Building Models in VR

 

Duration

Sep 2021 - Oct 2021 (1.5 mo)

Advisor

Dr. Michael Nebeling, Audrey Labrie,
Shwetha Rajaram, Liwei(Alan) Wu

Implementation

Unity, Rhinoceros, Adobe Premiere Pro

Keywords / Domain

VR, Virtual Reality, Architecture, 3D modeling, Interaction, User experience, User interface, Prototype

Context

 

Nowadays, people can view 3D building models in VR, but it is hard for 3D building models to respond to discussions in VR. Ideas often come out of nowhere in discussion. While we have a new way to view, I believe we also need a new tool to discuss and share out thoughts.

Digital prototype

Why VR

 

Main interactions

Rolling menu

Move to interior

Rolling Asset Library

Hover and pick asset

Add asset

Move asset

Physical prototype & takeaway

Takeaway & improvement

  1. Hard to get the sense of scale

    -> keep in the eye level and have a closer look by moving in and out

  2. The flat menu occupied almost half of the field of view, causing improper scaling and disorientation

    -> reduce the size, turn the interface into curved, and change the solid background into transparent

  3. Difficult to move around fast

    -> create a shortcut to navigate. For example, click the main door to get inside the house.

Storyboard

 

Story

1.View and discuss the 3D building model

2.Modify the model with a set of tools

3.Change the view option to experience the building’s interior

4.Modify the model from inside

 

Feature

1.Extrude Surface on the buliding

3. Move object on the building

2. Change the object size on the building

4. Change the object type on the building

5. Add an object to the 3D building

Implementation

 

  1. Physical model and menu: Museum cardboard and Laser cutting

  2. Icons: Adobe Illustrator

  3. Video editing: Adobe premiere

  4. 3D modeling: Rhinoceros

  5. 3D environment: Unity

  6. VR interactions: Unity

Future work

 

  1. Let users interact with hand gestures -> more intuitive

  2. Let users navigate with teleportation -> users will generally sit still when experience

  3. Let users work in different scales -> need hints to identify scale status

    Creating architecture building in VR is doable but requires more research to design intuitive interactions.

*Competitive Analysis

 
  Annotate Modify form Change Environment High Resolution Multi-user
Blocks by Google
(Partial)		 X V V X X
IrisVR by The Wild
(Direct)		 V △ V △ V
Enscape
(Indirect)		 X X X V X