@beta The latest Beta builds 2.0.0b7 are now available here this version adds our new scene viewer, cloud import simplifications, better sticky notes and frames, single user view mode and other usability improvements.
New scene viewer
Arkio’s file/scene management got a big update making it easier to manage a larger number of projects. Improved scene previews and history mode where available in previous versions of the beta. But these improvements now show better in the new scene manager that uses a new dynamic grid and row sorting and easier sorting and searching of files.
The dynamic sorting of scenes allows you to find the scenes you are looking for. This can be further filtered down using the alphabetical and date sorting or by using the new search feature that will show only the scenes that contain that name. (so you can filter your own favorites, projects and tags by naming your files.
You can rename your scenes by clicking on the title field in the panel and use the existing operations of creating a new scene, duplicating an existing scene (to start a new design option) or deleting your scenes. Renaming a scene will update that file dynamically and keep the history with the older names. If a scene with that name already exists the title text will turn gray to indicate another name must be used.
History mode now also shows previews and timestamps of all the history versions of your scene, these local backup are made every 2 minutes in single user or when being part of multiuser meetings so you can always go back in time. Since you can now restore back to any previous state of scene we no longer make duplicates of your scene when going into a meeting or when overwriting local scenes with the same name so this will keep your scene number under control.
When going into a new meeting your selected scene will automatically be shared with the active meeting participants. Meeting shared scenes are now indicated with a light blue plate color and an meeting icon on this plate. These scenes are only visible to the non-host meeting participants so it’s more easy to understand which scenes are shared and that only the meeting host has control over sharing new scenes in a meeting.
Scene sorting and filtering also works while inside a meeting the host can use these features to find the scene they are looking for and share other local scenes into a meeting (gray plate) The meeting host currently sees both local (gray plates) and meeting shared scenes (light blue plates). An additional toggle will be added for the host to only see the active meeting scenes similar to non-host users.
Highlights
- New dynamic grid and row sorting and name and date sorting modes.
- New search filtering of scene names
- Easier dynamic renaming of scenes
- Easier sharing of local scenes in a meeting
- Arkio geometry, props and custom imported 3D models now all show as a low-detail scene preview on the plates
- The previews of these scenes are updated when editing an active scene
- Per scene history mode snapshots are made every 2 minutes
- Prevent unnecessary duplication of Arkio scenes when going into meetings (history snapshot backup and can restore your scenes now)
Known issues
- Some scenes and history backup can fail to generate previews
- large imported models on the previews can have color artifacts
PC resource syncing to Arkio cloud
Instead of exporting gltf files from our plugins to the Arkio cloud we now first open Arkio on PC to process your files. The Arkio PC client can process larger imports much faster and share the prepared Arkio resources directly with all devices connected to the same cloud group. This means that instead of waiting minutes for exporting, uploading and processing a large Revit import on your Quest you now have faster access to your imported files on all your devices. It also means you no longer need to host a live meeting in Arkio to share imports or move files around manually as your latest imports will be available on all cloud-connected devices.
Using this workflow you can share much larger files directly with your Meta Quest and other mobile devices as your PC has more memory and processing power to prepare files for Arkio. This also simplifies our plugins as we no longer require Arkio cloud linking per plugin and only need one export and import button.
The Revit, Rhino and Sketchup plugins got some other bug fixes and speed improvements. We’ve also added the Revit 2026 and Sketchup 2025 versions to our supported plugins. Once you connect your devices to a cloud group your newly imported files will automatically be synced between your PC and other cloud-connected devices. You can disable this using the “Sync new imports with group toggle” in the cloud link panel.
Arkio cloud groups are intended to sync files between all your devices. If you want to share only one specific Arkio scene or imported file with users you can best use the new Arkio cloud scene sharing feature that is also described on this page.
Archicad plugin
The Archicad plugin for Arkio is now available for Windows. This plugin allows Archicad users to export their 3D geometry from Archicad faster use the correct materials, scale and rotation and adds support for layers and BIM data similar to our other plugins.
You can install the plugins using the .bat installation scripts from our latest Windows builds. After the installations, you can run Archicad 27 or 28 to go to a 3D view that has the objects visible that you’d like to export and use the new “Arkio” menu to start the export. After your models are exported it will directly open the Arkio Beta PC client and process your files locally. You can place the files in the scene and start a meeting or connect your PC and mobile devices to the same Arkio cloud group to directly share the Archicad export with all your devices.
A Mac version of the Archicad plugin is also available but not included in our Windows builds and installer scripts. Contact us if you like to test the Mac Archicad plugin that works with the Mac client of Arkio. Archicad plugin exported gltf files can also be loaded in Arkio 1.9.1 by copying the files from \Documents\ArkioBeta\Import\Archicad to \Documents\Arkio\Import\Models but this will miss the new features like the layers and BIM data.
Known issues
- Some imported meshes loaded in Archicad as GDL elements can export with inverted normals. Updating these meshes to use outwards facing normal will fix this issue.
- Archicad Import is currently not added to this plugin. You can export to OBJ from Arkio and load that file to Archicad if you wish to bring your geometry back into Archicad.
Sticky notes
Arkio notes can now be more easily placed and used on all devices. Their starting scale better fits your distance to the models and frame that you place these notes on and you can edit the content by hovering and clicking the text field that now also responds to keyboard inputs. You can also use the new voice-to-text transcriptions from the top right microphone icon to report issues or leave messages in your Arkio scenes a lot faster than typing.
The notes also have a new input field for the owner and you can use the color selector to change the color of the note. In our next update we want to make it possible to export these notes and frames to a webpage, PDF print or BCF file for sharing with others and loading these notes into your favorite issues management tool.
Highlights
- Improved note placement scale and movement
- Improved note interactive input fields
- Voice-to-text transcription
- Support for keyboard inputs
- Owner input field
Known issues
- Movement of existing notes in VR needs to be improved
- Better UI interactions for color and microphone buttons
- Exporting of notes not possible yet but coming soon
View filtering for frames and notes
Views are now connected to frames and notes so they update automatically when you move them in the scene. You can now use the view list in Arkio’s review panel (eye icon) to access and quickly jump between all your viewpoints, frames and notes in the scenes. A new filter is added to the top of the views tab to make it easier to only look at the objects you want to view.
Single-user view mode
It’s now possible to enable view mode on a device not in a meeting. This allows you to give your headset or tablet to someone else and prevent accidentally editing objects in the scene and give them an easier onboarding experience without Arkio’s modeling tools and menus using view mode users can experience the scene by navigating around and changing view settings from the review panel but not change any geometry in the scene.
We will also be adding the ability to send your Arkio scenes as view-only scenes to others using the Arkio cloud sharing feature making it easier to share files that only require viewing and no further edits.
Known issues:
- View mode and edit mode toggle is not working while in meeting
- Further menu and wristband viewer mode simplifications are coming
Other usability improvements
When teleporting on imported models with vertical or sloping surfaces it could happen that your teleport beam fell through the cracks making you end up under the model. We’re now filtering those teleport hitpoints so you are less likely to teleport under a surface.
It was difficult to deselect an active tool in Arkio in VR (wiggling your controller/hands or pressing your wristband) and vrless (selecting the orbit tool) It’s now also possible to deselect your active tools by clicking the same active tool again in the UI
More pictures and info about this and other features can be found in the first post of this page. Let us know if you missed anything that needs further explanation!