Human Perception, Virtual Reality and the Built Environment

Recent research indicates that Virtual Reality (VR) as a communication tool to convey design intent and construction methodologies in the built environment sector has been utilized to varied degrees. Currently, the effectiveness of VR has been demonstrated from conception to the final stages of projects in many fields, yet its potential within the Built Environment has still to realised, despite a variety of successful demonstrations. There is concern that the current utilisation of VR compromises its full potential, unsurprisingly, as environmental representations focus predominantly on the visual modality, regardless of the multi sensory nature of the spatial experience. In addition, there is a distinct paucity of research exploring the complex interaction of environmental design and the user, such as the role of attention or conceptual interpretation. This paper aims to identify the issues concerning the utilization of VR models to aid communication for the Built Environment with specific reference to human perception issues.