Visualise this

It would hardly be a revelation to say that some visualisations improve on reality. A nice picture sells better and, perhaps, sells a project better. The thing is, that in this hi-tech age even the most experienced graphic designers can find it difficult to distinguish nice-but-artificial images from photos, especially if the photo has been retouched. So how is the regular punter supposed to notice the difference? And here lies the rub. For some time I’ve been wondering whether the ordinary visualisation has had its day, if it could possibly withstand the onslaught of VR, AR, AI and all the other fiendishly hi-tech inventions that we keep coming up with. One architect told me that clients always want even more realistic images than a few years ago, and so basic renderings are no longer enough. As long as the software keeps on improving, ever more realistic depictions can be achieved to fulfil this need, he argues. The customer always gets what the customer wants, or so the old s