Give examples of how the building information for a specific location in the project needs to be filtered for different audiences and purposes?
A kitchen could be a great example of a location that should be filtered/shown differently depending on the audience. As it pertains to this module, we might show the plan of the kitchen with different levels of granularity to best address the needs of our audience. A framing plan would likely best be suited to the project contractor and would seek to highlight the kitchen walls that need to be put in place, while perhaps removing elements like casework & furniture. For the client, a plan that includes the casework & furniture will help them get the best sense of how they can use/cook in the space. Both parties would benefit from annotations (like room dimensions, square footage, room labels) to the plan, but with different levels of detail. To keep the plan more accessible to clients, it might be best to keep elements like door and window tags to plans for architects & contractors.
Should your design ideas always be conveyed through photorealistic renders?
- How does the level of detail in the rendering and its presentation affect the perception of stakeholders reviewing your design?
- I wouldn’t say that designs, let alone design ideas should always be conveyed through photorealistic renders. It’s important to consider the intention behind presenting such a true-to-life visual and the expectations/assumptions that might be made if a designer presents a photo-real image when they’re still in the process of refining their design. Conversely, I think these renders can be incredibly useful to designers during the design process, but I think they should be used sparingly/at the right moment when being presented externally. A more ‘sketchy’ version of a design may allow (both on the front of the designer and client) for more modification of a design since folks at large are more likely to perceive a rougher image as in progress. This may shift as we continue to get used to higher and higher quality images/renders.
Name some applications where viewing the building and model information in virtual reality or augmented reality would be most beneficial?
- For designers, contractors, and clients, I think XR presents yet another opportunity to interact with designs in a more realistic, information rich manner. Both technologies afford the opportunity to experience the true scale and depth of a proposed structure, perhaps even in the context of the building site.
- Are there advantages to using a C.A.V.E as a virtual environment versus VR headsets?
- I tend to think so. Users can probably tolerate the C.A.V.E. environment for a longer span of time without experiencing fatigue and discomfort. Not being visually/physically siloed in a headset allows one to perhaps more easily engage with the projection from an analog design standpoint (people can take notes for example). In-person group collaboration would also be easier since you would be able to see and directly speak to one another.