Immersive virtual reality and the appreciation of architectural aesthetics

Abstract

The built environment usually immerses people within its three-dimensional space and therefore provides them with special immersive aesthetic experiences that differ from experiencing normal art works. However, the two-dimensional analogue architectural presentations cannot provide such immersive experiences of the architectural space because they are nonimmersive. Neither can these experiences be achieved by Virtual Reality (VR) presenting the architectural space on computer screens because it is also non-immersive. Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) has emerged as a means of providing an immersive experience of the three-dimensional environment using special Headset Mounted Display (HMD). It has been especially used in architectural design to explore newly designed projects. The use of IVR to explore existing buildings is less common. Rarely common is the use of IVR in experiencing aesthetic qualities of architectural projects both built and not built. This research presents an experiment using IVR to study architectural aesthetics of a real building in contrast to its photographs. It was discovered that IVR significantly improved the appreciation of architectural aesthetics of the building, enhancing the approach of using IVR as an effective architectural design and appreciation tool.