Current interactive media tools

This section reviews the uses of interactive media in the built environment. The review considers existing types of interactive tools used for communication and data management as this is an area of interest for this research. Creators of interactive tools are trying to simulate immersive environments and use them for design communication. They are also using technical systems to enable the interactive design of arts installations that give visitors a new experience. The first kind of interactive tool is VR, a powerful tool that is undergoing fast

development by a number of technology companies. In architectural practices, the use of VR is normally restricted to large scale projects with budgets to match. Perhaps the reasons that VR cannot be used widely in architectural practices are the costs and technological skills required. Hence, it would be an opportunity to consider developing VR to be less costly.

The second kind of interactive tool that could offer a potential to this research project is the use of interactive art installation. This requires the observer or visitor to interact with an interface, computer or sensor, until a response to a stimulus is obtained. The stimulus could be the visitor’s motion, voice or temperature. This kind of interactive media can also be used for designing building surfaces or urban spaces. As it is not used for communication in the design process, its usefulness to this research has been excluded.

Interactive media can be produced for many purposes; design communication tools and asset management tools are examples. For instance, an application on mobile devices called ‘iVisit 3D’ by Atlantis Studio is an interactive tool that

104

was developed for architects and designers. It presents a virtual world that allows users to obtain panoramic rendered views and enables them to pan, zoom in or out and ‘pull’ what they seek. Using this application requires

ArchiCAD and AutoCAD 360 rendering. As shown in Figure 3.8, the application simulates the real environment through which people can imagine themselves walking or flying in the virtual world. While the application supports presentation aspects, it does not include a data management capacity to facilitate the design process. Therefore, the research investigates the data management aspect as well as working on architectural representation. Furthermore, due to its

requirement for user technological skill to install the application and plug-ins, this tool is not appropriate for non-specialists to access. It also does not allow input from stakeholders such as planners or engineers.

Figure 3.8: Sequence of images showing simulated environment from iVisit 3D

105

In another example of using 3D VR, the ‘National Anping Harbor Historic Park’

project in Taiwan enables users to embed information about the city within the web environment (Lan and Chiu, 2006:479–486), as shown in Figure 3.9. The project shows the benefit of using 3D city rendering, which is interactive and allows the users to change viewpoints individually, as well as integrating urban information such as 2D maps and a statistical table. As the platform is used through a web browser, it has the advantage of enabling collaborative interaction and design. Such capability for communication and collaboration between people is important, and this aspect is investigated in this present research. The 3D city model can be used for communication or data

management, enabling the user to view perspectives and information.

Interactive media can be structured differently according to whether the purpose is communication or data management.

Figure 3.9: 3D city model of the National Anping Harbor Historic Park project (Lan and Chiu, 2006)

Data management is another purpose of the use of interactive tools that this present research is interested in exploring. For example, integrated space management system (ISMS) created by Kim et al. (2015:807-816) used a 3D-based model for asset and space management system to visualise information of Incheon International Airport. Their project works on an asset management system integrated with 3D computer-aided design (see Figure 3.10).

106

Figure 3.10: Integrated Space Management System (ISMS) operation screens (Kim et al, 2015)

Another example is the research carried out by Nakama et al. (2015:397–406), collaboratively with professionals who had similar background knowledge levels in the built environment, such as the engineer or architect. They created a facility management system called ‘Building Information Management’, aimed at energy saving and reducing running costs of the building. The aim of their project was to provide 3D visual information that does not require expert knowledge by users. It enables users to use a web browser to open a platform (see Figure 3.11).

Figure 3.11: Interface of the Building Information Management system (Nakama et al, 2015)

107

Management systems are efficient for their workflows, but a web-based system for communication has not been considered for users who have different

technical background knowledge. They are often used for management purposes and not widely employed as collaborative communication tools.

Therefore, the present research combines features of a communication system and a data management system. This idea is particularly interesting to the researcher, proposing a communication system that encourages collaboration in design communication by focusing on supporting both specialist and non-specialist knowledge. Therefore, this research is interested in communication systems using web-based approaches. It focuses on the concepts of

accessibility affecting professionals in the built environment, using different available software to communicate with each other. This leads to the idea that people can work on general and open software, such as Internet web browsers.