Comparative navigation system for collaborative architectural design

Abstract

We investigated the concepts, strategies, and functions of a 3D virtual design environment for collaborative, real-time architectural design using our 3D comparative navigation system and virtual reality technology. The development of the 'comparison' concept has enabled interactive design in real time in a 3D computer environment. Since participants must be able to easily understand the proposed design, systems that help them gain this understanding are required. While comparison is an effective way to gain such an understanding, comparing one proposed design to another using existing systems is difficult because the user must operate their viewpoints separately. We therefore created a prototype system that displays different contents simultaneously while controlling the viewpoints automatically to facilitate content comparison. This comparative navigation system facilitates the comparison of proposed designs by displaying related parts of the designs automatically. In this paper, we describe the concepts, strategies, and functions of a 3D virtual design environment for collaborative, real-time architectural design that is based on our 3D comparative navigation system and real-time simulation technology. We also evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using this design environment for collaborative architectural design.