Our fast-paced world demands innovative designs, faster deliveries and lower costs. Recent improvements in virtual reality (VR) technology has empowered designers and engineers to fully understand their work in the 3D world, at the time of design.

VR has an experiential nature which delivers immersion, interactivity and multi-sensory feedback to the designer. (VR) has been considered the most effective design medium as it eases the imagination and offers immediate spatial feedback.

Superior understanding of the design

Design shortfalls can often be the result of a lack of understanding by the designer. Studies show that VR offers increased awareness to the designer during the design process, by easing the imagination and therefore highlighting the relationship between the design and its structural system. For this reason, Virtual reality has been deemed the benchmark for design mediums.

Stress-test the design

Modern VR offers a broad range in in-VR design tools along with the ability to interact naturally with the virtual environment. Using simulated physics, designers can reach out and grab items, test parts, check pivot points and run durability simulations. Such features enable designers to receive timely feedback on the design from downstream functions (such as builders, mechanics or engineers) before the project progresses.

Time and cost savings

Traditional design and prototyping lifecycles featured costly delays between iterations, with feedback being withheld from designers based on external production or analysis processes. VR visualisation shortens the feedback loop by offering immediate feedback to the designer in the form of a to-scale visualisation that can be walked around/through and integrated with. This equates to cost savings related to shorter design times.

RTO are currently seeking partners to work alongside in delivering the next generation of design visualisation solutions aimed at superior design outcomes.

Virtual Reality Use in Architectural Design Studios: A Case of Studying Structure and Construction☆

Author links open overlay panel

Wael A.Abdelhameed

University of Bahrain, Isa Twon, PO Box 32038, Bahrain

Available online 26 November 2013.

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