Application of Human-scale Immersive VR System for Environmental Design Assessment- A Proposal for an Architectural Design Evaluation Tool
Application of Human-scale Immersive VR System for Environmental Design Assessment- A Proposal...
Ryu, Jaeho; Hashimoto, Naoki; Sato, Makoto; Soeda, Masashi; Ohno, Ryuzo
2007-05-01 00:00:00
In order to improve the quality of everyday life in urban areas, it is important to properly design public spaces such as plazas and streets where urban residents spend many hours during commuting and their spare time. One of the hardest problems at the initial stage of environmental design is the verification and evaluation of the planning of environmental space before actual construction. The virtual reality (VR) technology could be one of the solutions for this kind of problem. Although several technologies have been introduced, such as head-mounted display (HMD) and PC-monitor-based VR (including web-3D), the lack of a sense of presence, as well as interaction methods are still unresolved issues. Therefore, we are suggesting the use of a multiprojection display system with multimodal interfaces, which is our original system for virtual experience, as a potential candidate to solve the lack of presence and interaction. In this study, several experiments related to urban environmental design evaluation have been carried out. The first was about the evaluation and verification of public space design such as those of arcades and eaves above streets between high-rise buildings. The result showed that there was an emotional release from the oppressive feeling in the streets between high-rise buildings when an appropriate arcade design was adopted compared with when no arcade was adopted. The second was about human behavior in public open spaces concerning seat preference in public squares and the distribution of the surrounding people. Furthermore, we carried out several basic psychophysical experiments on human distance perception in virtual space, which revealed the compression of distance perception in VR space. In this paper, we also introduce one of the main points of this study, which is the unique and elaborate cooperative relationship between architectural and nonarchitectural departments of our university when conducting human behavior experiments using heavily computer- oriented devices. To carry out the experiments, the multiprojector display system, D-vision, which has a 180º viewing angle, and the original navigation interface, Turn-table, were used to provide a high sense of presence and high-resolution images to the user. Keywords: environmental design; design assessment; human scale immersive virtual reality system; interfaces 1. Introduction Even though the best way of evaluation is to use the Environmental design in public spaces has become real environment, it is almost impossible to use the an increasingly important part of urban planning real world itself as a comparative evaluation object because such design has a tremendous psychological because the variations of environmental design are and physical influence on the everyday life of urban usually fixed to those applicable in the real world residents. In order to design the environment and at the time when the assessments are carried out. s u r r o u n d i n g s o f a c i t y a s a p l a c e t o r e l a x a n d b e In the design verification process, it is difficult to comfortable in, the evaluation of environmental design exchange alternatives. This is one of the most difficult is an essential process before the actual construction. obstacles in the verification and evaluation process of environmental design in the real world. One of the possible methods is to use endoscopy *Contact Author: Jaeho Ryu, Research Fellow, Department of with small-scale models to experience the unbuilt Built Environment, Mailbox G3-4, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, environmental space (Ohno, 2001). Although it is a Yokohama, 226-8502 Japan good method of representing the planning of open Tel: +81-45-924-5613 Fax: +81-45-924-5492 spaces or street design proposals, with video cameras e-mail: jaehoryu@enveng.titech.ac.jp and mock-up models providing images as if the user ( Received October 8, 2006 ; accepted March 14, 2007 ) Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering/May 2007/64 57 is standing inside the model world, the user is still approximations of the perception and interaction with required to wear a pair of spectacles or to watch the spatial and architectural features of naturally occurring monitor. Also, the absence of interaction between the settings than do other types of simulation (such as user and the representation is another demerit of the drawings, scale models, and slides) and offers ample camera-video-based method. Furthermore, this kind means of carefully registering and studying behavior in of system has some difficulty in providing several the desired environments (De Kort, 2003). variables, interactive factors, and active behaviors In this paper, we will introduce several experiments of the user during the evaluation process, because on urban environmental evaluation using human-scale preparing and exchanging the parts of the small-scale immersive virtual environments, distance perception models require cost and labor. experiments concerning the differences between virtual The augmented reality (AR) system, by which three- space and real space, and the unique and elaborate dimensional (3D) virtual objects are generated and cooperative process between the different departments rendered into a real environment in real time, may at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) when be another method of realizing computer graphics conducting heavily computer-related technical-skill- ( C G ) - g e n e r a t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f u r b a n d e s i g n required architectural experiments. (Azuma, 1997; Shen, 2001; Broll, 2004). The visual incorporation of the rich information available in the 2. Virtual Reality in Architecture real world into the VR world is one of the merits of this VR technology, developed from computer graphics, kind of system. Although the user interaction in this h a s a g r e a t c a p a b i l i t y t o v i s u a l i z e t h e i m a g e s o f VR space is limited because of the need to wear a pair nonexistent or difficult-to-realize objects in the real of spectacles, AR is an effective method for providing world. Because of this high visualization capability, the the sense of presence. However, the limited resolution architectural discipline, among the various industrial of the video image when merging it with CG-generated fields, has been considered to have profited the most objects in VR is the disadvantage of this application. from VR technology. An architectural creation mostly Also, the short focal distance of the head-mounted a p p e a l s t o v i s u a l e x p r e s s i o n , w h i c h i s t h e m o s t display from the eye causes visual fatigue in long-time powerful function of VR. Consequently, VR provides tasking. a means of simulating the sense of being inside a R e c e n t l y, h u m a n - s c a l e i m m e r s i v e v i r t u a l building and provides observers with a qualitative e n v i r o n m e n t s a r e b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d a s a u s e f u l advantage over other means of representation (Kalay, verification and evaluation tool for environmental 2004). d e s i g n . T h e f i r s t p r o t o t y p e o f i m m e r s i v e v i r t u a l In the early stage of VR technology, the low quality environments, CAVE, a projection-based VR system of visual representation was a critical problem that developed by Illinois University in 1993, has four flat affected the sense of presence of the user in virtual screens to provide a wide viewing angle to the user space, which relies heavily on the computer graphics inside the system (Cruz-Neira, 1993). Compared with progress and the hardware system for creating virtual other VR systems such as HMD, the human-scale environments. The HMD was the first immersive system has several merits such as high resolution, virtual environment that was used in the industrial field wide viewing angle, and active human behavior or (Sutherland, 1966). Even today, the HMD system still interaction in the system, for example, self-motivated has a relatively low resolution of the display image walking for navigation, which is an essential function compared with the resolution ability of the human during the assessment process of environmental design. eye and this must be improved. Furthermore, the Also, it is reported that the use of virtual environments eye fatigue problems such as headache, vertigo and as virtual experimental laboratories provides better nausea caused by the long task time and the short focal Fig.1. Workflow of Virtual Modeling Task for Design Evaluation 58 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu distance to the image displayed on the screen, remain The OpenGL code is also usable to express the object unsolved. at this stage. The viewer program can import the T h e f i r s t h u m a n - s c a l e i m m e r s i v e v i r t u a l VRML data file with texture images as the 3D object environment, CAVE, has four 10-foot screens and a and the mapping image to represent the virtual space. user interface for interaction. After the introduction of The modification of the VRML file format will return the first human-scale immersive virtual environment, to the 3D modeler stage. several architectural applications were researched 3.1 D-vision and proposed to support the architectural design We h a v e u s e d o u r o r i g i n a l d i s p l a y s y s t e m , process. For example, Leigh reported a study about "D-vision", which is a multiprojection system, to the multiperspective collaborative design process create the virtual space for the subject. D-vision has a in a networked virtual environment and CALVIN, 6 meter (width) x 4 meter (height) x 1.5 meter (depth) a collaborative architectural layout with immersive screen and 24 projectors to realize stereoscopic image navigation (Leigh, 1996). He developed the techniques display. The central flat part of the screen is for rear required to support general collaborative work in projection using eight projectors that display images persistent virtual environments. He also emphasized w i t h S X G A , 1 2 8 0 x 1 0 2 4 p i x e l r e s o l u t i o n . T h e the importance of using the multiple perspectives to remaining part of the screen is for front projection apply VR in the earlier, more creative, phases of the using sixteen projectors with XGA, 1024 x 768 pixel design process, rather than merely for a walkthrough resolution. The projectors were set up at the positions of the final design. In another research, Hill proposed indicated in Fig.2. The projectors for front projection VADeT as a virtual architectural design tool (Hill, are mounted on posts. Eight pairs of projectors are 1999). VADeT provides a computer-aided design used to project stereoscopic images, the left-eye image capability to enhance the conventional method of and the right-eye image, onto the rear projection screen sketching a design concept on paper and to simulate the and the upper and lower cylindrical parts of the front thinking. He also introduced menu tools for building projection screen. We used orthogonal linear polarized models in virtual environments at various scales. Even light to project each image for the left and the right though there have been some proposals concerning eye. creative methods of architectural design, the usability In D-vision, the user can walk freely in the virtual of human-scale virtual environments as an evaluation world using Turn-table as the locomotion interface. tool of environmental design has not been investigated There are four pressure sensors below Turn-table sufficiently from the viewpoint of various aspects such that send the stepping pressure data to the computer. as psychophysics, human factors, and non architectural By checking the value of each sensor, the computer cooperative work. calculates the direction of the user and rotates Turn- table to make the user face the front screen. The user 3. Environmental Design Evaluation Tool Using the always faces the screen directly through the control of Human Scale VR System the rotation of Turn-table. For this reason, the viewer The human-scale immersive virtual environment is can walk to any direction infinitely while facing the the most powerful system for evaluating environmental front screen. The actual walking action causes the design, including urban planning and architectural viewer to feel a high sense of immersion in D-vision. d e s i g n . O n e o f t h e c o m m e r c i a l V R p r o d u c t s o f 3.2 Environmental Design Evaluation Experiments Matsushita company, CyberDome, is used as a VR Experiments concerning environmental design environmental project support tool for reviewing and have been conducted for several years through the consensus-building processes in civil engineering and urban developmental projects by construction companies, civil engineers, planners, designers, and residents (Shibano, 2003). Fig.1. illustrates the typical workflow for realizing the visual presentation and evaluation process in the human-scale immersive VR system. The preliminary architectural design work must be converted into a 3D model that can be projected onto the screen via the computer graphic program in the VR system. The virtual reality modeling language (VRML) file format, which is common 3D model data format for VR viewer programs, can be used in our system. I n m o r e d e t a i l , t h e d e s i g n e r c a n c r e a t e a n architectural and landscape model using the common 3D-modeler and convert it into the VRML file format. Fig.2. The Composition of D-vision JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 59 cooperation of two laboratories in the departments of built environment and computer science at TIT. The survey scope of experiments is wide: from human behavior research to the psychophysical effects of environmental design. In this paper, we will introduce some of them to explain the usefulness of adopting the human-scale immersive environments for the assessment of environmental design evaluation. 3.2.1 Evaluation of Architectural Treatments to Reduce Oppressive Feelings in Streets We have conducted an experiment to examine the effectiveness of architectural treatments in reducing oppressive feelings caused by high-rise buildings along city streets (Soeda, 2003). The oppressive feelings caused by these high-rise buildings are becoming Fig.4. Evaluation of Architectural Treatment in Street a serious problem in urban areas because there is a greater frequency of walking among such high-rise that covering the overhead space with arcades and buildings. We set up architectural treatments, such as providing a horizontal spatial expansion by installing arcades and eaves, as experimental constraints for the transparent glass at the ground floors of buildings can awareness of the vertical direction, and window display control people's awareness of vertical direction and and transparent glass for the awareness of horizontal significantly reduce feelings of oppression. direction. The 5-meter wide streets and 35-meter and The fact that the immersive human-scale virtual 7-meter high buildings along the streets are adopted as environment can provide an image with a 180º viewing the experimental variation. Through the use of Turn- angle is one of the factors that enable the setting up of table, the user can navigate freely, such as walk, turn, various building conditions and architectural treatments and stop, in the virtual city street, just as in real space, in experiments. In particular, the semispherical screen as shown in Fig.4. provides an effective upper field of view for subjects Fewer subjects noticed the change in the atmosphere inside the system, as shown in Fig.4. This human-scale caused by the height of buildings when transparent VR system has the merits of providing not only various glass and arcades were provided along the street, conditions but also a high sense of presence. as shown in the graph in Fig.3. The results showed 3.2.2 Preference of Place to Stay in Public Space A human behavior experiment was conducted to survey people's seat preferences in a public plaza and the influence from the distribution of the surrounding people using D-vision with the Quake- game engine that enables high-quality scene rendering with little effort (Ryu, 2006). In this study a series of experiments in both real and virtual settings has been conducted in order to extract quantitative relationships between subjects' seat preferences and the presence of nearby Fig.3. The Ratio of the Subjects Who Felt the Difference of Atmosphere Caused by the Change of Building Fig.5. Preference of Place to Stay Experiment in Real & VR 60 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu Table 1. Correlation Coefficients and Average Variance between strangers and to clarify what factors influence seat Real and Virtual Space Data choices, as shown in Fig.5. For the characteristics o f th e e x p e r i me n t me th o d s , a s it u a ti o n s u c h a s a person sitting on a public bench is a difficult task requiring many actors and much effort. To survey the quantitative effects of other people sitting on near benches, the systematic variations of sitting people are necessary, which is difficult to accomplish. Two sets of experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, two existing public squares were used (see Fig.5.). At each site, 19 subjects (8 male and 11 female university students) were asked to walk about and to evaluate each of several predesignated positions, supposing they wished to sit there to 1) have a brief rest, 2) read a book, and 3) eat food. In this process, subjects were also asked to rate the seats assuming there are no other people at the site. The subjects rated the preference for a site on a scale of 0 to 20 for resting, reading, and eating. The second experiment was conducted in a virtual reality simulation laboratory at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Subjects were asked to conduct the same tasks as described above, this time employing virtual reality simulations of the two squares used in the first experiment. The validity of using visual simulation was evaluated by comparing of the real and virtual environments by measuring the the ratings made by each subject in the real versus perception of distance, because distance estimation is virtual square. the most basic knowledge necessary for a human to Through comparison of the spatial preferences behave in a space. between real and virtual space, the validity of using Also, how to merge the perception of multimodal sensors, including visual, audio, and force-feedback visual simulation for the psychophysics experiment sensors, is another problem when we use the VR is proved by the similar results obtained for several system as the experimental space. Because the virtual subjects. Table 1. shows the correlation coefficients world is perceived through the information provided in between the real and virtual space data obtained from the system, it is important to understand these kinds of each subject. The results showed that there is a high correlation between the experiments in real and VR interface with multimodal sensors. spaces, the average value of which is over 7.0 points 4.1 Distance Perception for 19 subjects. Even though subjects E, G, P, and S We investigated the reasons behind the difference showed low correlation coefficients and large variance in perception between real and virtual space. We i n a c e r t a i n s i t u a t i o n , m o s t o f t h e o t h e r s u b j e c t s c a r r i e d o u t e x p e r i m e n t s o n d i s t a n c e e s t i m a t i o n , which is important when VR systems are applied as a responded similarly in both spaces. presentational tool for evaluating environmental design In this experiment, we also used virtual characters or planning in architecture or building simulation. In as people nearby who influence whether the subject this kind of application, the short distance is more decides to sit down, as shown in Fig.5. Even though important than the long one because the scope of the actual sitting behaviors could not be represented in this experiment, the human-scale display and the human behavior is relatively small in reality. walking interface are proved to be useful for this kind Not only in architectural applications but also in of environmental behavior experiment. many fields of industry, accurate and proper distance representation is one of the most required functions 4. Discussions Concerning Using the VR System for when the user walks around the virtual space during the evaluation process. Defining and clarifying the factors Environmental Design related to spatial cognition will help the constructor of There is one doubt as to whether the user feels and VR systems to compensate for the difference between navigates similarly in the virtual environments as in the the real and the virtual world in order to represent the real world. There is constant interest in to what extent environment on screen with similar characteristics people behave in virtual space as they do in reality. It is usually said that users in the VR world feel differently a s t h o s e o f r e a l s p a c e . A l s o , t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f from in the real world. There are several studies on the human recognition of distance is a fundamental investigating how humans recognize space in VR research area in the realization of accurate VR systems systems. The fundamental experiment is a comparison for architectural or urban design evaluation. JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 61 Fig.7. Graph of Perception of Distance in Real & VR Table 2. Comparison of Estimation by Physical Distance in Real & VR Space 2M 5M 10M 15M 20M Estimation 4.1 8.1 14.7 20.5 26.3 Estimation VR 205% 161% 147% 136% 131% /Physical Estimation 3.2 6.7 12.8 17.2 21.6 Real Estimation 160% 134% 128% 114% 108% World /Physical walked-distance judgment in the real and virtual h a l l w a y s . We r e c o r d e d t h e w a l k e d d i s t a n c e o f Fig.6. Real & Virtual Hallway subjects instructed to walk to 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 meters without counting time or steps in both real and Before performing the experiment, we proposed virtual hallways while looking straight ahead. The the hypothesis that the insufficiency of information results showed that the distance in virtual space was provided to the user in VR causes a distance estimation underestimated by about 20% - 40% compared with difference from that in the real world, because we the distance estimation in real space, as shown in Fig.7. noticed that users are usually comfortable with moving These results support the experimental hypothesis fast over long distance in VR environments, unlike that an insufficiency of information to the user in in real space, as shown in Fig.6. We inferred that VR causes a different distance sensation from that the different behavior resulted from the shortage of in the real world. Also, the gap between the distance information from sensors in many aspects. estimation and the physical distance was large for short Comparing the distance estimations in real and distances between real and virtual space, as shown virtual space is not very easy because making an in Table 2. The much greater gap at the initial stage e x p e r i m e n t a l e n v i r o n m e n t i n t h e r e a l w o r l d h a s of walking behavior is probably caused by the much limitations, such as those of space, time, and cost. smaller amount of information including that from the Therefore, many researchers have used the existing proprioception organs. real space for comparison with the virtual space. To Up to now, we have verified the difference distance make an experiment possible in real space, we chose in estimation between real and virtual space. Therefore, the hallway near the D-vision system room as the what are the factors behind this different perception experimental environment, as shown in Fig.6. The of distance in virtual space? There may be two factors hallway is about 30 meters long, which is sufficient that are believed to affect the underestimation of for estimation distances of 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters. distance in virtual space. Regarding the image, the The proximity to the system room of immersive virtual resolution, brightness and stereoscopy are included environments is another reason why we chose this in this category. Regarding the system, the field of hallway, because the subject can move to the virtual view (FOV) and other sensory interfaces such as force space quickly. feedback are included in this category. These will be First, we verified the distance estimation by the future research topics. 62 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 4.2 Multimodal Sensing of Information There are other issues in architectural design using the VR applications. For example, the multimodal interface will provide not only visual information b u t a l s o f o r c e f e e d b a c k i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e u s e r. The architectural application, MovingDesk (Ryu, 2004), is a support system for designing the interior of a living room using the force feedback interface, SPIDAR (Ishii, 1994). When we use such kinds of interface that enable us to manipulate objects directly, we should consider the effects of adopting them in virtual environments. Furthermore, the effects of m u l t i m o d a l i n t e r f a c e s o n t h e d e g r e e o f p r e s e n c e or distance perception are complicated and remain unclear. Also, the conventional and the new methods of virtual environments for the design process must be reconsidered and investigated to provide a firm foundation and direction for these kinds of research. Fig.8. Diagram of Collaborative Research architectural department, enabling it to concentrate on 5. Proposition for Collaborative Research the theory or the contents of the experiments. The environmental design evaluation experiment is One of the secondary advantages is that the computer an interdisciplinary issue because both psychophysical department can understand the actual requirements t h e o r y a n d t e c h n i c a l k n o w l e d g e a r e r e q u i r e d t o c o n c e r n i n g t h e V R s y s t e m f r o m t h e p e r s p e c t i v e carry out the experiments. Usually, the main pursuits of a non-developer. The nontechnical researchers' o f t h e a c a d e m i c f i e l d s o f c o n c e r n i n t h i s p a p e r criticisms are often sharp because they compare the are quite different, that is, one is to realize better VR representation with the real environment without h u m a n e n v i r o n m e n t a l d e s i g n a n d t h e o t h e r i s t o considering the technical limitations. In general, the achieve technical advance. Therefore, some special requirements for the experiments are quite high in considerations are necessary in such a collaboration of order to satisfy the expectations of the user. Without two major fields to complete this kind of research. t h i s t y p e o f c o l l a b o r a t i o n , t h e d e v e l o p e r s o f V R F i g . 8 . s h o w s t h e c o n c e p t u a l w o r k f l o w o f t h e systems must decide the direction of progress by collaboration between two departments. The diagram themselves. Sometimes the direction of development shows a circular workflow, initiated from the request does not match the real requirements. By using the of the architectural department, which can improve VR system in real applications and collaborating both the system and the experiment. The merit of with actual users, the developer can obtain the proper this kind of collaboration is that we can utilize the evaluation feedback from the system. Consequently, it characteristics of each field to achieve the synergy is an excellent opportunity to improve their VR system. effect. The architectural department is responsible for the 3D modeling task and setting up the scenarios of 6. Conclusion experiments. In this paper, we have proposed the application of an The computer department is responsible for the original human-scale immersive virtual system, that is, calibration and preparation of experimental devices a multiprojector with the multimodal interface system a n d t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m i n g . D-vision, to assess urban environmental design and O c c a s i o n a l l y, a d i r e c t o r i n t h e o v e r l a p p i n g a r e a to perform experiments on human behavior. We also i s r e q u i r e d a s a n e x p e r i e n c e d m a n a g e r w h o h a s examined several problems in using the VR system as knowledge of both fields. For example, the modeling the experimental space, such as the validity of using t a s k s m u s t b e p e r f o r m e d b y t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l the VR system instead of a real space, the distorted department that is planning the experiments on the distance perception, and the effects of multisensory evaluation of architectural treatments considering the interfaces. Also, the unique collaborative experiments sensitive limitation and the parameters of the system of architectural and computer-based disciplines, the requirement. After the completion of modeling, the workflow diagram, and its advantages are explained, system management group constructs the virtual world giving several examples. using the modeling data. Sometimes, there are subtle T h i s r e s e a r c h i s s t i l l o n g o i n g t o r e a l i z e m o r e requests concerning experimental variations such c o m p l e t e V R a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e p l a n n i n g a n d as walking speed, sensing of the head direction, and evaluation processes of environmental or architectural special events to help smooth the experimental process. design. To satisfy the requirements of actual users, Cooperating with the computer departments to cope h u m a n f a c t o r i s s u e s , s u c h a s s e n s o r y p e r c e p t i o n with these kinds of requirement relieves the load of the JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 63 9) Ryu, J., Hasegawa, S., Hashimoto, N. and Sato M., (2004) and psychological cognition, must be researched in "Multi-Projection Display System for Architectural Design greater detail. In a future work, we are planning to use th Evaluation." The 9 Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural this system in the conceptual design process with a Design Research in Asia (CAADIRA) 2004, Paper Number 81, hand-manipulated force feedback interface. Another pp.901-910. application of interest is as an educational system for 10) Ryu, J., Hashimoto, N., Sato, M., Soeda, M. and Ohno, R. (2006) "A Game Engine Based Architectural Simulator on Multi-Projector disaster preparedness training. Displays." Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2006, pp.613-616. References 11) Soeda, M., Ryuzo, O., Ryu, J. (2003) "The Effect of Architectural 1) Azuma, R.T. (1997). "A survey of augmented reality." Presence: Treatments in Reducing Oppressed Feelings Caused by High- Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. Vol. 6, Issue 4, August th rise Buildings." Proceedings 6 EAEA Conference, Bratislava, 1997, pp.355-385. pp.28-35. 2) Cruz-Neira, L., Sandin, D. and DeFanti, T. (1993) "Surround- 12) Shen, J., Wu, Y. and Liu, H. (2001) "Urban Planning Using S c r e e n P r o j e c t i o n - B a s e d Vi r t u a l R e a l i t y : T h e D e s i g n Augmented Reality." Journal of Urban Planning and Development, a n d I m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e C AV E . " P r o c e e d i n g s o f A C M pp.118-125. SIGGRAPH'93, pp.135-142. 13) S h i b a n o , N . , H a r e e s h , P. V. , H o s h i n o , H . , K a w a m u r a , R . , 3) De Kort, Y., Ijsselsteijn, W., Kooijman, J. and Schuurmans, Y. Ya m a m o t o , A . , K a s h i w a g i , M . a n d S a w a d a , K . ( 2 0 0 3 ) (2003) "Virtual Laboratories: Comparability of Real and Virtual "CyberDome: PC Clustered Hemi Spherical Immersive Projection E n v i r o n m e n t a l f o r E n v i r o n m e n t a l P s y c h o l o g y " , P r e s e n c e : Display." 13th International Conference on Artificial Reality and Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, Vol. 12 Issue 4, Aug Telexistence 2003, pp.360-373. 14) Broll W., Lindt I., Ohlenburg J., Wittk¨amper M., Yuan C., 4) H a n , S . ( 2 0 0 6 ) " A S t u d y o n t h e D i s t r i b u t e d C o l l a b o r a t i v e Novotny T., Schiecky A.F., Mottramy C. and Strothmannz A. Architectural Design System", Journal of Asian Architectural and (2004) "ARTHUR: A Collaborative Augmented Environment for Building Engineering. 5(1), pp.67-74. Architectural Design and Urban Planning." Journal of Virtual 5) Hill II, L.C., Chan, C-S. and Cruz-Neira, C. (1999) "Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, Volume 1, No. 1, pp.1-10 A r c h i t e c t u r a l D e s i g n To o l ( VA D e T ) . " T h i r d I n t e r n a t i o n a l 15) Kalay. Y. E. (2004) "Architecture's New Media" Immersive Projection Technology Workshop (IPT 1999), pp.1-11. 16) 1966, Sutherland creates first computer-based head-mounted 6) Ishii, M. and Sato, M. (1994) "A 3D Spatial Interface Device display: Sutherland created a tethered head-mounted display Using Tensed Strings." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual (HMD) using two CRTs mounted beside each of the wearer's Environments, Vol. 3, Issue 1, pp.81-86. ears, with half-silvered mirrors reflecting the images to the user's 7) Leigh, J., Johnson, A., Vasilakis, C. and DeFanti, T. (1996) "Multi- eyes. Another system determined where the user was looking and perspective collaborative design in persistent network virtual projected a monoscopic wireframe image such that it appeared environment." Proceedings of IEEE Virtual Reality Annual as if a cube was floating in mid-air. The bulk of the system was International Symposium'96, pp.253-260. attached to the ceiling above the wearer's head. http://www.media. 8) Ohno, R., Aoki, H., Soeda, M. (2001) "A Visual Simulation by mit.edu/wearables/lizzy/timeline.html Realtime CG Overlaid on the Video Image of a Scale Model." AIJ J. Technol. Des. No. 12, pp.135-138. 64 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu
http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.pngJournal of Asian Architecture and Building EngineeringTaylor & Francishttp://www.deepdyve.com/lp/taylor-francis/application-of-human-scale-immersive-vr-system-for-environmental-ZcLxLro8vF
Application of Human-scale Immersive VR System for Environmental Design Assessment- A Proposal for an Architectural Design Evaluation Tool
Application of Human-scale Immersive VR System for Environmental Design Assessment- A Proposal for an Architectural Design Evaluation Tool
Abstract
AbstractIn order to improve the quality of everyday life in urban areas, it is important to properly design public spaces such as plazas and streets where urban residents spend many hours during commuting and their spare time. One of the hardest problems at the initial stage of environmental design is the verification and evaluation of the planning of environmental space before actual construction. The virtual reality (VR) technology could be one of the solutions for this kind of problem....
In order to improve the quality of everyday life in urban areas, it is important to properly design public spaces such as plazas and streets where urban residents spend many hours during commuting and their spare time. One of the hardest problems at the initial stage of environmental design is the verification and evaluation of the planning of environmental space before actual construction. The virtual reality (VR) technology could be one of the solutions for this kind of problem. Although several technologies have been introduced, such as head-mounted display (HMD) and PC-monitor-based VR (including web-3D), the lack of a sense of presence, as well as interaction methods are still unresolved issues. Therefore, we are suggesting the use of a multiprojection display system with multimodal interfaces, which is our original system for virtual experience, as a potential candidate to solve the lack of presence and interaction. In this study, several experiments related to urban environmental design evaluation have been carried out. The first was about the evaluation and verification of public space design such as those of arcades and eaves above streets between high-rise buildings. The result showed that there was an emotional release from the oppressive feeling in the streets between high-rise buildings when an appropriate arcade design was adopted compared with when no arcade was adopted. The second was about human behavior in public open spaces concerning seat preference in public squares and the distribution of the surrounding people. Furthermore, we carried out several basic psychophysical experiments on human distance perception in virtual space, which revealed the compression of distance perception in VR space. In this paper, we also introduce one of the main points of this study, which is the unique and elaborate cooperative relationship between architectural and nonarchitectural departments of our university when conducting human behavior experiments using heavily computer- oriented devices. To carry out the experiments, the multiprojector display system, D-vision, which has a 180º viewing angle, and the original navigation interface, Turn-table, were used to provide a high sense of presence and high-resolution images to the user. Keywords: environmental design; design assessment; human scale immersive virtual reality system; interfaces 1. Introduction Even though the best way of evaluation is to use the Environmental design in public spaces has become real environment, it is almost impossible to use the an increasingly important part of urban planning real world itself as a comparative evaluation object because such design has a tremendous psychological because the variations of environmental design are and physical influence on the everyday life of urban usually fixed to those applicable in the real world residents. In order to design the environment and at the time when the assessments are carried out. s u r r o u n d i n g s o f a c i t y a s a p l a c e t o r e l a x a n d b e In the design verification process, it is difficult to comfortable in, the evaluation of environmental design exchange alternatives. This is one of the most difficult is an essential process before the actual construction. obstacles in the verification and evaluation process of environmental design in the real world. One of the possible methods is to use endoscopy *Contact Author: Jaeho Ryu, Research Fellow, Department of with small-scale models to experience the unbuilt Built Environment, Mailbox G3-4, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, environmental space (Ohno, 2001). Although it is a Yokohama, 226-8502 Japan good method of representing the planning of open Tel: +81-45-924-5613 Fax: +81-45-924-5492 spaces or street design proposals, with video cameras e-mail: jaehoryu@enveng.titech.ac.jp and mock-up models providing images as if the user ( Received October 8, 2006 ; accepted March 14, 2007 ) Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering/May 2007/64 57 is standing inside the model world, the user is still approximations of the perception and interaction with required to wear a pair of spectacles or to watch the spatial and architectural features of naturally occurring monitor. Also, the absence of interaction between the settings than do other types of simulation (such as user and the representation is another demerit of the drawings, scale models, and slides) and offers ample camera-video-based method. Furthermore, this kind means of carefully registering and studying behavior in of system has some difficulty in providing several the desired environments (De Kort, 2003). variables, interactive factors, and active behaviors In this paper, we will introduce several experiments of the user during the evaluation process, because on urban environmental evaluation using human-scale preparing and exchanging the parts of the small-scale immersive virtual environments, distance perception models require cost and labor. experiments concerning the differences between virtual The augmented reality (AR) system, by which three- space and real space, and the unique and elaborate dimensional (3D) virtual objects are generated and cooperative process between the different departments rendered into a real environment in real time, may at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) when be another method of realizing computer graphics conducting heavily computer-related technical-skill- ( C G ) - g e n e r a t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f u r b a n d e s i g n required architectural experiments. (Azuma, 1997; Shen, 2001; Broll, 2004). The visual incorporation of the rich information available in the 2. Virtual Reality in Architecture real world into the VR world is one of the merits of this VR technology, developed from computer graphics, kind of system. Although the user interaction in this h a s a g r e a t c a p a b i l i t y t o v i s u a l i z e t h e i m a g e s o f VR space is limited because of the need to wear a pair nonexistent or difficult-to-realize objects in the real of spectacles, AR is an effective method for providing world. Because of this high visualization capability, the the sense of presence. However, the limited resolution architectural discipline, among the various industrial of the video image when merging it with CG-generated fields, has been considered to have profited the most objects in VR is the disadvantage of this application. from VR technology. An architectural creation mostly Also, the short focal distance of the head-mounted a p p e a l s t o v i s u a l e x p r e s s i o n , w h i c h i s t h e m o s t display from the eye causes visual fatigue in long-time powerful function of VR. Consequently, VR provides tasking. a means of simulating the sense of being inside a R e c e n t l y, h u m a n - s c a l e i m m e r s i v e v i r t u a l building and provides observers with a qualitative e n v i r o n m e n t s a r e b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d a s a u s e f u l advantage over other means of representation (Kalay, verification and evaluation tool for environmental 2004). d e s i g n . T h e f i r s t p r o t o t y p e o f i m m e r s i v e v i r t u a l In the early stage of VR technology, the low quality environments, CAVE, a projection-based VR system of visual representation was a critical problem that developed by Illinois University in 1993, has four flat affected the sense of presence of the user in virtual screens to provide a wide viewing angle to the user space, which relies heavily on the computer graphics inside the system (Cruz-Neira, 1993). Compared with progress and the hardware system for creating virtual other VR systems such as HMD, the human-scale environments. The HMD was the first immersive system has several merits such as high resolution, virtual environment that was used in the industrial field wide viewing angle, and active human behavior or (Sutherland, 1966). Even today, the HMD system still interaction in the system, for example, self-motivated has a relatively low resolution of the display image walking for navigation, which is an essential function compared with the resolution ability of the human during the assessment process of environmental design. eye and this must be improved. Furthermore, the Also, it is reported that the use of virtual environments eye fatigue problems such as headache, vertigo and as virtual experimental laboratories provides better nausea caused by the long task time and the short focal Fig.1. Workflow of Virtual Modeling Task for Design Evaluation 58 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu distance to the image displayed on the screen, remain The OpenGL code is also usable to express the object unsolved. at this stage. The viewer program can import the T h e f i r s t h u m a n - s c a l e i m m e r s i v e v i r t u a l VRML data file with texture images as the 3D object environment, CAVE, has four 10-foot screens and a and the mapping image to represent the virtual space. user interface for interaction. After the introduction of The modification of the VRML file format will return the first human-scale immersive virtual environment, to the 3D modeler stage. several architectural applications were researched 3.1 D-vision and proposed to support the architectural design We h a v e u s e d o u r o r i g i n a l d i s p l a y s y s t e m , process. For example, Leigh reported a study about "D-vision", which is a multiprojection system, to the multiperspective collaborative design process create the virtual space for the subject. D-vision has a in a networked virtual environment and CALVIN, 6 meter (width) x 4 meter (height) x 1.5 meter (depth) a collaborative architectural layout with immersive screen and 24 projectors to realize stereoscopic image navigation (Leigh, 1996). He developed the techniques display. The central flat part of the screen is for rear required to support general collaborative work in projection using eight projectors that display images persistent virtual environments. He also emphasized w i t h S X G A , 1 2 8 0 x 1 0 2 4 p i x e l r e s o l u t i o n . T h e the importance of using the multiple perspectives to remaining part of the screen is for front projection apply VR in the earlier, more creative, phases of the using sixteen projectors with XGA, 1024 x 768 pixel design process, rather than merely for a walkthrough resolution. The projectors were set up at the positions of the final design. In another research, Hill proposed indicated in Fig.2. The projectors for front projection VADeT as a virtual architectural design tool (Hill, are mounted on posts. Eight pairs of projectors are 1999). VADeT provides a computer-aided design used to project stereoscopic images, the left-eye image capability to enhance the conventional method of and the right-eye image, onto the rear projection screen sketching a design concept on paper and to simulate the and the upper and lower cylindrical parts of the front thinking. He also introduced menu tools for building projection screen. We used orthogonal linear polarized models in virtual environments at various scales. Even light to project each image for the left and the right though there have been some proposals concerning eye. creative methods of architectural design, the usability In D-vision, the user can walk freely in the virtual of human-scale virtual environments as an evaluation world using Turn-table as the locomotion interface. tool of environmental design has not been investigated There are four pressure sensors below Turn-table sufficiently from the viewpoint of various aspects such that send the stepping pressure data to the computer. as psychophysics, human factors, and non architectural By checking the value of each sensor, the computer cooperative work. calculates the direction of the user and rotates Turn- table to make the user face the front screen. The user 3. Environmental Design Evaluation Tool Using the always faces the screen directly through the control of Human Scale VR System the rotation of Turn-table. For this reason, the viewer The human-scale immersive virtual environment is can walk to any direction infinitely while facing the the most powerful system for evaluating environmental front screen. The actual walking action causes the design, including urban planning and architectural viewer to feel a high sense of immersion in D-vision. d e s i g n . O n e o f t h e c o m m e r c i a l V R p r o d u c t s o f 3.2 Environmental Design Evaluation Experiments Matsushita company, CyberDome, is used as a VR Experiments concerning environmental design environmental project support tool for reviewing and have been conducted for several years through the consensus-building processes in civil engineering and urban developmental projects by construction companies, civil engineers, planners, designers, and residents (Shibano, 2003). Fig.1. illustrates the typical workflow for realizing the visual presentation and evaluation process in the human-scale immersive VR system. The preliminary architectural design work must be converted into a 3D model that can be projected onto the screen via the computer graphic program in the VR system. The virtual reality modeling language (VRML) file format, which is common 3D model data format for VR viewer programs, can be used in our system. I n m o r e d e t a i l , t h e d e s i g n e r c a n c r e a t e a n architectural and landscape model using the common 3D-modeler and convert it into the VRML file format. Fig.2. The Composition of D-vision JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 59 cooperation of two laboratories in the departments of built environment and computer science at TIT. The survey scope of experiments is wide: from human behavior research to the psychophysical effects of environmental design. In this paper, we will introduce some of them to explain the usefulness of adopting the human-scale immersive environments for the assessment of environmental design evaluation. 3.2.1 Evaluation of Architectural Treatments to Reduce Oppressive Feelings in Streets We have conducted an experiment to examine the effectiveness of architectural treatments in reducing oppressive feelings caused by high-rise buildings along city streets (Soeda, 2003). The oppressive feelings caused by these high-rise buildings are becoming Fig.4. Evaluation of Architectural Treatment in Street a serious problem in urban areas because there is a greater frequency of walking among such high-rise that covering the overhead space with arcades and buildings. We set up architectural treatments, such as providing a horizontal spatial expansion by installing arcades and eaves, as experimental constraints for the transparent glass at the ground floors of buildings can awareness of the vertical direction, and window display control people's awareness of vertical direction and and transparent glass for the awareness of horizontal significantly reduce feelings of oppression. direction. The 5-meter wide streets and 35-meter and The fact that the immersive human-scale virtual 7-meter high buildings along the streets are adopted as environment can provide an image with a 180º viewing the experimental variation. Through the use of Turn- angle is one of the factors that enable the setting up of table, the user can navigate freely, such as walk, turn, various building conditions and architectural treatments and stop, in the virtual city street, just as in real space, in experiments. In particular, the semispherical screen as shown in Fig.4. provides an effective upper field of view for subjects Fewer subjects noticed the change in the atmosphere inside the system, as shown in Fig.4. This human-scale caused by the height of buildings when transparent VR system has the merits of providing not only various glass and arcades were provided along the street, conditions but also a high sense of presence. as shown in the graph in Fig.3. The results showed 3.2.2 Preference of Place to Stay in Public Space A human behavior experiment was conducted to survey people's seat preferences in a public plaza and the influence from the distribution of the surrounding people using D-vision with the Quake- game engine that enables high-quality scene rendering with little effort (Ryu, 2006). In this study a series of experiments in both real and virtual settings has been conducted in order to extract quantitative relationships between subjects' seat preferences and the presence of nearby Fig.3. The Ratio of the Subjects Who Felt the Difference of Atmosphere Caused by the Change of Building Fig.5. Preference of Place to Stay Experiment in Real & VR 60 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu Table 1. Correlation Coefficients and Average Variance between strangers and to clarify what factors influence seat Real and Virtual Space Data choices, as shown in Fig.5. For the characteristics o f th e e x p e r i me n t me th o d s , a s it u a ti o n s u c h a s a person sitting on a public bench is a difficult task requiring many actors and much effort. To survey the quantitative effects of other people sitting on near benches, the systematic variations of sitting people are necessary, which is difficult to accomplish. Two sets of experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, two existing public squares were used (see Fig.5.). At each site, 19 subjects (8 male and 11 female university students) were asked to walk about and to evaluate each of several predesignated positions, supposing they wished to sit there to 1) have a brief rest, 2) read a book, and 3) eat food. In this process, subjects were also asked to rate the seats assuming there are no other people at the site. The subjects rated the preference for a site on a scale of 0 to 20 for resting, reading, and eating. The second experiment was conducted in a virtual reality simulation laboratory at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Subjects were asked to conduct the same tasks as described above, this time employing virtual reality simulations of the two squares used in the first experiment. The validity of using visual simulation was evaluated by comparing of the real and virtual environments by measuring the the ratings made by each subject in the real versus perception of distance, because distance estimation is virtual square. the most basic knowledge necessary for a human to Through comparison of the spatial preferences behave in a space. between real and virtual space, the validity of using Also, how to merge the perception of multimodal sensors, including visual, audio, and force-feedback visual simulation for the psychophysics experiment sensors, is another problem when we use the VR is proved by the similar results obtained for several system as the experimental space. Because the virtual subjects. Table 1. shows the correlation coefficients world is perceived through the information provided in between the real and virtual space data obtained from the system, it is important to understand these kinds of each subject. The results showed that there is a high correlation between the experiments in real and VR interface with multimodal sensors. spaces, the average value of which is over 7.0 points 4.1 Distance Perception for 19 subjects. Even though subjects E, G, P, and S We investigated the reasons behind the difference showed low correlation coefficients and large variance in perception between real and virtual space. We i n a c e r t a i n s i t u a t i o n , m o s t o f t h e o t h e r s u b j e c t s c a r r i e d o u t e x p e r i m e n t s o n d i s t a n c e e s t i m a t i o n , which is important when VR systems are applied as a responded similarly in both spaces. presentational tool for evaluating environmental design In this experiment, we also used virtual characters or planning in architecture or building simulation. In as people nearby who influence whether the subject this kind of application, the short distance is more decides to sit down, as shown in Fig.5. Even though important than the long one because the scope of the actual sitting behaviors could not be represented in this experiment, the human-scale display and the human behavior is relatively small in reality. walking interface are proved to be useful for this kind Not only in architectural applications but also in of environmental behavior experiment. many fields of industry, accurate and proper distance representation is one of the most required functions 4. Discussions Concerning Using the VR System for when the user walks around the virtual space during the evaluation process. Defining and clarifying the factors Environmental Design related to spatial cognition will help the constructor of There is one doubt as to whether the user feels and VR systems to compensate for the difference between navigates similarly in the virtual environments as in the the real and the virtual world in order to represent the real world. There is constant interest in to what extent environment on screen with similar characteristics people behave in virtual space as they do in reality. It is usually said that users in the VR world feel differently a s t h o s e o f r e a l s p a c e . A l s o , t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f from in the real world. There are several studies on the human recognition of distance is a fundamental investigating how humans recognize space in VR research area in the realization of accurate VR systems systems. The fundamental experiment is a comparison for architectural or urban design evaluation. JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 61 Fig.7. Graph of Perception of Distance in Real & VR Table 2. Comparison of Estimation by Physical Distance in Real & VR Space 2M 5M 10M 15M 20M Estimation 4.1 8.1 14.7 20.5 26.3 Estimation VR 205% 161% 147% 136% 131% /Physical Estimation 3.2 6.7 12.8 17.2 21.6 Real Estimation 160% 134% 128% 114% 108% World /Physical walked-distance judgment in the real and virtual h a l l w a y s . We r e c o r d e d t h e w a l k e d d i s t a n c e o f Fig.6. Real & Virtual Hallway subjects instructed to walk to 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 meters without counting time or steps in both real and Before performing the experiment, we proposed virtual hallways while looking straight ahead. The the hypothesis that the insufficiency of information results showed that the distance in virtual space was provided to the user in VR causes a distance estimation underestimated by about 20% - 40% compared with difference from that in the real world, because we the distance estimation in real space, as shown in Fig.7. noticed that users are usually comfortable with moving These results support the experimental hypothesis fast over long distance in VR environments, unlike that an insufficiency of information to the user in in real space, as shown in Fig.6. We inferred that VR causes a different distance sensation from that the different behavior resulted from the shortage of in the real world. Also, the gap between the distance information from sensors in many aspects. estimation and the physical distance was large for short Comparing the distance estimations in real and distances between real and virtual space, as shown virtual space is not very easy because making an in Table 2. The much greater gap at the initial stage e x p e r i m e n t a l e n v i r o n m e n t i n t h e r e a l w o r l d h a s of walking behavior is probably caused by the much limitations, such as those of space, time, and cost. smaller amount of information including that from the Therefore, many researchers have used the existing proprioception organs. real space for comparison with the virtual space. To Up to now, we have verified the difference distance make an experiment possible in real space, we chose in estimation between real and virtual space. Therefore, the hallway near the D-vision system room as the what are the factors behind this different perception experimental environment, as shown in Fig.6. The of distance in virtual space? There may be two factors hallway is about 30 meters long, which is sufficient that are believed to affect the underestimation of for estimation distances of 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 meters. distance in virtual space. Regarding the image, the The proximity to the system room of immersive virtual resolution, brightness and stereoscopy are included environments is another reason why we chose this in this category. Regarding the system, the field of hallway, because the subject can move to the virtual view (FOV) and other sensory interfaces such as force space quickly. feedback are included in this category. These will be First, we verified the distance estimation by the future research topics. 62 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 4.2 Multimodal Sensing of Information There are other issues in architectural design using the VR applications. For example, the multimodal interface will provide not only visual information b u t a l s o f o r c e f e e d b a c k i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e u s e r. The architectural application, MovingDesk (Ryu, 2004), is a support system for designing the interior of a living room using the force feedback interface, SPIDAR (Ishii, 1994). When we use such kinds of interface that enable us to manipulate objects directly, we should consider the effects of adopting them in virtual environments. Furthermore, the effects of m u l t i m o d a l i n t e r f a c e s o n t h e d e g r e e o f p r e s e n c e or distance perception are complicated and remain unclear. Also, the conventional and the new methods of virtual environments for the design process must be reconsidered and investigated to provide a firm foundation and direction for these kinds of research. Fig.8. Diagram of Collaborative Research architectural department, enabling it to concentrate on 5. Proposition for Collaborative Research the theory or the contents of the experiments. The environmental design evaluation experiment is One of the secondary advantages is that the computer an interdisciplinary issue because both psychophysical department can understand the actual requirements t h e o r y a n d t e c h n i c a l k n o w l e d g e a r e r e q u i r e d t o c o n c e r n i n g t h e V R s y s t e m f r o m t h e p e r s p e c t i v e carry out the experiments. Usually, the main pursuits of a non-developer. The nontechnical researchers' o f t h e a c a d e m i c f i e l d s o f c o n c e r n i n t h i s p a p e r criticisms are often sharp because they compare the are quite different, that is, one is to realize better VR representation with the real environment without h u m a n e n v i r o n m e n t a l d e s i g n a n d t h e o t h e r i s t o considering the technical limitations. In general, the achieve technical advance. Therefore, some special requirements for the experiments are quite high in considerations are necessary in such a collaboration of order to satisfy the expectations of the user. Without two major fields to complete this kind of research. t h i s t y p e o f c o l l a b o r a t i o n , t h e d e v e l o p e r s o f V R F i g . 8 . s h o w s t h e c o n c e p t u a l w o r k f l o w o f t h e systems must decide the direction of progress by collaboration between two departments. The diagram themselves. Sometimes the direction of development shows a circular workflow, initiated from the request does not match the real requirements. By using the of the architectural department, which can improve VR system in real applications and collaborating both the system and the experiment. The merit of with actual users, the developer can obtain the proper this kind of collaboration is that we can utilize the evaluation feedback from the system. Consequently, it characteristics of each field to achieve the synergy is an excellent opportunity to improve their VR system. effect. The architectural department is responsible for the 3D modeling task and setting up the scenarios of 6. Conclusion experiments. In this paper, we have proposed the application of an The computer department is responsible for the original human-scale immersive virtual system, that is, calibration and preparation of experimental devices a multiprojector with the multimodal interface system a n d t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m i n g . D-vision, to assess urban environmental design and O c c a s i o n a l l y, a d i r e c t o r i n t h e o v e r l a p p i n g a r e a to perform experiments on human behavior. We also i s r e q u i r e d a s a n e x p e r i e n c e d m a n a g e r w h o h a s examined several problems in using the VR system as knowledge of both fields. For example, the modeling the experimental space, such as the validity of using t a s k s m u s t b e p e r f o r m e d b y t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l the VR system instead of a real space, the distorted department that is planning the experiments on the distance perception, and the effects of multisensory evaluation of architectural treatments considering the interfaces. Also, the unique collaborative experiments sensitive limitation and the parameters of the system of architectural and computer-based disciplines, the requirement. After the completion of modeling, the workflow diagram, and its advantages are explained, system management group constructs the virtual world giving several examples. using the modeling data. Sometimes, there are subtle T h i s r e s e a r c h i s s t i l l o n g o i n g t o r e a l i z e m o r e requests concerning experimental variations such c o m p l e t e V R a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e p l a n n i n g a n d as walking speed, sensing of the head direction, and evaluation processes of environmental or architectural special events to help smooth the experimental process. design. To satisfy the requirements of actual users, Cooperating with the computer departments to cope h u m a n f a c t o r i s s u e s , s u c h a s s e n s o r y p e r c e p t i o n with these kinds of requirement relieves the load of the JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu 63 9) Ryu, J., Hasegawa, S., Hashimoto, N. and Sato M., (2004) and psychological cognition, must be researched in "Multi-Projection Display System for Architectural Design greater detail. In a future work, we are planning to use th Evaluation." The 9 Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural this system in the conceptual design process with a Design Research in Asia (CAADIRA) 2004, Paper Number 81, hand-manipulated force feedback interface. Another pp.901-910. application of interest is as an educational system for 10) Ryu, J., Hashimoto, N., Sato, M., Soeda, M. and Ohno, R. (2006) "A Game Engine Based Architectural Simulator on Multi-Projector disaster preparedness training. Displays." Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2006, pp.613-616. References 11) Soeda, M., Ryuzo, O., Ryu, J. (2003) "The Effect of Architectural 1) Azuma, R.T. (1997). "A survey of augmented reality." Presence: Treatments in Reducing Oppressed Feelings Caused by High- Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. Vol. 6, Issue 4, August th rise Buildings." Proceedings 6 EAEA Conference, Bratislava, 1997, pp.355-385. pp.28-35. 2) Cruz-Neira, L., Sandin, D. and DeFanti, T. (1993) "Surround- 12) Shen, J., Wu, Y. and Liu, H. (2001) "Urban Planning Using S c r e e n P r o j e c t i o n - B a s e d Vi r t u a l R e a l i t y : T h e D e s i g n Augmented Reality." Journal of Urban Planning and Development, a n d I m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e C AV E . " P r o c e e d i n g s o f A C M pp.118-125. SIGGRAPH'93, pp.135-142. 13) S h i b a n o , N . , H a r e e s h , P. V. , H o s h i n o , H . , K a w a m u r a , R . , 3) De Kort, Y., Ijsselsteijn, W., Kooijman, J. and Schuurmans, Y. Ya m a m o t o , A . , K a s h i w a g i , M . a n d S a w a d a , K . ( 2 0 0 3 ) (2003) "Virtual Laboratories: Comparability of Real and Virtual "CyberDome: PC Clustered Hemi Spherical Immersive Projection E n v i r o n m e n t a l f o r E n v i r o n m e n t a l P s y c h o l o g y " , P r e s e n c e : Display." 13th International Conference on Artificial Reality and Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, Vol. 12 Issue 4, Aug Telexistence 2003, pp.360-373. 14) Broll W., Lindt I., Ohlenburg J., Wittk¨amper M., Yuan C., 4) H a n , S . ( 2 0 0 6 ) " A S t u d y o n t h e D i s t r i b u t e d C o l l a b o r a t i v e Novotny T., Schiecky A.F., Mottramy C. and Strothmannz A. Architectural Design System", Journal of Asian Architectural and (2004) "ARTHUR: A Collaborative Augmented Environment for Building Engineering. 5(1), pp.67-74. Architectural Design and Urban Planning." Journal of Virtual 5) Hill II, L.C., Chan, C-S. and Cruz-Neira, C. (1999) "Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, Volume 1, No. 1, pp.1-10 A r c h i t e c t u r a l D e s i g n To o l ( VA D e T ) . " T h i r d I n t e r n a t i o n a l 15) Kalay. Y. E. (2004) "Architecture's New Media" Immersive Projection Technology Workshop (IPT 1999), pp.1-11. 16) 1966, Sutherland creates first computer-based head-mounted 6) Ishii, M. and Sato, M. (1994) "A 3D Spatial Interface Device display: Sutherland created a tethered head-mounted display Using Tensed Strings." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual (HMD) using two CRTs mounted beside each of the wearer's Environments, Vol. 3, Issue 1, pp.81-86. ears, with half-silvered mirrors reflecting the images to the user's 7) Leigh, J., Johnson, A., Vasilakis, C. and DeFanti, T. (1996) "Multi- eyes. Another system determined where the user was looking and perspective collaborative design in persistent network virtual projected a monoscopic wireframe image such that it appeared environment." Proceedings of IEEE Virtual Reality Annual as if a cube was floating in mid-air. The bulk of the system was International Symposium'96, pp.253-260. attached to the ceiling above the wearer's head. http://www.media. 8) Ohno, R., Aoki, H., Soeda, M. (2001) "A Visual Simulation by mit.edu/wearables/lizzy/timeline.html Realtime CG Overlaid on the Video Image of a Scale Model." AIJ J. Technol. Des. No. 12, pp.135-138. 64 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Jaeho Ryu
Journal
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
– Taylor & Francis
To get new article updates from a journal on your personalized homepage, please log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.
