Design communication in immersive virtual environments: An initial exploration

Using Virtual Environment (VE) to visualize ideas from the initial steps of design, the architect is challenged to deal with perception of space, solid and void, without translations to and from a two dimensional media. In this moment, we may expect new forms of design expression. The goal of our study was to identify how designers use and communicate early design ideas by using immersive three-dimensional VEs. We explored initial intentions of 3D-immersive design schemes, textual descriptions and collaborations within immersive VE. We set-up a series of experiments including navigation-and perception-tasks, designing in immersive VE, transcription of design, remote communication between design partners and controlled observations. The paper describes these experiments. Finally we summarize observations from this research, for instance the simplicity to interconnect design-ideas cross platforms, conclude with possible future directions of our investigation, initiating a broader research including other disciplines.