VR has made us think and create outside the box. But what if we jumped back inside the box? Would we do anything new with it? Can we teach an old dog new tricks?
CollabHub is pretty good proof that you can.
Unlike Tilt Brush or Quill, which allow for painting in a 3D space, CollabHub is a VR app that’s entirely focused on traditional drawing on a 2D surface. Rather than graffitiing walls in Kingspray, you’re given a massive virtual whiteboard to play with, which you can draw on using the HTC Vive’s wands. Sure, that doesn’t sound as ambitious as many of the other creative apps we’ve been reporting on of late, but CollabHub certainly has space to carve out its own niche.
While some art apps are finding use as professional design tools, CollabHub’s key use is in its name. Imagine a work meeting in which multiple people from across the globe could meet up and create diagrams and plans using a set of tools that make it all look professional and presentable. You can quickly summon shapes to extend across the board and write inside them to make something that looks like it’s ready for a presentation in seconds, quickly switch colors with a virtual palette, and make straight lines for easy graph creation.
You can even draw on the board while standing at the other side of the room, so long as you’ve got your controller pointed at it.
I found CollaHub incredibly easy to get to grips with. In fact, I started scrawling away on the whiteboard literally seconds after jumping into the app for the first time, and the accuracy of the SteamVR tracking allowed me to create clear, quality images. It would be easy for any artist to jump in and start making virtual drawings with it, but I suspect the app will find a better use for virtual meetings.
Sadly, collaboration isn’t actually a part of the experience just yet, as it’s still in Early Access. It’s expected to remain that way for the next three to four months while additional tools and bug fixes are implemented. When it does launch I’d love to try CollabHub out for UploadVR meetings, though I’d love to see more options like the ability to import my creations into other software like Power Point presentations, or maybe even some 3D modeling of its own to help with visualization.
As it stands, though, CollabHub is off to a promising start.
CollabHub is available now on the HTC Vive for $6.99.
