Haptic Enhanced Building Performance Simulation in Virtual Reality
Imagine stepping into a virtual reality (VR) environment where you can not only see and hear but also feel the wind and temperature as if you were physically present in a building. This immersive experience is at the heart of our innovative project, which seeks to enhance the understanding of building performance through the integration of advanced haptic feedback technologies within VR environments.
Building on the foundation of the previous ICAT-funded project, "Building A Sustainable Future by Learning from the Past: Reinterpreting Passive Sustainable Design through Immersive Virtual Heritage Environments,"(https://sheikhvr.house) we are expanding our VR application to incorporate haptic feedback. This new dimension addresses the challenge we encountered during the presentation of the original project, "House of Sheikh Isa," at the ICAT 23-24 Exhibition. We found that building performance data, often presented in complex formats like spreadsheets, can be difficult for non-experts such as students to fully grasp or relate to actual spaces within a building.
The innovative aspect of this research lies in translating this data into an immersive VR experience that utilizes visual, auditory, and sensory elements. By doing so, users will be able to interact with and understand how a building performs in a more natural and engaging way. This approach makes the information more accessible, helping non-experts connect simulation results directly to specific rooms and conditions within the building.
Our team, combining expertise from the College of Architecture, Art, and Design and the College of Engineering, aligns with ICAT’s research themes by integrating building performance simulation with immersive technologies. By translating complex data into a sensory driven Virtual Reality (VR) experience, we merge art, technology, and environmental science. Through haptic integration, this project offers an innovative way to teach and engage users in sustainability while reimagining education through a dynamic learning platform. This approach supports ICAT’s vision of fostering ecological resilience and promoting creative solutions for a sustainable future.
The innovative development of this project will take place in the Visualization and Virtual Reality Lab (VVR) in the Interior Design department within the School of Design.