Officina Italiana Design, is introducing virtual reality which henceforth will be a pivotal part of the design process for its new craft.
“We had been captivated by virtual reality for quite some time and so we availed of the skills and interest of the young members of our creative team to investigate the subject in greater depth and find the most suitable solution for the studio. So at the start of 2020, we made the decision to invest in this new technology which was warmly welcomed by the Officina Italiana Design team. Now at the end of the year, we are reaping the fruits of that investment,” declared Sergio Beretta, Ceo of Officina Italiana Design, which he also co-founded with Mauro Micheli.
Officina Italiana Design is one of the first yacht design studios to use virtual reality to actually hone and perfect the lines and volumes of the craft it designs. Immersive virtual reality is a well-established tool in the nautical sector but is used principally on the sales and marketing side to provide potential owners with interactive introductions to spaces and interiors.
Officina Italiana Design, however, will be using VR as part of the design process proper, and has invested in new computers, Autodesk VRed software and training for its design team as part of that endeavour.
“My colleagues, Andrea Catucci and Laura Avogadri, and I did quite a challenging full-time 10-day training course. So virtual reality became part of our technical and design process in quite a natural way. We always work as a team and we compare notes regularly to ensure that there is consistent harmony between the exterior and interior lines. Now this process is helping us hugely in refining details and balances to an even greater degree. Of course, virtual reality can’t replace the philosophy that underpins OID’s style. It is quite simply a design process to be used,” continues Vincenzo Dallacqua, exterior designer at Officina Italiana Design.
Autodesk VRed is a piece of software that offers myriad particularly sophisticated possibilities and is used extensively by leading car marques and manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Fiat, who invest heavily in research and technology. Car design is also another source of inspiration for the studio and part of its ethos of staying very much in step with the times to ensure that contemporaneity and market trends meld perfectly with Riva tradition.
“How do we work now? Once we have developed the exterior lines and interiors using the usual modelling software and after consulting with each other to harmonise the two aspects, we upload the files with the interior and exterior geometries to the VR software and also add the materials for the elements we will be using. We then use a VR visor to see the boat in a 1:1 scale and move around aboard to check the lines and the balances. This boosts the quality of the prototypes and lets us see in real-time any changes required to create competitive projects,” specifies Vincenzo Dallacqua.
In other words, virtual reality does not replace OID’s design methodology. Rather it allows a whole new standard of meticulous attention to be achieved in terms of details and configurations. Contemporary and classic art remain the source of inspiration for the purity of line and beautifully balanced volumes that are the signatures of all Officina Italiana Design-penned craft. This new method has already been used on various crafts currently at the development stage.
“Although I love freehand drawing, I am also very interested in technology and new frontiers: they provide me with new challenges that help me achieve new milestones,” stresses Mauro Micheli, Chief Designer and co-founder of OID.
Both the exterior lines and the interior designs of all of Riva’s output are penned by Officina ItalianaDesign. Clean lines, attention to detail, balanced volumes, meticulously selected materials and colours are the signatures of the yachts designed by Officina Italiana Design and also constitute the core values and pivotal components in creating boats that have always been bywords for elegance, status and perfection.