KITOPARTS: A Virtual Playground To Explore Form, Space, & Order

Abstract

Architecture students use both analog and digital tools throughout their design process. Ideally, the affordances of each tool complement each other. Our goal with Kitoparts is to move beyond two-dimensional screen based computer modeling environments to create a system that feels analog but harnesses all the affordances of digital modeling environments. With the usage of VR and haptic controllers, we hope to provide a rich and flexible methodology for investigating forms and space. In educational settings, Kitoparts aims to solve three major problems with traditional beginning design exercises. First, it solves the scaling problem, allowing design students to see their designs visualized at full scale and in real-time. Second, it overcomes the combinatorial nature of physical building blocks by allowing 3D shapes to overlap and embed into each other in ways they could not within the physical world. Finally, we include the designer’s “hands” in the creative process. Virtual hands prove to be much more intuitive to use than the traditional mouse and keyboards commonly utilized in most CAD and modeling software. With Kitoparts, the computer model is no longer just a tool for representation; it becomes the user interface for design. Kitoparts allows both seasoned designers and novices to simply play, build, and explore.