MacroScope: First-Person Perspective in Physical Scale Models

PubDate: March 2018

Teams: University of Salzburg

Writers: Dorothé Smit;Thomas Grah;Martin Murer;Vincent van Rheden;Manfred Tscheligi

PDF: MacroScope: First-Person Perspective in Physical Scale Models

Abstract

Traditionally, architects and designers have used scale models to explore, communicate, and evaluate concepts and ideas in large-scale, spatial projects. These scale models offer the user a bird’s eye perspective and often tangible ways of interacting with the model. Nevertheless, they lack a realistic, first-person view on the effects that the design solutions have in the space. In this paper, we explore MacroScope, a tool that aims to support collaborative spatial design by providing a real time, 360o first-person perspective in a physical scale model, by means of a virtual reality head-mounted display. We reflect on the usage potentials in collaborative creative processes, before describing next steps for the development of MacroScope.