DESSERTATION ON VIRTUAL REALITY IN ARCHITECTURE - SAKSHI SRIVASTAVA( GALGOTIA UNIVERSITY)

ROLE OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN FIELD OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION

DESSERTATION BYSAKSHI SRIVASTAVA, B.ARCH

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE GALGOTIA UNIVERSITY, Gr. Noida, India

Supervised by Prof. Ar. Bipasha kumar and Ar. Sawan Kumar Sharma

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ar.Sawan Kumar and Ar. Bipasha Kumar Architect and faculty member of school of architecture, Galgotias University, whose supervision, Advice, and guidance from the very early stage of this research as well as giving me extraordinary experiences throughout the work. I appreciate his vast knowledge and skills in many areas, and his detailed and constructive comments. His understanding, encouraging and personal guidance have provided a good basis for the present research.

I wish to express my warm and sincere thanks to Dr.Atul Sethia, dean, Galgotia School of architecture, for his important guidance and support throughout this work.

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ABSTRACT Virtual Reality (VR) refers to computer generated artificial environment in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment. This paper examines the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies for architectural applications. There has been a great deal of expectation for its implications in architecture since Ivan Sutherland's first VR system in the 60's. The term VR was formalized and became popular in the main stream in the late 80's and became an industry by the late 90's. Although it has found good applications in Medicine, Flight Simulation, and Video Game Industry, its effect on architecture remains imperceptible. In the work that we review, we found that the success of VR in architecture has primarily been in the passive and exploratory applications. We also note that at the present time, the cost of VR systems is directly proportionate to the level of photorealism and immersion. We contend that photorealistic visualization and total involvement are not basics for making most design decisions. Hence, through this paper we bring to light the essential promise of VR technology and the potential impact it could have with its current limitations, on the way we conventionally think and design our built environment pushing it beyond space and time constraints.

The research includes an insight to VR drawing – of typical 2D / 3D drawing elements such as line, shape, shade, etc. and then compared to their VR counterparts. Also included are VR architecture drawings and the video of the process and the analysis of how the process informs architecture. The data gathered from these VR drawings experiments and comparisons will be read as a guideline for VR art that shall be used to make the final pieces – the Thesis Game (contains images / text / data) and the Final VR Drawing Space In Conclusion, I find VR-drawing to be an interesting new medium. One that has its own set of rules, its advantages and flaws. In drawing architecture, it shows intuitiveness while sacrificing accuracy of other media. With practice, it can produce fast – provided you get past the performance and learning curve. In showcasing architecture, it provides an unlimited digital space inside a limited physical space. VR drawing for architecture must be further studied with a bigger user group with a wider subject, in order to find out more about what it brings and what it can improve upon.

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List of Figures

Figure 2.1: A mixture of various visual materials for the client to choose, photo courtesy of the Australian Institute of Interior Design Figure 2.2: Freehand sketches of a hotel lobby, photo courtesy of Jenny Gibbs Figure 2.3: A cardboard model showing a residential interior, photo courtesy of the Howard Architecture Models Figure 2.4: A living room model built using CAD, photo courtesy of the Microsoft Figure 2.5: Prototype of human-computer interaction in a general VR system Figure 2.6: Prototype of data exchange in a general web-based VR system Figure 2.7: A virtual prototyping for testing vehicle interior, by Virtual Reality Lab at the University of Michigan Figure 2.8: A virtual prototyping for vehicle stability measurement, by Robotic Mobility Group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Figure 2.9: An experimental website for collaborative design review, by Cambell Figure 2.10: An online product configurator, by Dauner et al Figure 3.1: Architecture of the proposed communication framework Figure 3.2: An example of X3D scene Figure 3.3: Workflow of converting a CAD model into the X3D format Figure 3.4: Sketch of the web-based user interface Figure 3.5: Architecture of YY3D

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TABLE OF CONTENT - ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - ABSTRACT

Chapter 1 -INTRODUCTION 1.1. VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) 1.2. BACK GROUND 1.3. SCOPE AND INTREST 1.4. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION 1.5. CURRENT STATUS IN TECHNOLOGY 1.6. FUTURE SCOPE

Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY AND PROCESS

6 7 8 9 11

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1.1. SEARCH ON LITERATURE 19-21 1.2. SEARCH ON CASESTUDY 1.2.1. Virtual Reality for Architecture and Interior design –Studio Case Study 1.2.2. Case Study: Agora Architecture 1.2.3. Case Study: Marmon Mok Architecture

Chapter 3 -RESULTS 1.1. Web-based VR Based on the desktop VR system 1.2. COMPARISION OF PLATFORMS

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Chapter 4 -DISCUSSION

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Chapter 5 -CONCLUSION

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Chapter 6 -BIBLOGRAPHY

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES AIM - To understand the importance of these images one must first have knowledge of the context in which the images were created. Within the educational environment the computer must find its’ way into the traditional methods of design process. In the past the computer has been seen as a production tool, a communication and now a design tool. Computers as design tools within the design process are allowing for further exploration of space and form just as physical modeling and sketches have done in the past.

OBJECTIVE – Applications of VR in architectural education Improve the communication between the architect and his clients Improve the way of teaching by using better technology

RESEARCH QUESTIONS •

Role of “VR” in architecture?

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Effect of “VR” on people associated with architecture?

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How can we use Virtual Reality interfaces to design more efficient solutions for effective presentation and communication of architectural designs and ideas?

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CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION

In education, new technologies are used to improve the process of learning. Mobile has been one these technologies offerings educators away to communicate with the students by using suitable applications for learning. Virtual reality (VR) and its use in education has long been discussed, one of the main challenges is that VR was unaffordable for educational institutes. However VR has evolved since then, the technology is up to date, cheaper and more accessible than it has ever been.

With the advancement in technology in the past few years, new forms of teaching have emerged. Mobile applications are one of these new forms since smartphones and computer tablets are becoming a part of the student’s daily culture. The process of learning can be a complex task for the students since it requires a lot of effort from them, which is why they need the motivation to learn . Educational software for smart phones benefits the education process and makes it more interesting for students.

Especially if it follows the computer game technology to render 3D graphics for the software and make it more amusing for the students while still deliver the necessary information. But as technology advances, new technologies emerge and a new ways of learning are being introduced to us. One of these technologies that have been gathering headlines for the past few years is virtual reality (VR). It is characterized as a medium just like telephones or televisions. VR is a collection of hardware such as PC or mobile, head mounted displays (HMDs) and tracking sensors, as well as software to deliver an immersive experience. George Coates defined virtual reality as” electronic simulations of environments experienced via head mounted eye goggles and wired clothing enabling the end user to interact in realistic three dimensional situations” .The differences between modern VR compared to the concept of VR presented two decades ago is that the technology is finally at the stage where it can be adapted to any mobile phone. The introduction of Google Cardboard showed the public for the first time that any smartphone of this generation can be turned into a Virtual Reality machine with help of a HMD. It contains two optical lenses for each eye to have the perception of depth and suitable applications. At this point any student with a smartphone and a VR HMD can enjoy the immersive experience of VR applications, share their ideas and imagination through a whole new medium. By simulating the experience it encourages them to practice their skills in a safe environment. The literature covers many aspects of VR in education domain, but the comparison between a mobile educational application and the same educational application in terms of functional and non-functional requirements in VR is missing. The purpose of this study is to present a qualitative research strategy to identify the important characteristics, beneficial factors and suitable areas for using VR technology in comparison to standard mobile applications

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Background Stanley Weibnaum described what would eventually be virtual reality in his science fiction story Pygmalion’s Spectacles (1930s). Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell Virtual Reality Diver), Lisberger & Bonnie MacBird (Tron) and The Wachowskis (The Matrix series) are all writers for movies that deal with advanced technologies creating and simulating new realities. I am also looking into Philip K. Dick’s many science fiction stories and a notable quote: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away” 1There are significant innovators and writers that have contributed to the field of Virtual Reality. This includes Morton Heilig who invented the Sensorama, (1950s) the first 3D movie machine and the first head mounted display in 1960. These HMD’s are also commonly known today as Virtual Reality Goggles – the Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive being the more popular consumer products today. Technopedia.com defines Head Mounted Displays (or HMDs) as a “type of computer display device or monitor that, as the name implies, is worn on the head or is built in as part of a helmet”.

This device is important as it creates immersion to the experience “as it ensures that no matter where the user’s head may turn, the display is positioned right in front of the user’s eyes”3 limiting the user’s vision to only what the HMD shows and synchronizing head movement to visual “trick” the mind into this new “reality.”Douglas Engelbart is credited with creating the first graphical user interface (GUI) in the 1960s. Webopedia defines Graphical User Interface as “a program interface that takes advantage of the computer’s graphics capabilities to make the program easier to use“ This means instead of lines of commands as an interface, it uses visual items such as icons, pointers, windows, desktops, menus, etc. Besides GUI, Douglas also invented the such as the computer Mouse, today’s standard pointing input deviceJaron Lanier coined the term Virtual Reality in 1987.5 His company, VPL Research were the first company to sell VR products, both hardware and software, including the EyePhone.

Palmer Luckey’s Oculus Rift prototype (2011) and Oculus VR started today’s new VR boom – with many companies developing their own devices - growing into the industry that it is today, with hopes to fulfil what 90s VR promised in TV commercial and promotions – but could not deliver because the quality and speed of the graphics.

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SCOPE AND INTEREST •

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This research will cover the implications and benefits a small facet of the potential of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in relation to drawing architecture, and specifically my method of drawing, which is focused on gaming and comics for inspiration.

Scope - Research and Demonstrate a VR environment (VR goggles) Research and Demonstrate drawing and manipulating within VR (VR wands and hands) Study the difference of drawing in 3D space, free body movement, Brief on how VR evolved to what it is today Brief on current and existing VR (professionally and academically) Show other uses of VR in other fields and compare how these technologies can be modified to fit architectural and design needs Conceptualize future VR technologies that you foresee based on how the industry is going at the moment and how VR tech will fill such needs.

The author is interested in this topic because she see it as the perfect combination of her own personal fields of interest: architecture, video games, and my enjoyment of drawing. I am interested in architecture for the beauty of the built environment, and comics for its unique storytelling method. Virtual Reality has the potential to combine these diverse fields into one area of study.

Lastly, in relation to drawing, VR is another way to draw. I have learned to draw with a pen. I have learned to draw with a program. Now I want to see what I could draw with virtual tools in a virtual space.

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Virtual reality applies to architecture and aimed at creating a VR program / system where multiple users could design architecture collaboratively in real time.

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HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

1987 – Virtual reality the name was born Even after all of this development in virtual reality, there still wasn’t an allencompassing term to describe the field. This all changed in 1987 when Jaron Lanier, founder of the visual programming lab (VPL), coined (or according to some popularised) the term “virtual reality”. The research area now had a name. Through his company VPL research Jaron developed a range of virtual reality gear including the Dataglove (along with Tom Zimmerman) and the EyePhone head mounted display.

They were the first company to sell Virtual Reality goggles (EyePhone 1 $9400; EyePhone HRX $49,000) and gloves ($9000). A major development in the area of virtual reality haptics.

1991 – Virtuality Group Arcade Machines We began to see virtual reality devices to which the public had access, although household ownership of cutting edge virtual reality was still far out of reach. The Virtuality Group launched a range of arcade games and machines. Players would wear a set of VR goggles and play on gaming machines with realtime (less than 50ms latency) immersive stereoscopic 3D visuals. Some units were also networked together for a multi-player gaming experience.

1992 – The Lawnmower Man The Lawnmower Man movie introduced the concept of virtual reality to a wider audience. It was in part based on the founder of Virtual Reality Jaron Lanier and his early laboratory days. Jaron was played by Pierce Brosnan, a scientist who used virtual reality therapy on a mentally disabled patient. Real virtual reality equipment from VPL research labs was used in the film and the director Brett Leonard, admited to drawing inspiration from companies like VPL.

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1993 – SEGA announce new VR glasses Sega announced the Sega VR headset for the Sega Genesis console in 1993 at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1993. The wrap-around protoype glasses had head tracking, stereo sound and LCD screens in the visor. Sega fully intended to release the product at a price point of about $200 at the time, or about $322 in 2015 money.

However, technical development difficulties meant that the device would forever remain in the prototype phase despite having developed 4 games for this product. This was a huge flop for Sega.

1995 – Nintendo Virtual Boy The Nintendo Virtual Boy (originally known as VR-32) was a 3D gaming console that was hyped to be the first ever portable console that could display true 3D graphics. It was first released in Japan and North America at a price of $180 but it was a commercial failure despite price drops. The reported reasons for this failure were a lack of colour in graphics (games were in red and black), there was a lack of software support and it was difficult to use the console in a comfortable position. The following year they discontinued its production and sale.

1999 – The Matrix In 1999 the Wachowski siblings’ film The Matrix hits theatres. The film features characters that are living in a fully simulated world, with many completely unaware that they do not live in the real world. Although some previous films had dabbled in depicting virtual reality, such as Tron in 1982 and Lawnmower Man in 1992, The Matrix has a major cultural impact and brought the topic of simulated reality into the mainstream.

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CURRENT STATUS IN TECHNOLOGY

Virtual reality in the 21st century The first fifteen years of the 21st century has seen major, rapid advancement in the development of virtual reality. Computer technology, especially small and powerful mobile technologies, have exploded while prices are constantly driven down. The rise of smartphones with high-density displays and 3D graphics capabilities has enabled a generation of lightweight and practical virtual reality devices. The video game industry has continued to drive the development of consumer virtual reality unabated. Depth sensing cameras sensor suites, motion controllers and natural human interfaces are already a part of daily human computing tasks.

Recently companies like Google have released interim virtual reality products such as the Google Cardboard, a DIY headset that uses a smartphone to drive it. Companies like Samsung have taken this concept further with products such as the Galaxy Gear, which is mass produced and contains “smart� features such as gesture control.

Developer versions of final consumer products have also been available for a few years, so there has been a steady stream of software projects creating content for the immanent market entrance of modern virtual reality.

It seems clear that 2016 will be a key year in the virtual reality industry. Multiple consumer devices that seem to finally answer the unfulfilled promises made by virtual reality in the 1990s will come to market at that time. These include the pioneering Oculus Rift, which was purchased by social media giant Facebook in 2014 for the staggering sum of $2BN. An incredible vote of confidence in where the industry is set to go. When the Oculus Rift releases in 2016 it will be competing with products from Valve Corporation and HTC, Microsoft as well as Sony Computer Entertainment.

These heavyweights are sure to be followed by many other enterprises, should the market take off as expected. & nbsp;

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FUTURE SCOPE

Traditionally, architectural design begins with an idea. The two-dimensional concept is then sketched on paper and a three-dimensional model is constructed to evaluate the designed product. This convention is very much culture-bound and it limits stimulation and inspiration for idea generation. The phenomenon of providing diversity during a design yields the potential for improving design quality. In the design profession, diversity will broaden personal vision, enrich the memory of mental images, and stimulate multidirectional thinking. Although architects have used a pencil-and-paper medium to translate ideas into physical products for generations, computer technology has revolutionized architectural representation during the past decade. A design product can be displayed on a computer from various angles with amazing visual effects. Changes are easy to make and results can be shown instantly.

The interactive nature of the computer technology is an excellent teaching tool. Virtual reality promises even more. Users of virtual reality actually experience the environment created by the computer. Applying virtual reality in an architectural design studio, students can understand the spatial qualities of their own designs immediately, visualize the colour and texture of materials, comprehend the major components of the HVAC system, experience the proportion of the space, and appreciate the aesthetic of the structural elements. VR will make possible the expression and construction of ideas never before dreamed possible. Design studios taught in this fashion will be very effective. Providing such VR environments at different locations and linking them together, designers can see and share information. If the system can collect data which is sent to different sites in different countries, designers would learn various design principles, methods, and processes inherited in various design cultures. Potential clients can visualize results and provide feedback instantly. Efforts to develop an interactive environment, in which design can be seen intermediately, will create a new world for the design profession to break with convention and improve quality. VR will not only change the way we communicate, it might also change the way we think.

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Research Tool in VR A VR system can be utilized as a tool for observing a designer's thinking process to understand how information technology and virtual reality affect design thinking.

TOOL FOR STUDYING DESIGN PROCESSES The designer's mind has been compared to a "black box" because it is impossible to see what happens during the creative process (Chan, 1997). To C. S. CHAN understand the design thinking processes, an intermediate environment is needed allowing users to see the design sequences and to save them as data for later redisplay. A VR system can provide a suitable intermediate environment. The concept is to apply the Internet technology to coordinate multiple VRs and users into a net system. The increasing availability and use of the Internet have opened up opportunities for designers to collaborate with each other in ways not previously possible. The impact of geography, with its tyranny of distance, has been changed dramatically. Through the net system, designers can now work on the same design at different geographic locations either synchronously or asynchronously.

One component of the net system is network connections for sending interactive data across the net to share and exchange design experiences. In such an environment, designers can visualize any design changes simultaneously and offer feedback.

Issues of transmission time delay and local versus remote processing (Biocca, 1992; Mine, 1995b) need to be resolved for efficiently transporting files to users on various platforms. Another component of the net system is certain data recording mechanisms capable of saving the processed information for later manipulation. For instance, the sequences of arranging columns, staircases, and openings will show personal design methods for structural arrangements and principles of circulation. If the sequences of designing are stored and displayed again, critiques can be given based on visualizing the process. The saved data also provide resources to simulate the design process and to visualize the cognitive aspect of creativity.

TOOL FOR STUDYING DESIGN CREATIVITY In architectural design education, most students are staggered by the lack of a clear understanding of better design processes and have no definition of creativity. Many students, therefore, do not have a good approach to design and the quality of their design work is not satisfactory. To rectify this situation, a better understanding of the nature of design processes and the factors that foster design creativity may provide opportunities to improve these deficiencies. If designers have a better understanding of the phenomenon of design processes, they will know the paths that lead to a more efficient way to design. If the definition of creativity is well set up, designers will be able to find ways to improve their ability to design a better living environment.

In order to explore the "myth" of creativity, to describe what happens during the design processes, and to provide a means to increase creativity a VR recording system can be applied. The design data generated and saved by the VR system will yield 15

potentials for: (1) the designers to visually understand their design processes three dimensionally, which will provide hints to broaden the creative sources to achieve a higher level of creativity; (2) instructors to have a wider angle of observing students' processes of design generation VIRTUAL REALITY IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN better critiques and pedagogies; and (3) researchers to have significant data to study the designer's processes of creation. Efforts to develop such an interactive environment, in which architectural design can be seen intermediately, will create a new world for the design profession that will break with convention and improve design quality.

Applications of VR in architectural education Some authors have identified the potentiality of Virtual Reality in architectural education, but there are not many references about specific activities in that theme. A dissertation thesis at Strathclyde [Andrews, 96], reviewing the different techniques and applications of VR in Architecture, mentions educational possibilities through 3Drepresentations of 2Dabstractions. A paper about the use of the CAVE in architectural teaching [Af Klercker, 98] warns about the high cost of installation for schools of architecture, and defines three ways in education; to improve the visual impact of computer modeling, to interact with clients (?), and to design unusual forms. But according to the usual curriculum of architecture the possibilities could be broader, Virtual Reality technology could be used from basic courses until advanced subjects, in the diverse lines of architectural education; - History and Theory; in the modeling and review of historical cases and schematic concepts. - Technical courses; in the modeling and behavior of structures, review of constructive details, representation of building services and performance, etc. - Design Studios; in the modeling of students’ proposals, review of examples of contemporary architecture, etc. There are several reports of use of Virtual Reality in design studios [Achten; 99, Donath; 97; Emdanat; 99, Garcia; 99], although involved in research projects, without evaluation of its pedagogical issues. Also architectural experiences in university VR-laboratories (Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, MIT, Washington), and VR-models of historical buildings and constructive process

Figure 2.2: Freehand sketches of a hotel lobby, photo courtesy of Jenny Gibbs.

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CHAPTER -2 METHEDOLOGY AND PROCESS This research presents a web-based tool which seeks to facilitate the communication of design intention between clients and designers. The research approach is to employ web based virtual reality (VR). VR is a computer simulation that employs 3D visualization technology to simulate physical presence. As it eliminates both time and geographical constraints, web-based VR provides a direct and immediate visual experience for Internet users with personal computers. A goal of this research is to create a VR-based application for improving the collaboration efficiency between clients and designers. This research selects interior design as a case study and discusses the following reasons for VR use: Interior design deals with a relatively simple problem. Compared to other design fields (e.g., building design), interior design does not require any engineering knowledge or advanced calculations.

Interior design serves a large market place with many potential interior designers and sales professionals who can benefit from this potential tool. The approach used in interior design can be applied to other design problems. The proposed design process using this VR-based communication tool is as follows: The client poses a design problem and provides the necessary design information, including the room type (e.g., an office space), its dimensions and other specification requirements. The designer creates a virtual interior scene based on the room dimensions. The designer constructs a database to collect design components (e.g., furnishing and material texture) that match the client’s specification requirements. The client logs into the designer’s website and experiences different design possibilities by selecting, arranging and modifying design components in the given virtual interior scene. During this process, the client is able to work in both 2D and 3D modes: a 2D plan view allows the client to place components; a 3D perspective view visualizes the outcome. At the end of the virtual experience, the client has a list of their design choices and provides the interior layout renderings for the designer’s review. Using this design approach, interior designers can better understand clients’ needs and preferences. Based on the clients’ preliminary design, designers can provide further professional advice throughout the design development process. Although it may appear that designers spend more effort preparing a single design case, the VR-based communication tool should enhance the decision-making process, as many of the virtual design components can be re-used in future design scenarios. On the client side, clients are expected to play a more active role during their collaboration with designers. Using this new tool, clients are able to create a preliminary design solution based on the virtual interior and design components. In this manner, their design intention can be visualized in addition to text descriptions. More importantly, the proposed web-based tool minimizes time and geographical restraints. Because the communication can be done via Internet, clients and designers do not have to meet in person to exchange ideas or review computer models. This helps decrease the number of meetings and 17

reduce the overall budget of a design project. In developing this VR-based communication tool, this research proposes to complete the following tasks: Study the interior design process. The interior design is a multi-faceted profession and its process follows a systematic and coordinated methodology. The study of this process focuses on the parts where clients are involved. The study topics include the clients’ roles, factors that influence clients’ decision-making behaviour, and the traditional communication approaches between clients and designers. Based on this study, the research suggests the functionality of the proposed communication tool. The work in this section provides the theoretical basis for developing the proposed tool. Review VR technologies and their applications. VR is widely applied in product development, design review and e-commerce. Successful applications in these areas serve as examples to inspire VR applications in interior design. The research reviews the basic principles of VR and the technical requirements for creating a VR system. In particular, to combine the advantages of VR and World Wide Web (WWW) for solving design problems, the research reviews the previous literature in web-based

VR technologies and applications. The work in this section provides the technology basis to develop the proposed tool. Derive guidelines for developing the proposed communication tool. Based on the research work in the above tasks, the research sets up the framework of the proposed tool using web-based VR technologies. From the designer’s standpoint, the research introduces steps in how to develop the computer graphics built with a general CAD application into the ready-to-use design data for the online VR version. From the client’s position, the research designs a web-based user interface for navigating and manipulating the design data. In conducting this research consideration must be given to those operations required for experiencing a virtual environment. Develop YY3D1, a proof-of-concept of the proposed communication tool. As a starting point, YY3D is developed to deal with one of the most basic tasks in interior design: the furniture and interior layout configurations. To achieve this objective, YY3D includes a sample set of virtual rooms and databases of furniture models and material textures. YY3D should allow a user to select furniture models from a catalogue and import them directly into a 3D virtual room for examinations. The user should be able to move and rotate the furniture in both 3D and 2D plan views. By previewing the room with different furniture combinations and layouts, the user should be able to explore and evaluate possible design solutions. After completing the virtual interior design, a list of the user’s selection of furniture and material textures could be emailed back to the designer. The client should also be able to supply comments and annotations for the designer’s review.

Interior design can also include a larger list of design tasks, such as adding partitions for dividing space or installing other interior facilities (e.g., lighting fixtures). Compared to these design tasks, the furniture selection and layout is relatively simple. This research hopes that YY3D demonstrates that clients do not need professional knowledge to create a preliminary interior design solution. Based on YY3D, this 18

research expects that future applications include a range of building components (e.g., modular partition walls, ceiling fixtures, and bathing equipments) and an assistant knowledgebased system (to ensure that relevant design rules are obeyed when these building components are added in a virtual interior). In doing so, the proposed webbased tool can be developed and upgraded to solve more complex design problems.

The process of designing in architecture depends on the medium in which the architect and the client communicate i.e. it can vary from 2D drawings to 3D views and now by using the technology of virtual reality in architecture we can make the client feel the space and environment of the design by visualisation and sound effects the rendered images are created 60-120% faster for creating a virtual environment so that the client can see the space moving in real time. The technology has to be more enhanced for creating a better virtual environment

Figure 2.3: A cardboard model showing a residential interior, photo courtesy of the Howard Architecture Models.

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Terminology and Definition

There have been different terms used to describe Sutherland’s concept and its variations at different times. For example, the term “Artificial Reality” by Myron Krueger was used in the 1970s and “Cyberspace” by William Gibson was used in the early 1980s. The current widely accepted term “Virtual Reality” was coined in 1989 by Jaron Lanier, the founder of VPL Research which developed the first commercially available HMD. Today, although the term “Virtual Reality” has been accepted by the public, the controversy about its definition still exists. To some people, VR strictly refers to “Immersive Virtual Reality”, where “the user becomes fully immersed in an artificial, three-dimensional world that is completely generated by a computer” .To others, VR 21 refers to “real-time interactive 3D graphics technology in general so that it has different types of system environments including immersive VR or non-immersive VR”.

Though the debate over the exact meaning of VR is ongoing, in practice, one necessary characteristic of VR is that a user “can navigate in a virtual world with some degree of immersion, interactivity, and a speed close to real time”.

2.2.2 VR Systems and Technology Requirements There are different types of VR systems in the present, but most can be classified into one of the following three categories: Immersive VR, Video Mapping VR and Desktop VR. Immersive VR “Immersive VR uses a HMD to project video directly in front of the user’s eyes, plays audio directly into the user’s ears, and can track the whereabouts of the user’s head.

Then a data glove (or data suit) is used to track movements of the user’s body and then duplicate them in the virtual environment. When the user cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not, then immersive VR has succeeded.” Other immersive VR systems include: BOOM (Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor) “The BOOM is a head-coupled stereoscopic display device. Screens and optical system are housed in a box that is attached to a multi-link arm. The user looks into the box through two holes, sees the virtual world, and can guide the box to any position within the operational volume of the device. Head tracking is accomplished via sensors in the links of the arm that holds the box.” [3] CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) “The CAVE provides the illusion of immersion by projecting stereo images on the walls and floor of a room-sized cube. Several persons wearing lightweight stereo glasses can enter and walk freely inside the CAVE. A head tracking system continuously adjusts the stereo projection to the current position of the leading viewer.”

Video Mapping VR “Video Mapping VR uses cameras to project an image of the user into the computer program, thus creating a 2D computer character. Although fully immersed in the environment, it is difficult to interact with the user’s surroundings.”

Desktop VR “Desktop VR is when a computer user views a virtual environment through one or more computer screens. A user can then interact with that environment, but is not immersed in it.” The categories of current VR systems. To build up a VR system, no matter which category it belongs to, the general technology requirements fall into four groups .Hardware “capable of rendering real-time 3D graphics and high-quality stereo sound” 20

Input devices “to sense user interaction and motion” Output devices “to replace the user’s sensory input from the physical world with computer-generated input” Software “that handles real-time input/output processing, rendering, simulation, and access to the world database in which the environment is defined” In practice, most VR systems have a common prototype of the human-computer interaction. For an immersive VR environment, all of the visual, auditory and tactile information may be necessary, while for others that are primarily visual experiences, devices and software dealing with sound and tactual sensation can be omitted.

Prototype of human-computer interaction in a general VR system. To make use of VR technologies to solve design problems, designers first need to choose a proper VR system. As summarized in Table 2.1, an immersive VR system often provides the most comprehensive information, but its demands for devices and equipments are also the highest. It is possible for an interior design company to build up an immersive VR system at their workplace. However, clients have to physically visit the workplace to use these devices. Considering the time and overall project budget, employing an immersive VR system may not be the best choice at this point. The second type of VR systems, video mapping VR, is also inappropriate to be selected, because it does not fully support the user’s interactions with virtual objects. To make it possible for the client try out different design options dynamically in a virtual environment, the interactivity of virtual reality is indispensable.

Therefore, this research suggests designers to choose the desktop VR system. Using a desktop VR system, the user can interactive with the 3D graphics presented on a computer screen, and experience some of the sensation of presence to a certain degree.

According to the study by Oh et al., the 3D desktop VR has become an affordable system and the non-immersive VR is now available in the system environments including home PCs. The capacity and the convenience of desktop VR system should satisfy the demands of providing non-professional clients with a virtual interior, in which they can try out combinations of various design materials provided by the designer.

Figure 2.5: Prototype of human-computer interaction in a general VR system.

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Web-based VR Based on the desktop VR system An important question is how to share the 3D graphics prepared by an interior designer with the design client, so the client can try out design possibilities independently. If the client still needs a professional’s involvement to view the 3D graphics, there is less improvement compared to the situation of using a CAD system. Fortunately, since the debut of Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) in 1994, 3D graphics has become available on the World Wide Web (WWW). VRML and other Web3D technologies developed in the past two decades have made web-based VR possible. Web-based VR supports interactive model viewing within the framework of a regular web browser.

With web-based VR the user does not need to purchase professional modelling software. They also do not need to learn how to use CAD or acquire any specific design skill.

The delivery of a web-based VR system requires at least two computers, the client’s PC and a web server. In most cases these two computers would be located at a great distance from one another. This is unlike a standalone VR system, where all the required data are generated and processed locally by a powerful computer and its associated input/output devices. Consequently, in addition to meeting those technical requirements for the human-computer interaction as in a standalone VR system, a web-based VR system also needs to consider the data exchange over the Internet.

Prototype of data exchange in a general web-based VR system. Based on the research work .In this prototype, the web server is mainly responsible for storing and providing data (3D computer model and other website files) when receiving requests from a local computer. The local computer is the location where all the data (including the data received from the web server and the events input by the user) are collected and calculated for generating the 3D virtual world. During this process, the network capacity and the local computational power are determinants of the overall performance of a web-based VR system. Extended waiting time for the file download or low local computation speed can hinder the 3D graphics rendering and interactions in a real time, thereby satisfying virtual experience would not be achieved.

To help improve data file transfer speed and rendering, the designer should optimize their 3D graphics. Beier pointed out that the core of most VR systems is a computer model, which is a polygonal representation of all geometry involved. The polygonal representation means using a collection of vertices, edges and faces to approximate the surface of a geometric object for defining its shape. These faces usually consist of triangles, quadrilaterals or other convex polygons to simplify the rendering. The number of polygon for the entire model determines the rendering speed.

According to Beier , “Real-time rendering requires the generation of at least 20 to 30 frames (perspectives views) per second. A laptop computer can render several thousand polygons in real-time”. If the models are too complex (including up to a million polygons), powerful computer systems with special graphics hardware are required.

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Therefore, when the client’s computer configurations are unknown, the interior designer should optimize the model’s polygon count to ensure the basic rendering speed for the real time visualization and interaction. In some instances when the client’s computational resources permit, the design models may be created with a certain level of complexity, in order that the client can experience more realistic visual effects. Application Areas of VR Using a VR system, people can experience a real or abstract environment in the three dimensions of width, height and depth with interactivity. This strength opens unlimited possibilities for the VR applications in a variety of fields. This section reviews three VR application areas, which would inspire the development of VR-based communication tool in solving interior design problems.

Figure 2.7: A virtual prototyping for testing vehicle interior, by Virtual Reality Lab at the University of Michigan.

Figure 2.8: A virtual prototyping for vehicle stability measurement, by Robotic Mobility Group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Research strategy To establish a common ground where applications from two environments can be evaluated fairly, it was important that an educational application that has same features and visuals. This is very hard to come by, where the VR application market is yet widely open to the public and the fact that we are at the same time looking for an educational application that full fills these requirements. It made more sense that we would create our own application where we could make sure that both sides are represented fairly in the evaluation. Therefore, we chose Design Research as our research approach. Design research is a problem-solving paradigm that evaluates and identifies problems with an artefact. In this case we would be creating our own artefact (Prototype Application) and evaluate it instead of evaluating an existing one and by doing so we will be able to answer our research questions. To gather the necessary data from our interviews, we realised early on that a standard interview approach would not suffice to gather the data needed for the research. The reasons being the fact that the majority of the people has never had the chance of experiencing VR previously, nor have they had the chance of comparing two similar applications in the two environments to evaluate the differences. Therefore, it is necessary that we allowed the interviewees to experience similar learning applications in different environment first before giving us their opinion. We chose to follow qualitative research approach over quantitative. By using interviews to gather qualitative data, this way we will be able to understand the users and delve deeper into discussion of the topic from different aspects of VR and Mobile applications in education. The qualitative research approach also influences the type of questions that will be used during interviews. The scheduling of the interviews were conducted 2 weeks prior to the actual interviews.

We contacted the interviewees to inquire their availability during the dates we set and to find a time slot to conduct the interview. We estimated each interview to be around 20-30minutes and booked around 25 people for our research. The population is divided into 3 different groups. First group of interviewees are the students of software engineering and management program at Gothenburg University. Second group are the students of Lagmans High School in Vara. Third group are teachers and researchers from university of Gothenburg, Chalmers and Lagmans High School. By having this group diversity in our research, we will be able to assess how the 3 different groups responds to the technology. We will also be able to look at how programming students and non-programming students react to new technology and if there are any differences in adapting to new technology. And lastly whether if the educators are willing to use the technology in their teaching techniques. In question formulation, questions have been divided into 2 parts. The first category of the questions is general information about the interviews and their previous experience with mobile application for education and VR technology. These cond category of questions is performed after the experiments. The majority of these questions are open ended questions that give us the opportunity to gather the relevant data for the study. But there are also closeended questions whether the user felt that the application used by us to evaluate mobile and VR platform was biased and if after trying out the application they would be interested in purchasing a VR HMD. As for the actual interviews, each interview began by asking the interviewee for permission to audio record the session. If permitted, we would then set up one laptop and one audio recorder to record at the 24

same time. This precaution is taken to ensure that the recording would be available in case any software or technical issues would arise. However,If the permission to audio record the sessions would be denied ,the interview would then be recorded by hand.

This way no information would be lost. We continued the interview by asking a few questions regarding the user. This is to establish a base understanding of our interviewee, where we get to know the participant and his/her previous interaction with VR and educational applications on the mobile platform. Once this is done, we present our two applications. Starting with the mobile platform, where we let the user interact with the application and guide them through the different aspects of it. When they have explored all the features we let them explore more if they want to. Once they feel that they are done with the mobile application we switch over the VR application and do the same process over again. During these experiments we encourage the user to utilise the ”Think-Aloud” method to understand what the user is thinking when interacting with the system. By adapting the ”Think-Aloud” method we can find interesting information regarding the mobile and VR applications. However, in our case we are not focusing on UI or the design of the applications. Rather we focus on what the user experience while using the app, so that we can investigate those areas by further inquire them regarding these problems to have a better understanding. Once the interviewee has finished trying out both applications, we start with the second phase of interview. Semi structured interview was applied during this phase, because the domain is still very young and there are many unexplored areas. Compared to structured interview, where you have to follow a strict guideline of questions and not diverge from the pre made questions. Semi-structured interview follows a predefined template but gives us the freedom to delve further into the questions and ask relevant follow-up questions that emerges from the answers of the interviewee. These can be can be interesting topics or areas that we did not mention in our interview. It is important while asking follow-up questions to avoid asking questions that only lead to yes and no, rather it should be questions that are open and have the possibility of following up with another question if needed [22]. By combining semi-structured interview with open-ended questions it will give us the opportunity to follow the interviewee when an interesting topic appears and lets us dig deeper into those areas by asking follow up questions to further investigate the domain. After the interviewee has answered our questions, we also try to utilise an interview technique mentioned

by Brussels called ”Probing”. Probing is a technique where the interviewer tries to prompt more answers from the interviewee [22]. There are many variants of probing, but the two that we found most useful in our case is the Tell-Me-More probing and Uhhuh probing technique. The Tell-Me-More probing is used in combination with the open-ended questions, where the interviewer inquire further regarding the topic that the interviewee brought up during the interview with the follow-up questions. Uh-huh probing on the other hand are used after the interviewee has given an answer to a question ,by agreeing to the answer and sometimes stating a neutral agreement towards the response can lead to a more informative and longer answer.We chose to utilise grounded theory it is one of the most popular data analysis techniques for qualitative research. It lets us to discover, generate ideas and explanations from our data. The data we collected from interviews were transcribed and analysed in parallel the data collection procedure that is as soon as we did our first interview we started 25

the transcription and the analysis of the data that allowed us to capture all possible relevant aspects to answer our research questions. The data was categorised as the following: • General Findings • Prototype-testing • Quality Attributes • Comparison of the application • Comparison of the platforms Once all interviews are done and data has been transcribed and divided into their categories. We look through each category to identify the common denominators trends, analyse the cause of these trends and to explain what are the Underlying factors. This analysis will be introduced and explained in the result and discussion section.

Figure 2.9: An experimental website for collaborative design review,

by Cambell.

Figure 2.10: An online product configurator, by Dauner et al.

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CHAPTER-3 RESULTS Virtual prototyping for product development The term “virtual prototyping” refers to “the design, simulation, and testing of new ideas, concepts, products, schemes, or processes in a synthetic but interactive computer environment”. For product development, virtual prototyping uses VR technologies for the design presentation and evaluation, which is based on a digital model in lieu of a physical prototype. Traditionally, producing a physical prototype is time consuming and expensive. Additionally, only a limited number of participants who are physically present can assess the physical prototype. In contrast to this situation, virtual prototyping allows designers and users to evaluate and analyze products using computer graphics. Relevant product properties, such as functionality, safety, aesthetics, and other aspects, can be studied in a virtual environment. With technical support, this virtual environment can be accessed by one or more users at the same time and at different locations.

Virtual prototyping is especially welcomed in the automotive and aircraft industries where the investment requirements for building physical prototypes are high. For example, many automotive companies and university laboratories have employed virtual prototyping systems to study their candidate vehicle designs [1, 35, 50]. Such a virtual prototyping system can enable the designer and the manufacturer to focus on the very specific design problem each step by creating a partial design model. For example, shows an immersive VR system used to present a vehicle interior at the driving position. Through virtual pop-up menus, people can examine the interior colours, lighting environment and other interior settings. The virtual prototyping system can also be applied to simulate the physical environment in which the product will be used. a simulated rough terrain on which the stability of a high speed vehicle is examined. By means of virtual prototyping, people can test a design proposal and detect design flaws before a product is manufactured. A virtual prototyping for testing vehicle interior, by Virtual Reality Lab at the University of Michigan. A virtual prototyping for vehicle stability measurement, by Robotic Mobility Group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Interior design faces many similar problems to those found in the automotive industry: the time and cost investments for creating a “physical prototype” for design study are usually high. Moreover, unlike the mass production in automotive industry, each interior design project is unique and serves few clients. Therefore, the profit for creating a physical prototype is relatively low. To improve this situation, virtual prototyping can be considered as an alternative solution to study and compare design solutions.

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. Comparison of the Platforms It is understandable for a subject that requires simulation and 3D models would fit better for the VR. Using VR is superior in many fields of education ,in architecture the students get to see their design comes to live in a virtual world. In medicine it provide a better insight of the anatomy of humans and simulating surgeries to measure the confidence level of a surgeon. A subject that requires labs and real life experiments such as physics, chemistry, and biology and nature science is a better fit for VR than a mobile platform. But using it does not replace the traditional means of conducting lab research or real life experiments but it should be used as a tool to help increase the knowledge level. Simulations in VR do not have the same impact on a person as in real life experiments. An example would be a chemical lab where using such technology would lower the risk of accidents and give the students a better control over the experiment. But it won’t help them learn how to handle the chemicals and about the risks when they start their career in the real world [11]. At the same time, as one of the teacher mentioned: in order to successfully incorporate VR into the aforementioned educational environments, appropriate software must also be created in order to fulfil the purpose of the education. From our results we can see the educators are willing to use VR as a teaching technique and setting up labs. Since the students will be unaware of their surroundings ,constant supervision is needed to assure the safety of the students. The educators can control the experience and what the students are allowed to explore in VR with a tablet or computer. If the teaching scenario is to inform the student of facts, the teacher can use a main application to steer the lecture and broadcasts the scenario to the VR machines. This will deliver the lesson as he or she intends and allow the teacher to be in full control of what he students experience. On the other hand, if the lecture in VR is intended to be an interactive process such as a lab to be carried out by the students. Additional software on the computer will be provided to the teachers so that he or she can create the teaching scenario according to the intended purpose. These apps in turn will be streaming back the content while performing a lab; this way the teacher can monitor the students through their main application and provide the necessary guidance when needed. As for software engineering education, in subjects that requires visualisations, VR can be used to simulate the design models and different kind of diagrams with their different layers.

One improvement VR will bring to modelling is the increased area to work on. It will be easier to fully visualise and have an overview of the models and diagrams in whole compared to computer programs. These programs has limited workspace where only a part of a diagram can be displayed due to the limitation of the screen size. However, some considerations needs to be made while creating an educational application for VR. Focusing on simplicity and avoiding complicated menus by utilising the headtrackingandthe360view. This will give a natural feeling and an easy navigation while using the application. Low latency and slow movements of objects should be 28

considered to reduce motion sickness and headaches while using VR for a long period of time. Since VR is heavily depending on the immersive experience in a 3D virtual world, it is important to model the environment with high quality textures and 3D models to deliver the best experience for the students. The adoption or acceptance of VR depends on the age group it was aimed at. A younger audience will adapt faster to VR technology compared to older audience where they might consider the mobile platform to be a faster and safer way to use in education. In the end, our results suggest the mobile platform is more suited for fast learning, where the platform itself offers mobility and allows the user to open up an app and quickly browse through some smaller pieces of information on the go. By analysing our result we found that VR platform is not as mobile and not suited in all environments. But very effective in subjects that requires immersion and deeper learning in comparison to the mobile counterpart.

Figure 3.2: An example of X3D scene.

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CASE STUDY Virtual Reality for Architecture and Interior design –Studio Case Study VR is everywhere now but it’s not a new concept. Our Studio have been monitoring the growth in VR over the last few years with particular interest – specifically its relevance within the Visualisation and Architectural industries.

(The event hosted many of the key players in the future of the built environment. Our guys headed to the Virtual Reality Viewpoint to test out some of the innovative new products on the market.)

In recent years the key sectors for VR, such as gaming and engineering, have led the way in VR technology and exploration. Arguably the biggest advancement in VR was the introduction of the Oculus Rift(https://www.oculus.com/) which began as a Kick starter back in 2012. This was the first real dedicated VR headset for gaming that gave the viewer a true feeling of presence within their virtual world along with the ability interact with your environment. It was however out of reach to most due to its price point and reliance upon expensive performance computers to process the graphics.

It’s still an awesome bit of kit, along with similar devices such as the HTC Vive and the cost is coming down, but we still feel best suited to certain applications like marketing suites and events. The technology and most importantly the VR content created to be viewed within these headsets is also improving all the time, but for now, they perhaps lack the mass appeal needed to really make VR a mainstream form of media for everyone.

VR Experience For The Masses We are now seeing growth in the range of hardware on offer by numerous manufacturers, as well as multiple platforms in which to develop VR and deliver VR experiences. This is making VR accessible to everyone no matter what your budget is. With the introduction of Google Cardboard in 2014, where you can simply insert a regular smart phone into a low-tech cardboard ‘device’ which you hold up to your face to view relatively simple VR experiences.

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Google Cardboard Headset https://vr.google.com/cardboard/ This modest “DIY” headset can be easily manufactured and distributed. Easy to navigate downloadable apps mean anyone can quickly and easily turn a smart phone into a VR viewing experience. These types of VR apps are available now on both the App Store for iOS and the Play Store for Android. These include traditional action or fantasy games as well educational apps for children, to simulating extreme sports and even VR dating! But this method of downloading online VR content to your phone or device opens a lot of opportunities to develop custom built apps that can be deployed anywhere in the world. And it’s this we feel is an exciting opportunity for our clients to view their projects in a new and immersive way.

How does it work?

These downloadable apps cleverly transform the screen on your mobile into a stereoscopic viewing function. This creates the illusion of depth within an image. This VR “viewing experience” does just that – the viewer perceives they are looking around within a 3-dimensional space which helps create a real sense of presence within the space. The current trend is that companies and brands are embracing this kind of technology as a marketing tool, exploring it with their consumers and clients across a diverse range of sectors.

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Example of Stereoscopic Viewing Function available for interactive apps This has been a huge step forward in terms of reaching a mass market and making VR more accessible. Due to its ease of use and ability to be downloaded on most mobile platforms.

What’s next for Our Studio and our VR Predictions Our Studio’s vision is to offer affordable, accessible VR viewing solutions to our clients that still retain the high-quality, photo-realism we strive for in our CGIs renders. One important element to achieving this is not be restrained by access to high end performance technology. We feel these experiences should be accessible by everyone and for every scenario.

Herbal House London App Itunes

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We have recently adapted and taken this viewing experience one step further to offer a more interactive VR tour that’s available across multiple platforms and devices such as iOS, Android, Gear VR, Google Cardboard, iPhone and iPad. What’s more, we are working hard on developing processes so the use of VR becomes an integral part of the design and development process between ourselves, our partners and their clients. We are keen to hear from architects and developers to hear their thoughts on this.

Case Study: Agora Architecture About Agora Architecture Agora Architecture was tasked with creating two new education centers and designing a courtyard gathering space for Cowley College in Wellington, Kansas.

We spoke with the Principal Architect on the project, Cheri Hulse, and other members of the design team about how VR positively impacted their workflow and helped them impress their client.

Why and How Agora Architecture Uses VR What prompted you to consider using virtual reality for the Cowley College project?

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When we began working with the college, they were looking for a way to view their project before its completion to help with fundraising, and as a solution we provided 3D virtual modeling in addition to the standard rendering. After taking care to look at the College’s needs and plans, it was easy to see that virtual reality could help them get this campus off of paper and into reality. The college planned to unveil the design at a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new campus and expected around 250 people to attend, including 25 dignitaries from the State of Kansas.

Cowley College is a great partner to have in this endeavor because they want to push the envelope of education and we want to push the envelope of technology, so using VR made perfect sense.

What steps did you take to produce VR content?

Our steps to using VR did not follow a straight path. Because we hadn’t offered the service before, we did a lot of research and even changed directions a few times before deciding on the best approach.

Regardless of how we were going to get the model into VR, we knew we would work in Revit to create our models. We found that exporting our Revit renderings straight from Revit didn’t provide the aesthetic quality we were wanting, especially in the outdoor areas that we were showcasing. We used an add-on rendering program that really enhanced the grass, trees, people and building finishes.

Finally, we uploaded these toScope for easy distribution and accessibility.

How did you use VR at the groundbreaking ceremony?

Because of the vast number of people who would need to be accessing VR at one time during the groundbreaking, and the subsequent need of it to be portable, we chose to use cardboard viewers. We used both cardboard and plastic viewers which were distributed during the groundbreaking for attendees to take home and show others. These were accompanied by a step-by step instruction brochure we created to show how to download the Scope app, put in the code, and use the 34

viewer. This allowed us to create VR that is portable and easily shareable with many people in a short amount of time. For those who did not have a compatible smartphone or who otherwise did not want to use their personal phone for viewing, previously set-up devices were available to use at a booth and student ambassadors from the college were available to assist.

Using VR to easily communicate the design was a great success, and the people at the groundbreaking ceremony were very impressed and excited to be able to see and understand Phase 1 of the campus before it was even built. Their reaction was pure amazement and awe. These are the reactions we got not only from people at the groundbreaking who had no idea what to expect, but also from the people who have been involved with the design process from the beginning and had an idea of what the campus was becoming. Our clients enjoyed the seamless feature of moving from one panorama to the next. They didn’t have to take their phone out, scan a QR Code, or do something else that involved any inconvenience. It was very simple and effective. Cowley College did a fantastic job of setting this very large and impressive groundbreaking ceremony to be such a success and VR took the whole experience to the next level.

In the future, we plan to upload design and construction progress images to Scope as the project progresses, sustaining interest in the project up throughout completion. Distributing the cardboard viewers and Scope codes was key to our plan to implement continued VR updates.

Results and ROI What were the goals you set out to achieve by using VR? Our goal was to provide the client with an attention-getter. We often run into motivated people who have a fantastic idea for a facility, but they either cannot visualize design from the 2D drawings that we use or the people from whom they need support cannot visualize the design. Offering VR provides our clients the ability to impress their boards, contributors and major stockholders. Convincing these people to invest in and support the project can be the piece that makes or 35

breaks a dream. We also expect that this extra visualization piece will en hance our communication with our clients throughout project design and construction.

Our client is already able to enter VR and experience the design, which has enabled them to more easily talk about what they like and what they want to change. In turn we are able to design a product that best represents the client’s ideas and needs.

How does it compare to not using VR? Were there any quantifiable gains?

Compared to not using VR, there would be less excitement about the project. We believe there would be more questions and more time spent in early design phases. However, because of VR, Cowley College was able to see the design and accept it because it was right there in front of them and they loved it!

Also, I think we would all agree that it improved our relationship with the client.

The glowing comments each designer has received since revealing the result of VR have been very generous. The client is pleased and excited and is enjoying all of the fun aspects of creating a new campus because of VR. Did it improve/facilitate coordination within your team as well?

It absolutely improved and facilitated coordination within the team. When we initially considered providing VR we thought about the associated costs to us and the extra time spent creating these images. It was easy to feel as if VR only served a single purpose and might not have much use outside of initial client impact.

Fortunately, our experience was quite the opposite. We have continuously used VR throughout the design process to choose exterior and interior finishes, colors, layouts and even the final building locations on the site. The contractor selected for the project, Conco Construction, has also been able to view the models in VR and this has helped them to understand and make decisions and contribute to design changes along the way. Our architects have been able to communicate more quickly with each other, and visualize the project and each other’s ideas even better than through drawings and 36

simple

2D

renderings

alone,

enabling

us

to

continuously

make

improvements to the design for the better.

When one architect did not fully understand or was not on board with another’s idea it was very simple to view the model in VR and get a definitive decision without wasting any time. We were also able to make more informed decisions. A major decision helped by VR was in changing the roofline of one of the buildings. If not for VR, we would not have been able to identify and improve this area as quickly, before it may have incurred major costs to modify.

Did using virtual reality meet or exceed your expectations?

VR and its benefits went beyond expectation and far exceeded our goals. As mentioned before, we knew it would benefit the client in gaining funds and support, increase project communication and benefits related to the client. However, we had no idea how much it would help us internally to refine our design and see what we were designing as we designed it. We can honestly say that the overall building shapes would be different if it had not been for VR, which especially helped with the difficult task of designing a metal building to blend in with the surrounding traditional construction. By introducing VR we think we saved time both internally in decision making and externally with decision making. We were able to button up schematic design in good time because the client was able to understand the design easily and give their approval.

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Figure 3.5: Architecture of YY3D.

Case Study: Marmon Mok Architecture

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Marmon Mok Architecture worked on Shrine of St. Padre Pio in San Antonio, Texas as a pro-bono project. We spoke with Carlos Lucio ASAI/ACM, visual designer, about the use of VR to get feedback from the congregation, generate interest in the project, and ultimately to help raise money to build the new church.

Why and How Marmon Mok Uses Virtual Reality What prompted you to consider using virtual reality for this project?

While concept sketches and renderings are a great way to help visualize a project, virtual reality is the most realistic way to help a client truly gain a sense of scale and the proportions of a space. Due to the immense size of this church, it would be challenging without VR to ensure that all parishioners would be able to see the altar and priest from every seat and angle. Virtual reality was also a great marketing tool to show people the grand scale this project was in comparison to the existing structure.

What steps did you take to produce the content used with Prospect?

We developed the initial model using SketchUp for the general massing and conceptual design. Then we transitioned to Prospect in order to virtually walk through each space and take notes of any changes that needed to be made. We would then take it back to SketchUp to perform any modifications and then easily upload into Prospect so that we could see our ideas come to life. This back and forth progression took place throughout the entire design phase of the project until the space was exactly how we wanted it to be.

How do you have your VR station setup?

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We have an entire room in our office dedicated to the VR experience. We currently use the HTC Vive system which allows us to work in our office or take VR on the road to client meetings so that they can experience the designs firsthand. Our VR room is setup with ample space for guests to walk their project, while we have benches around the perimeter of the room for those waiting their turn to do the same. For our mobile VR, we have a laptop and travel bag that easily transports our entire setup to any outside location. We like to take our VR experience to the future project site which helps our clients truly understand how their new space will look while standing in their existing space.

Results and Reactions to VR How did the meeting go?

One Sunday after their scheduled mass, we set up our mobile VR system using Prospect to present our design to the entire congregation. We had a line of people that didn’t dissipate for over 5 hours. From children to seniors, everyone was excited to try out “this new technology”.

Their overall reaction was extremely positive, and they provided comments and feedback about what they liked or didn’t like about the space, which allowed us to modify our design. A lot of people have a very hard time visualizing a space just looking at elevations, sketches, or renderings, but allowing them to see everything in VR was a game-changer. There were several members that even preselected where they planned to sit in their new church once it was built. They were even arguing over who had “the best seat in the house to see their priests’ funky socks” that he always wore to mass.

What were the goals you set out to achieve by using virtual reality?

Virtual reality provides a great opportunity for clients to encourage fundraising for future projects, which is one of the reasons we used it with this particular project.

It is also a great marketing tool for our office. Several of our competitors are just

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now embracing VR, but are only scratching the surface, while we have been incorporating it into our design service for some time.

Did using virtual reality meet or exceed your expectations?

Using VR definitely exceeded our goal as we were able to make necessary adjustments prior to sharing our design with its parishioners. Then we were able to take our mobile VR configuration to the existing church and allow the members to virtually walk the space which was such a great tool to help them visualize their new church home.

Our client now knows that they can trust us to efficiently execute a design without wasting their time or money, and can provide a 3D service that allows their members to truly feel like their donations are being put to positive use.

How does it compare to not using virtual reality? Were there any quantifiable gains?

Without the use of VR we would have depended on 3D renderings, sketches, elevations, and floor plans to convey our ideas. We would have probably built a physical model for the client to use for fundraising, all of which would have cost a lot of money and taken hours to complete. Also, if the client wanted to make a change it would have been much more costly and difficult to revise something without having to recreate all of these 2D graphics and a physical model. This is especially the case in a project with such grand scale; some items may appear to work in a 2D environment, but when brought into 3D they can look out of proportion.

Did it improve/facilitate coordination within your team as well?

This was one of the first projects that we tested out on our team, and the overall experience was the buzz of our office for months. Everyone was excited to walk their projects and designers and architects were able to make changes to their 41

own projects that they may not have seen until the project was under construction.

Now a project doesn’t leave our office without first being tested with VR. As we continue to use VR we are able to better work together to solve problems and work out design solutions prior to showing a client, which is a great time and budget saver.

IMAGE COURTESY OF MARMON MOK.

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CHAPTER-4 Discussion From our findings regarding the usage of mobile applications in education, wefoundthat10participants have not used any educational applications on their mobile phones. The reason for this might be the fact that schools and universities are providing students with the materials needed in their studies. The ability to search the Internet for any topic provides faster access to information instead of downloading an application for a specific topic. The students who did benefit from mobile applications were using it on the go and within the domains of languages and programming. Where we found that they can benefit from learning smaller amount of information, such As words in languages, syntaxes in a programming language and quizzes. Overall, we can see that the current market for mobile educational applications is targeting a younger audience therefore it does not appeal to most of our participants in our study.

Since they are mainly high schools and university students together with educators.

Understandably, most students we interviewed had never tried a VR HMD prior to the interview due to the fact that the technology is relatively new. From the students who had a positive experience, they have had the opportunity to experience VR through a HMD that is optimised (Gear VR, Rift) compared to the students with a negative experience and attitude who tried a cheaper and less optimised VR HMD (Google Cardboard). But this is not the only factor that affects the outcome of the experience, it is also important to have optimised software. Results suggest there is a correlation between the differences in the hardware, software and the acceptance of the technology. By providing the best possible VR solution to the participants, they will be more likely to have a positive experience and an better acceptance towards the technology.

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CHAPTER-5 CONCLUSION VR consist of, first and foremost the immersive experience, where the user can be a part of the virtual world; this offers the user and sense of exploration and involvement into the VR. VR is also an active experience, where VR incorporates active learning.

Because the user is so involved, this also makes the user more concentrated on the VR, but at the same time it also means that operating VR isolates the user from the real world. In we discovered that the benefits of using VR is that it paints a picture of the subject, in our case of astronomy, it allowed the users to experience the scale of the planets. In other fields such as medicine, it has been used to show the anatomy of a human body. At the same time it allows users to perform tasks that carries safety concern so cannot be achieved in real life. In fields of architecture and design, it encourages users to be creative. We also discovered that VR technology could be used in a variety of educational fields, mainly the ones that requires as emulation or 3Dpresentation. From simple subjects like interactive environments to teach kids about basic science facts and small lab simulations to a more advanced higher education subjects like engineering in general, architecture and medical studies.

History and geography are other fields VR can help improving, the ability to relive historical events or explore places in the world in a 3D virtual environment will be the closest experience a student can get. With the cheaper cost and the accessibility of VR, it is a necessary tool in education in the near future. The unique way of delivering information with virtual experience is something that cannot be reproduced with other types of tools used in education today and when used in right context VR can provide a great amount of help for both educators and students alike.

In design, traditional communication approaches may not reveal the details of a client’s concerns or requirements. Without full understanding of the client’s intention, correcting and adjusting a design can be a slow and painful process. Although designers often use CAD to help visualize potential solutions, clients with limited technical skill cannot be expected to properly use these advanced digital tools.To solve that problem, this thesis proposed a web-based interactive tool that allows clients to visualize and comment on potential design solutions. In developing the proposed tool, this research began with a review of the literature in virtual reality. It found that a web-based VR system could be employed to enable non-professionals to view and manipulate 3D graphics using a regular web browser. Given the access to an interactive 3D environment, clients would be able to express their design intention through assembling a virtual design using the standard design components created by interior designers. Based on this premise, this research suggested a new communication framework to enhance collaboration efficiency between clients and designers. In this framework, a web-based VR application was implemented to confirm the client’s design intention. Based on the information collected through traditional 44

communication approaches such as conversation and questionnaires, the interior designer prepared a series of digital design materials and categorized them into catalogues to be displayed on the website. The client then previewed different design options in a virtual environment rendered on a web page. Each option was built using the virtual objects from the catalogues provided by the designer. This process would allow the client sufficient time to communicate with the designer should any concerns arise .To implement the VR application in the proposed communication framework, this thesis presented a specific methodology. The first step was to prepare the virtual design materials used online. Specifically, this thesis introduced X3D, the ISO standard XML based file format for representing 3D computer graphics over the Internet, and illustrated the workflow in converting a CAD-based computer model into the X3D format used online (Section 3.2). The second step was to operate with these design materials in an interactive virtual environment, and this thesis sketched a webbased user interface and specified the script support required for this interface to function (Section 3.3). To examine the feasibility of this methodology, a proof-ofconcept, YY3D, was created, enabling a client to design an interior scene complete with furniture. Having multiple viewpoints allowed the client the opportunity to preview each design option and decide which solution best satisfied their requirements (Section 3.4). The creation process of the virtual design materials of YY3D, including the interior scenes and furniture models, verified the methods suggested in Section 3.2 (Chapter 4). The YY3D’s webbased user interface implemented the interface prototype and its scripts as outlined in Section 3.3 (Chapter 5). Finally, a test of the completed proof-of-concept demonstrated the functions developed in Chapters 4 and 5 (Section 6.1).

The results of this research confirm the technical feasibility of employing a webbased application to facilitate the communication process between clients and designers.

Clients using this YY3D should be able to express their design intention with an easyto use web-based application.

In the examples cited above, it has not only “enabled new possibilities” but also “added value to existing possibilities” in architecture as in the virtual reconstruction projects.

VR’s use in architecture may not be as convincing as the real, due to the present software and hardware technology constraints, however it does enable us to perform tasks that were not possible before or facilitate us to do them more effectively. While much can be expected from future technology developments, such problems are not likely to disappear anytime soon. Hence, from our research we found that even with its current limitations, VR has a potential impact on the way we conventionally think and design our built environment, pushing it beyond space and time constraints.

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