Virtual environment generation for collaborative building assessment

A computer system for virtual collaboration between a plurality of users, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a communication module communicatively connected to the one or more processors and configured to communicate with computing devices via a communication network;
• a non-transitory program memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:
• establish a first communication connection over the communication network with a first virtual environment interface device associated with a first user of the plurality of users via the communication module;
• establish a second communication connection over the communication network with a second virtual environment interface device associated with a second user of the plurality of users via the communication module;
• initiate a virtual collaboration session with the first user and the second user by (i) establishing a communication channel between the first user and the second user via the first communication connection and the second communication connection for bidirectional communication, (ii) providing a virtual environment representing a physical location including a building to the first virtual environment interface device and the second virtual environment interface device for presentation to the first user and the second user, and (iii) causing a plurality of data tools to be presented to at least the first user within the virtual environment, wherein the plurality of data tools presented to the first user include a view synchronization tool;
• route real-time communication data between the first user and the second user during the virtual collaboration session via the communication channel;
• receive user interaction data from the first user, wherein the user interaction data indicates a portion of the building;
• generate a virtual overlay within the virtual environment based upon the user interaction data, wherein the virtual overlay is associated with a location within the virtual environment corresponding to the portion of the building;
• update the virtual environment to include the virtual overlay;
• synchronize the virtual environment presented to the first user and second user, including causing the virtual overlay to be presented to the second user via the second virtual environment interface device;
• receive from the first virtual environment interface device, an input indicating a selection of the view synchronization tool;
• and
• cause, by the one or more processors and based at least in part on the input, a location and a viewing direction of a viewing perspective of the second user within the virtual environment to match a current location and a current viewing direction, respectively, of a current viewing perspective of the first user within the virtual environment.

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for virtual collaboration between a plurality of users that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

• establish a first communication connection over a communication network with a first virtual environment interface device associated with a first user of the plurality of users;
• establish a second communication connection over a communication network with a second virtual environment interface device associated with a second user of the plurality of users;
• initiate a virtual collaboration session with the first user and the second user by (i) establishing a communication channel between the first user and the second user via the first communication connection and the second communication connection for bidirectional communication, (ii) providing a virtual environment representing a physical location including a building to the first virtual environment interface device and the second virtual environment interface device for presentation to the first user and the second user, and (iii) causing a plurality of data tools to be presented to at least the first user within the virtual environment, wherein the plurality of data tools presented to the first user include a view synchronization tool;
• route real-time communication data between the first user and the second user during the virtual collaboration session via the communication channel;
• receive user interaction data from the first user, wherein the user interaction data indicates a portion of the building;
• generate a virtual overlay within the virtual environment based upon the user interaction data, wherein the virtual overlay is associated with a location within the virtual environment corresponding to the portion of the building;
• update the virtual environment to include the virtual overlay;
• synchronize the virtual environment presented to the first user and the second user, including causing the virtual overlay to be presented to the second user via the second virtual environment interface device;
• receive from the first virtual environment interface device, an input indicating selection of the view synchronization tool;
• and
• cause, based at least in part on the input, a location and a viewing direction of a viewing perspective of the second user within the virtual environment to match a current location and a current viewing direction, respectively, of a current viewing perspective of the first user within the virtual environment.