A MANAGED INTEGRATION OF AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITIES INTO ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE - OPTIMISING COMMUNICATION OF INTENT AND PRACTICE EFFICIENCY THROUGH SELECTIVE APPLICATION

Abstract

The information age, invariably defined as the “second industrial revolution”, has had pervasive commercial impact across the architectural, engineering and construction industries. In architecture, such developments have been defined by methods of communicating design intent between practitioner, stakeholder and client and, as a consequence, formats of digital display are becoming copious.

Interpretation of three-dimensional form extrapolated from two-dimensional on-screen representation is achieved using accommodation and convergence stimulated from the multiple optical queues of perspective, illumination, shade and subject familiarity without conscious reasoning. Competing technologies aim not to rely on these collective stimuli by developing more convincing tableau.

This study aims to examine initiatives which might produce the next generation of visualisation tools in order to highlight those technologies worthy of intensified research and development. The study also considers related changes in professional relationships and any associated inter-organisational structure while assessing the industrial impact arising from the availability of these technologies.

Hypothesis resultant from forum discussion following a delineation of binocular and auto stereoscopic technologies, existent as commercially available or prototype, were examined. Featured apparatus was made available to a wider demographic for an extended period and data collected was subjected to identification of trends.

To reinforce and polarise findings from direct liaison with professionals, live case studies were selected based on the challenging nature of subject matter and exposure of optical experience to corresponding audiences. Each study considers practitioner attitude toward the advantages offered by portable, distributed systems.

Prognostication based on research conclusions advocates further study into incorporation of more ubiquitous haptic interaction associated with multi-view autostereoscopic initiatives.

An improved comprehension of architectural form was measured by how well CGI initiatives were received at corporate and customer level with the aim to establish if any combination of these constitutes a professional aid or mandatory imposition while advocating a directed model of appropriate application.