Getting started
How to use Site Vision AR
From a 3D model on your computer to walking through it at full scale on your headset. Part 1 is the upload — you only do this once per model. Part 2 is the controls inside the headset.
Video tutorial coming soon
We're recording a full walkthrough of the steps below. It will appear here — the written guide covers everything in the meantime.
- Export your model as OBJ (keep the MTL, zip the textures).
- Log in to the portal and drop the files into your project.
- Open the app on the headset, log in, pick your project.
- Position it, then walk around and through it on your own two feet — and point and click if you want to change any colours.
Get your model into your account
Do this on your computer, in a normal web browser.
Export your model as an OBJ
In whichever 3D software you use — SketchUp, Blender, 3ds Max, Rhino, Revit, Maya or similar — use File → Export and save the model as .obj.
When you export, your software writes out two files: the .obj (the geometry) and a matching .mtl (the material list). Check that the .mtl file is there next to the .obj once the export finishes — without it, the model arrives untextured.
Then gather every texture image the model uses (the .jpg / .png files, usually written into a folder beside the .obj) and put them all into a single .zip file.
Log in to your customer portal
Go to www.sitevisionar.com/login and sign in with the username and password you were given (or that you chose at signup).
Drag your files in and name the project
Find the project you want to use and drag your .obj, .mtl and your textures.zip into its upload area — all three at once is fine.
Give the project a name in the name box (for example “Smith Loft Conversion”) and save it. That name is what you will see on the headset, so make it something you will recognise.
Click Upload files
Press Upload and wait for the progress to finish. When it's done, the OBJ, MTL and TEX tags at the top of the project turn green with a tick — that's how you know the model is ready to load.
Open the app on your headset and log in
Put on your Meta Quest, open the Site Vision AR app, and log in with the same username and password you just used on the website — there is no separate headset code to remember. The app saves your login, so you only do this once.
Select the project you want to download
Your projects appear in a list, under the names you gave them. Press the one you want.
Wait for the download — your model appears
The model downloads to the headset and then appears in the room in front of you. Larger models take longer; keep the headset on and connected to Wi-Fi while it works.
Using the model in the headset
Once the model has downloaded, this is how you get around it and change it.
Walk around it — and straight through it
There is nothing to learn here and no joystick to push. Your model stands in your real room at full scale, so you simply walk: round the outside, up to a window, in through a wall. Nothing in the model is solid, so you can step into any room and see it from the inside.
There is no boundary or guardian line in Site Vision AR, and that is deliberate: a barrier would stop you short of the walls and you would never feel the true 1:1 scale of the building. You are free to roam as far as your room allows.
The app runs in AR, so you can still see your actual room through the headset while the model sits inside it. Even so, making sure the area is clear is your own responsibility — move furniture and cables out of the way, know where your walls are, and keep an eye out for anyone else in the room before you start walking.
Show or hide the menu
Pull the left trigger to toggle the UI menu on and off. Hide it when you want a clean view of the building; bring it back when you need the project list again.
Move the building into position
Hold the X button and move your controller — the building moves with your hand. Let go of X to drop it in place.
Rotate the building
Hold the Y button and move your controller to turn the building until it faces the way you want.
Change colours
Point at the model and pull the trigger to bring up the colour changer, then drag the sliders until you land on the colour you want.
You can load a different model at any time — you don't need to close anything first. Open the menu and select the project you want. The old model disappears automatically as soon as the new one is selected. The same goes for a model you have just re-uploaded from the portal: select it again on the headset and it downloads the updated version.
Stuck on something?
If a model won't upload, arrives without its textures, or doesn't show up on the headset, send us the files and we'll take a look — we can often fix an export for you.
Site Vision AR support
hello@sitevisionar.com