6,227 research outputs found

    Integration of virtual reality within the built environment curriculum

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    Virtual Reality (VR) technology is still perceived by many as being inaccessible and cost prohibitive with VR applications considered expensive to develop as well as challenging to operate. This paper reflects on current developments in VR technologies and describes an approach adopted for its phased integration into the academic curriculum of built environment students. The process and end results of implementing the integration are discussed and the paper illustrates the challenges of introducing VR, including the acceptance of the technology by academic staff and students, interest from industry, and issues pertaining to model development. It sets out to show that fairly sophisticated VR models can now be created by non-VR specialists using commercially available software and advocates that the implementation of VR will increase alongside industryis adoption of these tools and the emergence of a new generation of students with VR skills. The study shows that current VR technologies, if integrated appropriately within built environment academic programmes, demonstrate clear promise to provide a foundation for more widespread collaborative working environments

    Negotiating Reality

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    Our understanding of research through design is demonstrated by a close examination of the methods used in the project lifeClipper2. This design research project investigates the applicability of immersive outdoor Augmented Reality (AR). lifeClipper2 offers an audiovisual walking experience in a virtually extended public space and focuses on audiovisual perception as well as on the development of the appropriate technology. The project involves contributions of partners from different fields of research. Thus, lifeClipper2 is able to test the potential of AR for visualizing architecture and archaeological information and to challenge our understanding of perception and interaction. Using examples from our research, the paper reflects on how scenario design contributes to the production of design knowledge and explores the possibilities and variations of AR. Finally, the paper drafts our approach to design research. The three tenets of our work are: the use of scenarios as a tool of interdisciplinary research, the experimental exploration of media and the intention to make design knowledge explicit. Keywords: augmented reality; locative media; hybrid environment; immersion; perception; experience design; research through design; scenario design</p

    Extending the palette: an analysis of the heterogeneity of techniques for communicating space

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    This study offers an analysis of the increasing range of communication methods required by the emerging profession of the architectural technologist. It reviews the process of introducing methods of communication into the academic curriculum of undergraduate architectural technology students who have a need to select appropriate techniques in order to communicate to various stakeholders, design teams and clients. The paper reviews the integration of three-dimensional computer modelling technologies for the analysis and communication of proposed designs and considers the knowledge and skills which will be required to enable effective representation of increasingly complex buildings

    Annual Report, 2015-2016

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    Simulation and Visualization of Thermal Metaphor in a Virtual Environment for Thermal Building Assessment

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    La référence est présente sur HAL mais est incomplÚte (il manque les co-auteurs et le fichier pdf).The current application of the design process through energy efficiency in virtual reality (VR) systems is limited mostly to building performance predictions, as the issue of the data formats and the workflow used for 3D modeling, thermal calculation and VR visualization. The importance of energy efficiency and integration of advances in building design and VR technology have lead this research to focus on thermal simulation results visualized in a virtual environment to optimize building design, particularly concerning heritage buildings. The emphasis is on the representation of thermal data of a room simulated in a virtual environment (VE) in order to improve the ways in which thermal analysis data are presented to the building stakeholder, with the aim of increasing accuracy and efficiency. The approach is to present more immersive thermal simulation and to project the calculation results in projective displays particularly in Immersion room (CAVE-like). The main idea concerning the experiment is to provide an instrument of visualization and interaction concerning the thermal conditions in a virtual building. Thus the user can immerge, interact, and perceive the impact of the modifications generated by the system, regarding the thermal simulation results. The research has demonstrated it is possible to improve the representation and interpretation of building performance data, particularly for thermal results using visualization techniques.Direktorat Riset dan Pengabdian Masyarakat (DRPM) Universitas Indonesia Research Grant No. 2191/H2.R12/HKP.05.00/201

    Which way is up? Space and place in virtual learning environments for design

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    The role of ‘place’ in design education is essential in providing a structured learning experience that can be trusted and which allows dynamic social connections to emerge in the development of reflective practice. With increasing demand for distance and online learning resources, this paper considers how such a sense of place can be arrived at using ‘virtual architecture’. Analogies with physical architectural space – for example ‘homes’, ‘forums’, ‘studios’, ‘libraries’ can be useful, but in many ways the opportunities for design learning in virtual architecture go far beyond what is possible with physical architecture. We describe how the virtual architecture of an Open University course in Design Thinking has consciously tried to create place rather than space, in crafting an environment with intrinsic learning opportunities, and the benefits this has brought to students studying the course

    The role of virtual reality in built environment education

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    This study builds upon previous research on the integration of Virtual Reality (VR) within the built environment curriculum and aims to investigate the role of VR and three-dimensional (3D) computer modelling on learning and teaching in a school of the built environment. In order to achieve this aim, a number of academic experiences were analysed to explore the applicability and viability of 3D computer modelling and VR into built environment subject areas. Although two-dimensional (2D) representations have been greatly accepted by built environment professions and education, 3D computer representations and VR applications, offering interactivity and immersiveness, are not yet widely accepted. The study attempts to understand the values and challenges of integrating visualisation technologies into built environment teaching and investigates tutors’ perceptions, opinions and concerns with respect to these technologies. The study reports on the integration process and considers how 3D computer modelling and VR technologies can combine with, and extend, the existing range of learning and teaching methods appropriate to different disciplines and programme areas

    A Virtual Architecture Framework for Immersive Learning Environments

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    This thesis presents a set of experimental studies to understand the benefits of utilising architectural design to create virtual environments optimised for completing a series of cognitively demanding tasks. Each field of investigation is reviewed separately. The first field of investigation relates to spatial design and analysis from an architectural standpoint. The second is concerned with memory, spatial abilities, and embodied cognition. Two VR-based user-studies are designed to further explore the potential interactions between these fields of knowledge. An initial experiment called “Archimemory” is based on a memory palace, a historical mnemonic technique, to explore how spatial knowledge representation can enhance memory retrieval. It compares the benefits of using different architectural designs in VR to support participants’ recall accuracy of a sequence of playing cards. The main user study,called the "Immersive Virtual Architecture Studio" (IVAS), validates a new methodology to study the effect of spatial qualities on embodied cognition related tasks. A spatial analysis using the isovist technique provides an objective approach to measure spatial qualities such as openness and complexity. Participants have to perform a batch of cognitive tasks in the IVAS. Results from the spatial analysis are compared to participants subjective rating of the same spatial qualities as well as their performance.Findings suggest that a spatial performance metric can be evaluated for each room, for instance, it was the highest in the case of the more closed (fewer windows) and more complex (with columns) condition. The combination of spatial analysis and performance metrics obtained from these two novel VR applications, Archimemory and IVAS, leads this research to form a Virtual Architecture Framework. Guidelines are proposed for VR architects, UX designers and scientists to adopt this framework to support further exploration and evaluation of spatial design to enhance human cognitive abilities when experiencing immersive learning environments

    Digital technologies in architecture and engineering: Exploring an engaged interaction within curricula

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    This chapter focuses on the development and adoption of new Multimedia, Computer Aided Design, and other ICT technologies for both Architecture and Computer Sciences curricula and highlights the multidisciplinary work that can be accomplished when these two areas work together. We describe in detail the addressed educational skills and the developed research and we highlight the contributions towards the improvements of teaching and learning in those areas. We discuss in detail the role of Digital technologies, such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Multimedia, 3D Modelling software systems, Design Processes and its evaluation tools, such as Shape Grammar and Space Syntax, within the Architecture curricula.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
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