The push towards photorealistic VR takes another step forward today with the reveal of Atom View from Nurulize.

Atom View is a new piece of software that allows content creators to translate real-world scans into assets for virtual environments. Not only does it aim to produce realistic results but also reduce the workflow for content creation. The standalone app takes files captured from volumetric cameras, offline graphics renderers, 360 lidar and more. It then converts that data into assets that you can easily drop into a scene. You can see the results of using the app in a video below; make sure you’re watching in as high a quality as possible.

Atom View Overview from Nurulize on Vimeo.

Volumetric capture is a promising area of development that could one day allow content creators to skip over several of the more laborious steps of traditional 3D content creation with better results. With Atom View, users can even edit objects once they’ve been imported.

In fact, the software is already being used for an upcoming Alien project. You might now be able to play Alien: Isolation via an unofficial mod, but the footage above suggests we’ll see something far more realistic in this project, which is in early development and being produced by Ridley Scott himself.

Nurulize is also announcing a collaborative pre-production platform for VR today too. Nu Design allows multiple users to enter VR to collaborate on the worlds they’re building.

Both products are currently in closed beta, with commercial releases planned for later this year. Nuruilze is also developing iterations of them for AR platforms. Both sound quite promising, so we’re looking forward to seeing more. Both technologies are on display at SIGGRAPH this week.