Run sim command in background

I have a GUIDE gui in which I want to start a simulink model and let it run in the background. Is that possible?

The idea is to run a vr-sink of an object that I can then display in the GUI. My problem at the moment is, that as soon as I start the sim() command to run the model the whole environment freezes until sim returns. Is there any way around this? I looked at the properties of sim, but didn't find anything that seemed to work.

Thanks alot.