ABSTRACT
The design of the built environment does not start from a blank sheet of paper. It increasingly starts from the operating built environment and the need to adapt, upgrade or alter its operation. Virtual reality provides a new medium that may be used in the process of designing the built environment. In the 1990s, the design of the built environment was revolutionized through the use of digital media. Developments in digital content and information layers will enable users to experience other, more intangible aspects of how the design performs in time, through sounds or touch. In design presentation and review, a general lack of an inherent narrative structure in virtual reality applications has been a recurring issue. Visualization models directly linked to the authoring application allow both designers and users to interactively and dynamically modify, move or otherwise manipulate components for immediate results.
