ITcon Vol. 15, pg. 202-216, http://www.itcon.org/2010/16

Hybrid design environments: immersive and non-immersive architectural design

submitted:October 2009
revised:February 2010
published:March 2010
editor(s):Björk B-C
authors:A. Okeil, Dr.,
Abu Dhabi University;
ahmad.okeil@adu.ac.ae
summary:In pre-industrial times, decisions related to the design of buildings were often made and applied directly to the project under construction. Space and form were shaped in this way, inspired by the direct perception of the forms and spaces under construction and the problems that were defined within the building under construction. Recent virtual reality systems offer modern day designers a similar opportunity by allowing them to get immersed inside an imaginary, computer-generated \"virtual world\" large enough to walk through. In this paper some approaches for integrating immersive virtual environments in the architectural design process will be introduced and evaluated based on experience made using a CAVE facility designed, built and operated by the author in a school of architecture. The findings suggest using hybrid design environments as a new paradigm combining, on one hand, non-immersive design tools such as sketches, models and CAD, and on the other hand, immersive design tools such as virtual reality. This paradigm merges both types of tools and suggests a new design environment that utilizes the high functionality of non-immersive tools with the capacities of the immersive tools without replacing one or the other.
keywords:Immersive Design, Non-immersive design, Virtual environments, CAD, Design process.
full text: (PDF file, 1.874 MB)
citation:Okeil A (2010). Hybrid design environments: immersive and non-immersive architectural design, ITcon Vol. 15, pg. 202-216, https://www.itcon.org/2010/16