Article review

The Importance of Virtual Environments in the Design of Electronic Games and Their Relevance to Architecture.
Ahmad Rafi Mohamed Eshaq, Peter Karboulonis.

The journal outlines how virtual environments that has been pioneered and developed by the gaming industry is able to enhance the design process of in architecture. The journal compares designing a game to designing a building and states that the process of designing a game is not that different to the process of designing a building.
There are 4 stages to designing a game:
- Pre -Planning.
- Detailed Planning.
- Project Implementation.
- Project Close - Down.
These stages are similar to those in architecture, the brief which is similar to the pre planning, the design concept phase is similar to the detail planning, the construction phase is the same as the project implementation.

The journal states that using virtual environments in architecture enhances better decision making, improve communication and collaboration, error reduction, spatial awareness, interactive design and real time visualization. In the creative and dynamic process of architecture design deals with conceptualization, visualization and expression of alternative ideas through 2D and 3D models and that virtual reality allows designers or architects to create richer content, get a sense of awareness and appreciation to scale and proportion.

Architectural design has become more dynamic and complex, it requires more interactivity to address a new form of story telling. Virtual Environments can offer new values in prototyping design concepts and creates a new ability to create variable visualizing alternatives during the production stage and also reduces the abstraction between the virtual world and the real world.

150 word concept.

The concept of the final video will incorporate 3d content and the physical built environment, showing that technology is now a necessity in architecture. Buildings are now being designed using CAD or Building Information Modeling software and are stored and designed in digital space. Incorporating 3d content in real life to show that virtual reality can almost mimic reality, the video will compile of 3d content replacing real content to identify that people are relying on technology for everyday use. People are creating alternate lives in virtual space so that they can experience life in virtual space. The same concept applies to architecture as well, using virtual reality to create a sense of creativity allowing architects enhance their sense of scale, proportion and enabling them to create richer content.

Refernces for Assessment 2

The song chosen was Constancy Part Three from http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
The video used was Trongsund from http://www.archive.org/
The images used
- http://www.wheelerfolk.org/military/15old/indx.htm
- http://www.officialpsds.com/Crack-Ground-PSD60418.html
- http://oneslidephotography.com/beginners-guide-to-black-and-white-photography/

Architectural Machine 2