A Virtual Reality Applications Gallery: Towards a More Concrete and Dynamic Relationship Between Architecture and Virtual Reality

1. A Virtual Reality Applications Gallery:
Towards a More Concrete and Dynamic Relationship Between
Architecture and Virtual Reality
Khaled Ali, Christoph Anthes, Werner Putschögl,Günter Seiringer and Jens Volkert
ARQUITECTURA 3000
Barcelona, June 30th to July 3rd , 2004
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2. Abstract
The recent interrelationship of Virtual Reality (VR)
and Architecture, has created an enormous demand
for exploiting the capabilities of both fields to Virtual Reality Architecture
support each other opening the door on unlimited
other,
opportunities, such as:
• Improving virtual environments
• Contributing the architectural profession
g p
Improving Contributing
In this paper, capabilities of Architecture have been Virtual Architectural
closely integrated with those of VR in order to Environments: Profession:
achieve a menu that houses the accumulation of • Cognition • Vis ali ation
Visualization
CAVE applications. • Navigation • Communication
• Way finding • The rise of VA
As a result, an architecturally designed gallery has
been proposed to be simulated and visited in the
CAVE. The project incorporates the aspects of An architecturally designed
gallery for VR applications
Architecture and VR to overcome the obstacles of to be simulated and visited
current menus, aiming at better navigation, and a in the CAVE
higher degree of immersion
immersion.
A Virtual Reality Applications Gallery: Towards a More Concrete and Dynamic Relationship Between ARQUITECTURA 3000
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3. Related Work
In th
I the paper, two main groups of related works have been introduced, emphasizing the
t i f l t d k h b i t d d h i i th
interrelationship of Architecture and VR.
Group 1 Group 2
1-The ‘collaborative’ architectural design of the new Introducing a number of architectural elements and
Chemical laboratory building at Lund Institute of navigational tools that to reduce way-finding problems
Technology, Lund University, Sweden. for CAVE visitors, such as:
2 Incorporating
2-Incorporating VR techniques into the architectural
design process, at the Human Interface Technology
Laboratory, at the University of Washington, Seattle. • Signs, landmarks and architectural elements.
• A map study before entering the virtual
environment.
• A dynamically-changing track-up maps that
dynamically changing track up
represent the visitor at the top of the map.
•A 3D image of the VE that can be occupied by a
user and held in a virtual hand.
The CAVE become an updated version of Architectural elements seemed to enhance
perspectives, and facilitated understanding the VE, supporting the demand for better spatial
and communication cognition and higher degrees of immersion
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4. Aims and Motivations
In Johannes Kepler University, Linz, the In general, four main approaches have been
accumulation of VR applications was used to present VR applications:
running at the following rates: 1- Command line or text-based menus,
• 1999-2001, 2 applications a year. similar to the menu used at Kepler University
• 2002-2003, 7-8 applications a year. 2- An extendable 2-D Graphics interface,
• Further, about 5 free applications of such as: The SGI Buttonfly Tool
Current other universities were available, raising 3- Abstract forms, such as the cube-menus
Situations the overall accumulation rate to about: used in the Ars Electronica Center, Linz.
The SGI
15 applications a year 4- External devices such as: the Palmist Buttonfly Tool
•Rapidly increasing accumulation rates. All have proven well and served many
purposes but 2 main challenges still exist:
•VR applications are of various fields, types,
scales and objectives. •Obstacles such as: poor orientation &
Challenges
Ch ll •The need to re-sort, re-order and re-
Th d d d navigation,
navigation and the low degree of immersion
(Motivations) organize existing applications together with •Not exploiting neither the CAVE as a
future ones. display, nor Architecture as contributing tool
The Palmist
The aim is to achieve a menu that integrates VR closely with
Architecture, accomplishing the claimed demands,
and reacting rationally to the imposed challenges
The Aim
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5. Planning and Implementation
Proposing a number of alternatives of menus
Step 1 that can do the job
Investigating and evaluating the proposed alternatives
Step 2 (a comparative analysis)
The winning alternative; An architecturally designed gallery
Step 3 that to be visited in the CAVE
Room D i
R Design Application D i
A li ti Design
•Negotiating the concept of the building
•Proposing the hierarchy of the gallery
•Paper drawings
•Converting the gallery building into
•Room-design details
primary components via C++ and
•Sketches are modeled via 3DS Max 5.1
OpenGL Performer
O GL P f
Step 4 •Adding textures and lights
•Further details are discussed
•Discussing the final manifestation
The gallery building was initially tested in the CAVE
Step 5 environment, and f
i d further discussions took place
i i k l
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6. Room Design
Within the room design, three main objectives have been of central importance:
Expandability To ensure displaying future works of students
Flexibility
y To ensure re-arranging rooms to house more VR applications
g g pp
Objectives Regularity To support the demanded human cognition and optical qualities
Classifying current VR applications into 6 groups; and therefore 6 functional areas (rooms)
Proposing a rectangular modular system to be the grid on which the plan cab be sketched
Layout design: a walkway serving 6 rooms, each houses in average 5 VR applications
Procedures Interior design: 6 different interiors are proposed, to support the demanded cognition
3 2 1
4 5 6
Results 6
Room 1
3
4
2
5
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7. Future Expansions
To house more VR applications (future expansions), 3 main possibilities are available:
Possibility No: 1 Possibility No: 2 Possibility No: 3
Adding one, or more, 2D picture, Adding more rooms to current Adding more wings to current
or 3D sculpture to the room; and
p ; g
gallery building to house new
y g g
gallery building to house new
y g
therefore one, or more, application groups of VR applications groups of VR applications
3 2 1 3 2 1
4 5 6 4 5 6
3 2 1 3 2 1
4 5 6 4 5 6
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8. Application Design
Objectives Within the room design, two main objectives have been of central importance:
Flexibility To ensure the re-configuration, by re-editing the configuration file
Easiness
E i To
T easily handle th corresponding 2D graphic or the 3D sculpture
il h dl the di hi th l t
Hierarchy In the light of the mentioned objectives , the tree structure is developed
Gallery: the top element of the scene,
y p ,
Gallery that consists of several rooms.
Rooms: organized as a matrix structure
to allow flexible configuration, having
no graphical representation of their own.
Abstract
Room Room Room Room Room Room
Structure Walls: Using a Boolean value walls
value,
can be visible or invisible, having the
function of grouping 2D graphics, 3D
sculptures, and decorative elements.
Wall Wall Wall Wall
Sculptures and pictures: used to
represent applications by simply
Visible grabbing the corresponding 2D picture
Elements Sculpture Picture Decoration or 3D sculpture.
Decorative elements: used to support
the overall manifestation, and improve
Applications Application
pp Application
pp human cognition. From the software
g
engineering aspect, they do not have
any functionality
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9. Testing the Gallery
• The gallery building was initially tested in the CAVE environment.
• Some shots have been taken:
• Further discussions about the manifestation of the gallery and other details took place
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10. Future Work
• Additional rooms can be designed
to house more VR applications, especially when taking
the rapidly increasing accumulation rate into account
p y g Upgrading
the current
• Landscape elements can be added to enhance the gallery building
architectural manifestation (optical quality of the gallery)
promoting a higher degree of immersion
• A multi-level architecturally designed gallery that can Designing
house more applications, simulating physically built galleries, a new gallery building
would be the next step to have a gallery of high optical quality similar to real ones.
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