Virtual reality used in a collaborative architectural design process

This paper presents a project and considers the possibilities of using virtual reality in architectural design processes. The main goal of the project is to develop a process for collaborative design of laboratory layouts using VR (Cave-technology) as a tool integrated into the concepts of process architecture. The project has been carried out in co-operation with the Chemical Department at Lund Institute of Technology/Lund University. It is a "real" project integrated in the University's programming process. A workshop initiated the design process and was followed by a series of different design events, which were arranged with participants from one research and one education laboratory. At these events the participants made several visits to their future labs in a VR-Cave. The visits were alternated with more traditional design sessions using paper and pencil. The results show that the collaborative design process including VR helped users by providing a method with which their ideas could be better formulated, analyzed, tested, and finally realized. The results from the project have been incorporated into the building program for the new chemical laboratory building.