Improving the quality and efficiency of communication between the project participants and the public opinion.

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AEC industry of today utilizes multiple tools in the design process, that help to achieve better results faster. However, the presentation of those ideas to general public is usually done with static images or videos. This not only limits people perception of design, but also requires the use of external questionnaires to gather their feedback. In this project we wanted to show, how designs can be presented in an immersive and informative way, while also providing the built-in tools to gather feedback about the design.

Together with our partner SITOWISE we presented this state-of-the-art design tool, utilizing Varjo VR-2 headset and our real-time 3D platform "Aura", during RecoTech 2019 expo.

THE CHALLENGE
Improving the quality and efficiency of the communication process between project participants and the public opinion about the planning concepts and solutions developed within the project.

Enabling more active participation in the planning process and direct acquisition of user feedback during public consultations stage through the use of modern technologies, e.g. eye-tracking.

Integration of the design data coming from various sources and implementation of various tool-modules to create "The Big Picture" overview of the project.

THE SOLUTION

To answer those challenges we created an advanced planning tool, where user can enter a virtual environment using Varjo VR technology, freely move around design area, explore and get a "feel" of the surroundings, while also changing parts of the design or leaving a comments. Such functionalities can be used to evaluate planning alternatives, material choices or other features like e.g. street lighting design.

With the help of eye-tracking built into Varjo headset and voxel technology, we were also able to record participants gaze and actions, giving clear indication of where users interest was drawn to. This information can provide designers with invaluable knowledge which elements of the design are crucial for the user perception and which they should therefore pay special attention to in order to most effectively deliver utilitarian value.