The Impact of Extended Reality Technologies on Architectural Simulation

The emergence of eXtended reality (XR) applications in the architecture sector has been one of the big stories of the past few years. XR Technology – an umbrella combined word to describe immersive technologies that can merge the physical and virtual worlds in terms of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) – has the potential to become an integral part of the architectural design process from the concept creation to the final simulation of a project. The biggest challenge for many pioneering design firms is often to convince the clients that the completed project will eventually look like (or very close to) the 2D or 3D representation. Like other industries, the architecture sector is influenced by the improvements in eXtended Reality Technology (XR); this Good-to great Movement can transform the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry in terms of going deeper in meaning and surging higher in the level of contribution. This paper will show the possibilities of XR technology application and the advantages of a collaborated virtual environment – where many skilled actors are present in the project as architects, engineers, contractors, and even project managers – for all the involved contributors in the project. For architects and designers, VR technology has so much potential to be implemented. Virtual reality makes the ability to present and an idea better than any other tools of representation, from initial design phases to project team-work collaboration, and the ultimate finishing touches. One of the biggest challenges that architects is facing is negotiating with the clients to convince them that at the end, a concept or design idea works as it is promised at the beginning; it would be escalated when the more complex project – with more involved stakeholders – are engaged and so it pays off. In an architectural project, obviously, there is always more than a single decision-maker; rather, multiple professionals will be asked to submit their recommendations on the various aspects of the building design. It can be incredibly difficult to get all these involved actors to gather and discuss the time-consuming decision making at the same time. Traditionally, floor plans, 3D renderings, and mock-up models are often used to express an idea within a design process for a given particular space, but as mentioned, these methods meet sever issues to communicate ideas effectively with other involved actors. Taking these aspects into account, this paper attempts to clarify the impact of XR as a type of Virtual Collaborative Technology on Architectural Simulation.