Architectonic Design Supported by Visual Environmental Simulation—A Comparison of Displays and Formats

Abstract

Visual environmental simulations are fundamental in understanding the relationship between the built environment and psychological perception. The remarkable evolution of virtual immersion displays over recent years has provided a series of advantages to the architectural discipline, one of which is that non-specialists now have the potential to better understand architectural spaces. This work aimed to analyse the adequacy of the main displays and formats currently used in environmental simulations. As the objective was twofold, two experimental studies were carried out (with a sample of 100 participants). The studies evaluated users’ responses to different environmental representations of two environments, using differential semantic scales to measure key underlying factors (utility, credibility, realism, accuracy, abstraction). The first study examined simulation displays: a PC, an HTC Vive Pro 2 head-mounted display, a PowerWall Screen and a CAVE. In the second, formats were analysed: normal image, 360° image, video and 360° video. The results of this work revealed that users perceived the space differently depending on the representation displays and formats used. Such comparisons of these new means of representing architectural spaces can be helpful to researchers, architects and urban planning professionals and might provoke debate in, and be extrapolated into, the design field.