Project 3 - Our House

As of now, we all know that there are AR/VR experiences where we can view the scanned models of already built, or currently existing buildings and places, be it Google Street View or some apps created by real estate agencies. However, those applications are simply for viewing scanned images or models, and do not have too many details nor interactable elements. For example, you can’t figure out how the lights would work inside a specific room, how adding certain structures would really look like, and everything is static so you can’t really try putting things in the building/room, or move things around at all.

This is where the 3D buildings and maps as we’ve just developed in Unity comes in. First, we can import the designed 3D models of the building into Unity, which would have already been created by an architect and might not be built yet unlike the scanned alternatives. We would also be able to change the textures on the building to see how different walls, floors, etc… might look like on the building. We could also simulate lighting, be it external such as the sun or the moon, or internal such as light bulbs to see how well lit the rooms in the building would be, and change things on the go. And we could also import 3D models of certain furniture to see how everything would fit well inside the building and the room before the building starts and before even buying those furniture. Last, we can make things dynamic and interactable, as if it is a VR experience unlike the static scanned 3D/VR experiences.

Due to these qualities and advantages of the VR experience, I believe this would be very useful for architects who could help showcase the building model to the clients and the building contractors. It will give a better understanding and perspective to them as they are viewing the building model almost as if they are in person, and not viewing it through a screen or a floor plan. And if anyone requests, the architects could import 3D models of certain stuff into the building too, such as if the building contractor wants to know if they could fit some construction materials through the building, and if the clients want to know how their current furniture or what they are planning to buy would fit into their rooms.

I don’t think I have ever seen anyone use the VR experience for architecture as of now, but I can’t say for sure as I am just a CS student who has nothing to do with architecture and construction as of now. However, with VR becoming more easily accessible, I believe it will become more widespread sometime in the near future, with not only the architects using it for buildings that have not been built, but also regular people who just want to play around or are curious using existing building models too if they are available.