Virtual reality for smart urban lighting design: Review, applications and opportunities

More and more cities are evolving into smart cities, increasing their attractiveness, energy efficiency, and users satisfaction. Lighting systems play an important role in the evolution process, thanks to their ability to affect city life at night along with people s mood and behaviour. In this scenario, advanced lighting design methods such as virtual reality (VR) became essential to assess lighting systems from different points of view, especially those linked with the city users expectations. Initially, the review highlights a list of objective and subjective parameters to be considered for the lighting design of three main city areas/applications: roads, green areas and buildings. Besides, the state-of-Art in using VR for outdoor lighting design is established. Finally, the Unreal game engine is used to analyse the ability of VR to take into account the lighting parameters, not yet investigated in current literature and to highlight the VR potential for augmenting lighting design. The results confirm the benefit of using VR in lighting design, even if further investigations are needed to establish its reliability, especially from the photometrical point of view

Developing a virtual zoological museum

Abstract. This is a documentation of our work developing a virtual zoological museum. Although it’s challenging to create a virtual museum that lives up to the original, Unity3D and virtual reality technology are utilized in order to provide experiences that a traditional museum cannot. As we aim to digitize the museum that once was in University of Oulu, different ways of designing an educating and engaging virtual museum visit are explored. The animals of the museum can be interacted with, being able to play back animations and audio while also providing information in text form. An interactive forest was also developed as a more natural and lively environment. Furthermore, 360° photos of local forests were added to improve the representation of nature. Virtual reality support was programmed for Oculus Rift, allowing movement and interaction as if one was there in real life. In order to achieve a comfortable experience, some performance optimization has been done to reach stable frame rates. We evaluated users’ sense of presence, experienced Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP), system usability and content quality. Based on our tests, users found the virtual museum visit enjoyable and immersive overall despite being distracted by some aspects, like the quality of the display. Users were also mostly satisfied with the environments and the quality of the animals. Experienced Game Transfer was low, however. All in all, this concept for creating a virtual museum has appeared to be successful, and it could be developed further.Virtuaalisen eläintieteellisen museon kehittäminen. Tiivistelmä. Tämä on dokumentaatio virtuaalisen eläintieteellisen museon kehittämisestä. Vaikka onkin haastavaa luoda virtuaalinen museo, joka on verrattavissa alkuperäiseen, hyödyntämällä Unity3D:tä ja virtuaalitodellisuusteknologiaa on mahdollista tarjota kokemuksia, mitä perinteinen museo ei pysty. Digitalisoidessamme sitä museota, joka Oulun Yliopistolla ennen oli, tutkimme erilaisia keinoja kehittää opetuksellinen ja kiinnostava virtuaalimuseovierailu. Museon eläimet ovat interaktiivisia, pystyen toistamaan animaatioita ja ääniä sekä antamaan tietoa tekstin muodossa. Interaktiivinen metsä luotiin tarjoamaan luonnollisemman ja elävämmän ympäristön. Lisäksi 360° kuvia paikallisista metsistä lisättiin parantaakseen luonnon edustusta. Virtuaalitodellisuustuki lisättiin Oculus Rift:ille, sallien liikkumisen ja vuorovaikuttamisen kuin olisi siellä todellisessa elämässä. Luodakseen mukavan kokemuksen, sovelluksen suorituskykyä on optimoitu saavuttaakseen vakaan kuvan päivitystaajuuden. Evaluoimme käyttäjien läsnäolon tunnetta, koettua Game Transfer -ilmiötä (GTP), järjestelmän käytettävyyttä ja sisällön laatua. Testien perusteella käyttäjät kokivat museovierailun miellyttävänä sekä immersiivisenä yleisesti ottaen, vaikka jotkin piirteet, kuten näytön laatu, häiritsivät. Käyttäjät olivat myöskin pitkälti tyytyväisiä ympäristöihin ja eläinten laatuun. Koettu Game Transfer oli kuitenkin vähäistä. Kaikenkaikkiaan tämä virtuaalimuseo konsepti vaikuttaa toimivalta, ja sitä voisi kehittää pidemmälle

Defining Reality in Virtual Reality: Exploring Visual Appearance and Spatial Experience Focusing on Colour

Today, different actors in the design process have communication difficulties in visualizing and predictinghow the not yet built environment will be experienced. Visually believable virtual environments (VEs) can make it easier for architects, users and clients to participate in the planning process. This thesis deals with the difficulties of translating reality into digital counterparts, focusing on visual appearance(particularly colour) and spatial experience. The goal is to develop knowledge of how differentaspects of a VE, especially light and colour, affect the spatial experience; and thus to contribute to a better understanding of the prerequisites for visualizing believable spatial VR-models. The main aims are to 1) identify problems and test solutions for simulating realistic spatial colour and light in VR; and 2) develop knowledge of the spatial conditions in VR required to convey believable experiences; and evaluate different ways of visualizing spatial experiences. The studies are conducted from an architecturalperspective; i.e. the whole of the spatial settings is considered, which is a complex task. One important contribution therefore concerns the methodology. Different approaches were used: 1) a literature review of relevant research areas; 2) a comparison between existing studies on colour appearance in 2D vs 3D; 3) a comparison between a real room and different VR-simulations; 4) elaborationswith an algorithm for colour correction; 5) reflections in action on a demonstrator for correct appearance and experience; and 6) an evaluation of texture-styles with non-photorealistic expressions. The results showed various problems related to the translation and comparison of reality to VR. The studies pointed out the significance of inter-reflections; colour variations; perceived colour of light and shadowing for the visual appearance in real rooms. Some differences in VR were connected to arbitrary parameter settings in the software; heavily simplified chromatic information on illumination; and incorrectinter-reflections. The models were experienced differently depending on the application. Various spatial differences between reality and VR could be solved by visual compensation. The study with texture-styles pointed out the significance of varying visual expressions in VR-models

Adequacy of Immersive Virtual Reality for the Perception of Daylit Spaces: Comparison of Real and Virtual Environments

This article presents a novel experimental method that uses a virtual reality (VR) headset, aiming to provide an alternative environment for the conduction of subjective assessments of daylit spaces. This method can overcome the difficulty of controlling the variation of luminous conditions, one of the main challenges in experimental studies using daylight, and its novelty lies in the implementation of physically based renderings into an immersive virtual environment. The present work investigates the adequacy of the proposed method to evaluate five aspects of subjective perception of daylit spaces: the perceived pleasantness, interest, excitement, complexity, and satisfaction with the amount of view in the space. To this end, experiments with 29 participants were conducted to compare users’ perceptions of a real daylit environment and its equivalent representation in VR and test the effect of the display method on the participants’ perceptual evaluations, reported physical symptoms, and perceived presence in the virtual space. The results indicate a high level of perceptual accuracy, showing no significant differences between the real and virtual environments on the studied evaluations. In addition, there was a high level of perceived presence in the virtual environment and no significant effects on the participants’ physical symptoms after the use of the VR headset. Following these findings, the presented experimental method in VR seems very promising for use as a surrogate to real environments in investigating the aforementioned five dimensions of perception in daylit spaces

Defining Reality in Virtual Reality: Exploring Visual Appearance and Spatial Experience Focusing on Colour

Today, different actors in the design process have communication difficulties in visualizing and predictinghow the not yet built environment will be experienced. Visually believable virtual environments (VEs) can make it easier for architects, users and clients to participate in the planning process. This thesis deals with the difficulties of translating reality into digital counterparts, focusing on visual appearance(particularly colour) and spatial experience. The goal is to develop knowledge of how differentaspects of a VE, especially light and colour, affect the spatial experience; and thus to contribute to a better understanding of the prerequisites for visualizing believable spatial VR-models. The main aims are to 1) identify problems and test solutions for simulating realistic spatial colour and light in VR; and 2) develop knowledge of the spatial conditions in VR required to convey believable experiences; and evaluate different ways of visualizing spatial experiences. The studies are conducted from an architecturalperspective; i.e. the whole of the spatial settings is considered, which is a complex task. One important contribution therefore concerns the methodology. Different approaches were used: 1) a literature review of relevant research areas; 2) a comparison between existing studies on colour appearance in 2D vs 3D; 3) a comparison between a real room and different VR-simulations; 4) elaborationswith an algorithm for colour correction; 5) reflections in action on a demonstrator for correct appearance and experience; and 6) an evaluation of texture-styles with non-photorealistic expressions. The results showed various problems related to the translation and comparison of reality to VR. The studies pointed out the significance of inter-reflections; colour variations; perceived colour of light and shadowing for the visual appearance in real rooms. Some differences in VR were connected to arbitrary parameter settings in the software; heavily simplified chromatic information on illumination; and incorrectinter-reflections. The models were experienced differently depending on the application. Various spatial differences between reality and VR could be solved by visual compensation. The study with texture-styles pointed out the significance of varying visual expressions in VR-models

The potential of computationally rendered images for the evaluation of lighting quality in interior spaces

Lighting designers have the ability to show, and help everyone visualize the outcome of the lighting design by using tools such as calculations, mock-ups, and renderings. In recent years, the use of digital renderings instead of mock-up installations has become increasingly popular.;Even though the rendering methods that exist today offer the possibility to accurately simulate a scene, this does not guarantee that the images will be interpreted and perceived correctly. Increased applications of computer graphics which demand high levels of realism has made it necessary to examine the manner in which these images are evaluated and validated.;The objective of our research is to determine if classic lighting studies can be explored in a contemporary setting by using computationally rendered images, and to identify to what extent the subjective evaluation of the lighting conditions of an interior space can be reproduced using these images

Assessing the Effects of Illuminance and Correlated Color Temperature on Emotional Responses and Lighting Preferences Using Virtual Reality

This paper presents a novel approach to assessing human lighting adjustment behavior and preference in diverse lighting conditions through the evaluation of emotional feedback and behavioral data using VR. Participants (n= 27) were exposed to different lighting (n=17) conditions with different levels of illuminance and correlated color temperature (CCT) with a randomized order in a virtual office environment. Results from this study significantly advanced our understanding of preferred lighting conditions in virtual reality environments, influenced by a variety of factors such as illuminance, color temperature, order of presentation, and participant demographics. Through a comprehensive analysis of user adjustment profiles, we obtained insightful data that can guide the optimization of lighting design across various settings