Virtual Reality design in architecture is the technology that allows you to interact with a virtual architectural model. Discover three cases in which to use it. Three-dimensional models, animations, and renders have always been tools used by architects and designers to express the development of a space, whether internal or external.
Today, this is no longer enough: however detailed they may be, 3D models or renders cannot match the sensations and atmosphere of an environment.
The application of Virtual Reality to architecture is one of the biggest innovations of recent years: with it, it is possible to create an immersive 3D experience, able to better present your ideas. All architects must introduce it into their design process so as not to fall behind and take advantage of the many benefits it can bring to their workflow.
What is Virtual Reality in Architecture?
Virtual Reality design applied to architecture is an immersive technology that projects the user into any interactive 3D architecture, using any device connected to a computer or smartphone.
This technology can immerse the user in a specific new environment, space, or building.
In this way, you can explore the building as a whole or analyze all its constructive, architectural, or furniture details, taking advantage of a real-time presentation of the professionals who created that scenario.
Creating a 3D model and being able to navigate it gives professionals and clients a much more accurate and representative feel, giving them a true sense of scale, depth, and spatial awareness.
How is Virtual Reality used in architecture? Check out 3 use cases!
Virtual Reality can be used at various stages of architectural design:
- Design phase and design analysis
- Project review phase
- Project presentation phase
Let’s see in detail how and what advantages it offers.
- Design phase and project analysis:
In the early stages of the project, the use of VR allows engineers to express their creativity in a much simpler and more innovative way.
Just dive into your template to:
- design the general shape of the building;
- trace the organization of spaces;
- explore the relationships between spaces;
- analyze views of floors above ground;
- compare the technical elements;
- choose furniture;
- Compare materials, coatings, colors, etc.
In this way, it is possible to have a realistic perception of the spaces that will be created and to launch from time to time the design of more daring and less conventional spaces.
Virtual Reality can still be used for later design analysis, to detect problems and risks well in advance of the construction process, saving you worries and misunderstandings that may arise along the way.
- Project review phase:
Reviewing a project before the executive phase through the use of VR devices makes this delicate phase quicker and easier. Imagine having to review plans, elevations, or sections to identify possible mistakes and wrong choices: you start to get a little anxious, right?
Now imagine being able to analyze all the details and aesthetic features, being able to take a tour of your virtual construction and exposing the criticalities to your team in real time.
All of this offers the possibility of having immediate feedback on design choices, ensuring the development of a more conscious, collaborative, and “realistic” workflow.
- Project presentation phase:
Presenting and communicating your design ideas has never been easier: such an experience not only surprises clients but gives them a better understanding of the design, emotionally involving them in the project.
Using Virtual Reality glasses, a client can easily be transported into a 3D representation of the project, look around, and move around in it. His view of that world corresponds, almost completely, to what he would have been moving in the surrounding reality.
By providing the immersive feeling of actually being inside a building, it is easier for the designer to communicate the design intent and for the client to understand and validate it.
With these tools, the customer will immediately identify the elements he prefers and those that should be modified, improved, or eliminated, and on the other hand, the technician will make the edit immediately, avoiding future misunderstandings.
Virtual Reality in architecture is making tremendous progress in the architecture industry, allowing designers to experience their visions in real life through a 3D model. There are many benefits associated with using Virtual Reality in the architectural design process. Through the integration of virtual reality design, it is possible to always have a clear perception of your projects as you move forward with the modeling. It is possible to try the trial version of Augmented Reality software for architecture and immediately experience all the advantages that this technology offers!
