Sketching sound in architectural design using Virtual Reality

Abstract

A sketch is an important tool that architects use to visualize and formulate design decisions. The sketch process is a crucial stage where design iterations and decisions can be made fast, easy and abundant. Sketching facilitates idea spawning, design assessment, modification and communication. This exploratory study focuses on qualities with Virtual Reality that can be used for sketching sound in the architectural design process. The study was influenced by Contextual Inquiry Interviews and used trained architects as respondents. The main result of this study is a summary of the pros and cons on how Virtual Reality work today and discusses how to develop a test bed for future research. One of the main cons, as of now, is the bulkiness of the equipment and the fact that it is not intended for sketching sound, yet. Computing speeds and acoustic rendering is another issue on the technical side. A possible benefit of using Virtual Reality is that it gives architects the possibility of incorporating sound in the architectural design process, thus making it an integral part of the practice.