Blog Research Matters Lecture

We attended a RIBA ‘Research Matters’ Conference on Friday 18th October which included a talk by Ruth Hynes who discussed using Virtual Reality as a tool for research.

Hynes study was focussed on analysing people’s psychological responses to different settings.

This involved virtual reality being used to create a series of offices, but at varying scales and social density.

The main psychological studies were focussed on

- Understanding comfortable social scales in different interactions

- Satisfaction of space

Pros of Virtual Reality during this study:

- Virtual reality was essential to vastly decreasing the time taken to carry out this study

- Ability to visualise settings seamlessly and give preference

- Creative and precise tool to use at a ‘pre design engagement stage’

Cons of Virtual Reality during this study:

- Associations with job satisfaction could interfere with the accuracy, due to preference of spaces may be impacted by this.

- Creating realistic lighting was difficult

- Accurate response to space – but not for people

RELATING THIS STUDY TO VISUAL RISE:

This study has revealed to us that the extents of virtual reality are not confined to the gaming world, and that research companies and universities are greatly interested in the extents of Virtual Reality. Therefore, we have begun to discuss the potential to collaborate with a university (similar to how Hynes) for funding possibilities.

Moreover, this study confirms that we can effectively measure responses to our designs, which means the end result of our projects should be superior to simply producing visualisations.

Edited by Olivia Walton