Use of Augmented Reality in the Process of Architectural Design: User-Centered Design

• Grant number: 11/18003-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Regina Coeli Ruschel
• Grantee: Ana Regina Mizrahy Cuperschmid
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have been developed and successfully implemented in a number of engineering fields (e.g. automotive industry), it has only been superficially applied in the construction industry. This research seeks to explore the use of virtual prototypes to be handled by Tangible Augmented Reality and confronted with potential users as early as possible in the project's process and provoke a discussion and feedback to capture the new resulting requisites. The general objective is to validate a workshop of architectural project using Augmented Reality in User-Centered Design. It seeks to contribute to the process of conception of the architectural project, favoring the communication and interaction between users and architects, promoting cooperation between them. This research has an investigative character and its basic development happens through action research. Each activity will have its own planning cycle, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and research report. The researcher and agents of the process of architectural design (designers and users) will actively participate in the implementation. The workshop is set up in each cycle about the implementation activity with constant monitoring. At each cycle of research action new aspects will be observed to capture requisites to promote the cooperation among participants of the evaluated content. Four study cycles will be performed: 1-Classroom adaptation for using AR and development of brief; 2-Technology Appropriation of AR by the designers and participants; 3-Appropriation of AR technology for User-Centered Design adapted to architecture; 4-Evalution/Discussion of the resulting solution of the latter cycle. Some issues were developed to guide the research, such as: (i) is it possible to use Augmented Reality to create virtual models and manipulate them by designers and users in the participatory process during the design conception phase? (ii) is it possible to use information models generated in this phase of the process to create virtual models to be manipulated by means of Augmented Reality? (iii) how can the participants adapt to this technology? (iv) what are the gains perceived by the participants in the conception using this technology? These questions will be studied for the context of social housing. The contribution is to apply AR tools to create digital experiences to facilitate the communication between designers and non-specialist users.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CUPERSCHMID, Ana Regina Mizrahy. Augmented Reality in the architectural participatory design process: system development and guidelines. 2014. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo Campinas, SP.