Study of Lighting and Material Iterations in Full Scale Model Using Virtual Reality and Interactive Architectural Representation

Abstract

Common architectural visualization is using 3D digital model represented in 2D media such as screen and papers. However, this method has two limitations. First, it does not have a full scale to provide a true perception space. Second, the 2D media to represent the 3D model is static. These limitations diminish the user’s experience and understanding of space. Currently, architectural visualization is starting to utilize technological advances of virtual reality (VR) and interactive game engine. The full-scale projection in VR can minimize the perception gap between the client’s and the designer’s idea. It also has interactivity that enables users to explore the space and perform direct manipulation at some design aspects. This paper observes how VR and interactive technology is used to explore scale, lighting experience, and material iterations. The research was conducted for one semester in 2 courses. In these courses, students worked in groups to create, experience, test, and evaluate their design through 3D VR environment and interactive representation. Afterwards, the VR was tested to common users. We examined the enhancement that users get by experiencing design through VR compared to viewing the architectural visualization on picture and discuss how this could be improved and integrated to curriculum.