Virtual Reality in Architecture: A Study in Communication

Abstract

How many times have architects tried to communicate something to our clients that they were having trouble understanding? How many times has a contractor misread a set of plans and put in a wrong detail item? How many times is there a mistake in construction due to miscommunication? The answer to all of these is a lot. But what can we do to fix this?

The answer I believe lies in explorations into virtual reality and its application in architectural design. This thesis project aims to respond to the issue of miscommunication between architects and clients and between architects and contractors by using Virtual Reality to increase design understanding and enforce communication between parties.

But how would I go about doing this? How can we enforce communication between clients, architects, and contractors to minimize mistakes and increase understanding of the design given? Can we use Virtual Reality to achieve this?

To fully understand the concept of virtual reality and its impact as a new technology on architectural practice, we have to go back to the past and see how new innovations have changed architecture in the past. I plan to look at the development of perspective drawings, the use of film to explain architecture like with Charles and Ray Eames, and the invention of BIM and CAD programs, and how these affected the profession.

I propose, to answer my question, an interview and study of usage of VR at Gilbane, a design build firm with an office located in Atlanta that uses this technology in such a way to enhance client understanding. I wish to look at their client satisfaction and understanding before and after VR experience. Then, taking what I learn from that, I want to set up a mock client who wants a house designed, and test the effectiveness of design with versus without VR.

In a world where architects and contractors need to communicate to erect buildings, and in a world where clients sometimes cannot read a plan, we can utilize VR to enhance the communication required to complete a job. I expect to prove through this thesis that VR is an evolution of current design techniques and is a more effective means to both design and communicate design.

1st hand research

I reached out to a Dr. Max North of Kennesaw State University, who runs a Visualization and Simulation Lab here on the Marietta Campus. The premise behind his research into VR is to understand the cognitive functions the brain undergoes while experiencing virtual reality, and how immersed the individual is while experiencing it. His lab has a massive curved screen fitted to 4 different projectors that create a semicircle of immersive views in front of an individual. It’s a simple way to take a two dimensional image and make it feel three dimensional. Dr. Max says that the reason behind his research is to see just how immersive VR can get, and his lab is funded by grants from the military to further explore the possibility of using VR as an immersive training tool for soldiers and pilots.

From this interview, however, I gained another one with a colleague of Dr. Max,: Rongkai Gou, a Game Design professor in charge of most of the labs for Marietta campus that deal with VR, animation, and motion capture. Rongkai told me that they expanded their labs to encompass three different floors in the J building on the Marietta Campus, where the game design department is located. He showed me their new motion capture lab, and how they use it to make custom animations for the avatars they put into their simulations. They also have a lab that records facial expressions and voices to map them to avatars’ faces within games and simulations. He then took me to a lab upstairs strictly for virtual reality. He put me in a simulation on the HTC Vibe, a popular virtual reality headset and controller with which I have been thinking to use to design within virtual reality. After this, I took a virtual tour of Machu Picchu on the Microsoft Hololens, and I then learned the difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. As Rongkai explains it, Virtual Reality is complete isolation from the outside world. Augmented Reality is when you take an existing object or view and map augmented digital overlays on top of it. He recommends, due to the analytical nature of my project, an augmented reality approach, and therefore suggested I use the Hololens for my research. I have been granted access to use both of these labs as long as the equipment is not moved from the rooms.

Annotated Bibliography

Kweon, Byoung-Suk, et al. “Investigating the use of virtual reality for pedestrian environments.” Journal Of Architectural & Planning Research 28, no. 2 (Summer 2011): 104-117. Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, EBSCOhost (accessed March 10, 2017).

In this article, a researcher takes virtual reality and uses it to simulate escape from an airport from a pedestrian point of view to help aid him in his design process and his signage.

“An Example of Virtual Reality in Architecture”, Web Article. http://www. bluemarble3d.com/Technologic/tabid/117/post/an-example-of-virtual-reality-in- architecture/Default.aspx

This article gives an example of the practical use of VR to build a chickfila quickly and without errors. The client could review the design in full before it was built and voice any concerns quickly.

Curtis, William J. R., “Modern Architecture Since 1900”

A study of modern architecture, this book aims to define what started a shift in architectural style, and I am using it to specifically look at the work of Charles and Ray Eames and their use of film in architectural practice.

Sass, Lawrence, “Digitally Fabricated: Building Delivery through Kits”, MIT Lecture (2008)

This lecture by an MIT professor is used to show how we can use the digital realm to design houses and make them easier to understand from the perspectives of both the architect and the contractor.

Dimanling, Dom, “The Virtual Hands of the Architect” Master’s Thesis (October 2016)

Here the project is about using Virtual Reality as a design tool, and how effective it can be for the designer to use. This will help with my thesis for both his precedents and his ideology. He uses VR as an evolution of current drawing techniques.