Virtual reality is proving to be an increasingly useful tool for designers and for the client: how to use it and what are the advantages in a practical example of garden design.
The use of virtual reality in the design of a garden finds its best expression in the faithful representation of the green arrangements, in the rendering of the materials and in the animation of the scene, which allow the customer to be involved in the transformation of the outdoor space: ideas become tract, take shape within the project and become reality.
But, as we have been documenting in our Focus for several weeks now, virtual reality is not only a support tool for the designer in the presentation phase to the client, but also (and above all) in the design phase and in the development of the architectural model.
So let’s see how to use this extraordinary technology as a tool to verify project choices before sharing them with our client and moving from the preliminary to the executive phase.
Let’s examine the garden layout project, already analyzed in a previous focus (How to design a garden, from concept to specific design) and see how immersive virtual reality simplifies many steps of the design process.
The advantages of using virtual reality in the verification phase of a project
We have already seen in detail how to design a garden.
Now let’s imagine that you have just completed the design of the project and the development of the BIM model.
Therefore, we are in a very delicate and necessary phase for the success of our work: the critical evaluation of the choices made.
This phase interrupts the linearity of the design process, contemplating the possibility of going back, re-evaluating, questioning the choices and making changes before continuing with the final/organisational design.
The different design phases are illustrated in this infographic. In this process, the steps in which it is possible to take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities given by immersive virtual reality are also highlighted.
Traditionally revising the project on paper interpreting plans, elevations, sections, and renderings may not be the optimal solution and will not minimise the presence of errors. The static images, in fact, only reconstruct a partial idea of the project and may not let us notice any errors in evaluation.
With immersive virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, we enter the model firsthand by simply connecting the viewer to our PC and starting the navigation from the BIM architectural design software.
We have the privilege of observing all the details of the model before its realisation, and this is very important because it allows us to have more control and to modify spaces, furnishings and materials that do not meet our goal. While respecting the parameters of the legislation and the correct sizing of the rooms browsing the model, we may still not be satisfied with some choices, even if formally correct.
In summary, we can say that the advantages of using VR in the verification phase of the project are:
- reduce the presence of design errors
- have a greater awareness of all design choices
- modify the model in real-time to compare different architectural solutions
- support the designer in defining new spaces
- know the spaces and the details of the project as if it were already built.
Using the software solutions in our possession, we can integrate all the needed functions. Starting from a simple CAD plan, we can create a 3D modelling in which to do the actual architectural project, design the internal and external environments and the related lighting, model the terrain (also taking advantage of the insertion from Google Maps), design the garden if present, produce all the graphic tables of the project (plans, plans, sections, elevations and axonometry).
Finally we are able to create professional presentations with renderings, videos and tours in immersive virtual reality in the project.
0 Comments