie, a new VR user. I used to draw and sketch for my leisure and projects with Home Design 3D as it is quick and easy to manipulate on a smartphone.

I recently go the VR, initially to just watch movies on a big screen without having to buy a huge TV. As a nomad person, I am quite eager of small items.

Still discovering what VR has to offer (including zombie games I love them) but never ending having new ideas for my home, or that of friends, I discovered Arkio. It was like entering the other side of the matrix.

Nevertheless, Arkio comes with very limited ready-to-use stuff as it is more like for big architectural projects, so I looked for more info and I could import my first 3D object in it. Only after I did it, I saw that there was more in the menu of Arkio already (oops).

Now, I use meta room creator to set up my room, but there are still many challenges (blocking ones for me to really use Arkio).

So here I am, after viewing a few of David’s great (but speedy) contents that allowed me to go further.

I dream about visualizing my crazy projects with VR and show them to my hubby, but also the workers before they get to a plan, so that I am sure we share the same view.

I intend to crawl here but also ask questions. As a newbie I have tons of it but I’ll do my best to select the most burning and blocking ones, after I searched for a solution. I was hoping for a discord, even though I am more of a “crawl the help pages” fan. I also use AI to understand better the vocabulary that is used in the industry and so I don’t bother uselessly. I know how hard it is to repeat the same things, how long it takes to demo something (even though David seems to do it in 5 seconds ).

If I had a feedback for David: maybe adding subtitles for non native speakers would help (and also because youtube can generate the translation) and also slow down when manipulating that great Arkio menu. Nothing more. I am so amazed by your savvy talent on Arkio, it is just mind blowing.

Lastly, all my thanks for Arkio to exist in the VR world.

-Nath

post by Johan on Jan 17, 2025

Jan 2025

Hi Nath,

Welcome to the Arkio community and great to hear about your experiences and feedback on Arkio so far! We have big plans to improve Arkio and are currently working on our 2.0 update which will improve several key workflows and add more content. We will be sharing news on that in our newsletter and socials in the coming weeks.

We will look into adding other language subtitles to the videos and recommend watching them on Youtube which does a pretty good job of translating them to other languages automatically. I’d also recommend looking on our support pages using Google Translate for more info. Let us know if you are missing some info or have any questions that we can explain in more depth.

Johan

19 days later

post by Eric_Hawkinson on Feb 5, 2025

Eric_Hawkinson

Hello, I’m Eric. Learning Futurist based in Kyoto, Japan. I specialize in XR in education and I see some possible interesting case uses in education for this product. Also I noticed a recent demo found online is set in Japan, so I thought I’d reach out and see if I can connect to the team to explore collaborative possibilities.

Hello everyone! Seems like a very interesting forward thinking group.

post by Johan on Feb 6, 2025

Welcome Eric,

I enjoyed my time in Kyoto and had fun making that mixed-reality recording. You can download Arkio from: Download Arkio for XR headsets, desktops and mobile devices and learn more about using the various features at https://support.arkio.is/

Let us know if you have any questions about the tools or would like to jump on a call to discuss your ideas with Arkio.

15 days later

post by TVAjay on Feb 21, 2025

TVAjay

Hi folks!

I’m Jay, a landscape architect and urban planner in Nashville, TN. I’m a married father of two kiddos, and I work for a US Federal entity, the Tennessee Valley Authority, in Economic Development. I use my skills as a designer to help our communities attract jobs. One of the ways I help support them is by creating visualizations our local communities can share with companies. Basically, me and my team show what a company’s industrial operations might look like if they chose to locate on our communities’ site(s). Arkio is one of the best Mixed-reality tools we’ve found that enables us to present these conceptual designs to decision makers while standing on one of our communities’ sites. I’m passionate about minimizing the time and effort it takes designers to get ideas out of our imaginations and into formats that clients and decision-makers can easily understand. I’m excited to be a part of this community and look forward to listening and learning from each other!

\ IMG_72271920×1440 399 KB](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/arkio1/original/1X/7081b600050c334cabae19fd11654248e483e4d1.jpeg "IMG_7227")

post by Johan on Feb 25, 2025

Welcome @TVAjay and thanks for sharing a bit of background about yourself and your work.

I’m sure our community would also love to see some examples of these mixed reality use-cases if you have something cool to share in our Studio

It’s pretty magical to see a virtual model fit in real-world locations using MR!

post by TVAjay on Feb 26, 2025

TVAjay

Thanks Johan! I’ve posted about how we are currently using Arkio for mixed-reality presenations here: Using Arkio to Support Job Recruitment

25 days later

post by marcos_gogolin on Mar 24, 2025

marcos_gogolin

Mar 2025

Hi Everyone,

I am in Australia where I’ve been teaching with SketchUP Pro for some time. I have a small VR business looknbook.com.au, and intend to use ARKIO for engagement with my future students. If all goes well, from mid year onwards.

For now, I am getting my head all around here, and with this beta version of ARKIO (still trying to find where to download from…).

I have used the standard ARKIO 1.9.1 a few times, with an edu license. See you guys on the webinar coming up this week

3 months later

post by YAMLcase on Jun 28, 2025

YAMLcase

Jun 2025

Hi y’all, I’m a Texas native VR enthusiast always on the hunt for CAD and space planning software. I’ve run across Arkio in my searches the past couple of years and finally gave it a whirl. It is really awesome for what I want to do! However, I am very skeptical when it comes to “free” software in that I don’t want to heavily invest in a tool only to find out more features I want are way out of my price range (Thanks Fusion 360). Also don’t want you guys to go out of business with all my models that I can’t export. Help me feel better about investing more time with Arkio

post by hilmar on Jul 2, 2025

hilmar Arkio Team

Jul 2025

Hi there! Happy to jump on a call and tell you all about Arkio and our future plans. Feel free to schedule some time with me here: Scheduler - Pipedrive

5 months later

post by Laura_Hollis on Dec 11, 2025

Laura_Hollis

Dec 2025

Hi Arkio Community!

I’m the Director of Technology at Saddle River Day School in Northern NJ, where I get to blend my love of innovation, media, and hands-on learning for students in PreK3–12. I design our integrated STEAM curriculum, run our makerspace and video production studio, and work closely with teachers to bring creative technology into their classrooms.

I teach a high school videography class as well as our VR City class, where students use Arkio to explore urban design through the lens of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We meet in person once a week during the school day and then again at night in VR for an hour, giving students the chance to prototype buildings, rethink public spaces, and collaborate inside shared virtual environments. I am trying to make the case for students and teachers learning/teaching from anywhere in an engaging, project-based way. We are also experimenting with Motion Capture, and our students recently participated in an NYU study on the effectiveness of VR in education.

As an educator, I’m a huge proponent of community-based design and want experiences for the walls of the school to melt away so students can gain real-world experiences and learn from mentors. If anyone on this forum has time to inspire or inform our students, we would love a Zoom or even an in-person visit!

I also organize TEDxYouth@SRDS where students write and give TED talks to the entire high school community. They are on the TEDxYouth@SRDS Youtube channel and I teach digital literacy and other design-focused courses. I live in Northern NJ with my husband, a television producer, our three sons, and our pup Ruby. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Television, Radio & Film Production from Syracuse University and a Master’s in Education from the University of Southern California. I’d be happy to connect here: www.linkedin.com/in/laurahollis525.

post by Johan on Dec 12, 2025