VECID · Virtual Environments in Construction and Interior Design

Hardware and software advances in developing 3D content, coupled with diminishing costs of equipment, provide an excellent opportunity for companies in the fields of construction and home design/decoration to exploit the perils of 3D technology for commercial purposes. Companies in these fields can incorporate Virtual Reality technologies in their showrooms to enable their visitors to visualize and interact with products in realistic virtual models of environments illustrative of the products’ use (e.g., view various floors or wallpapers and inspect lighting solutions in the context of virtual houses, apartments, and office spaces). With the Proof of Concept grant we aim to implement 3D visualization technologies for use by companies in interior design and construction. Our plan is to develop software and test hardware set-ups resulting in systems that link a company’s product database to a gallery of realistic VEs that can be used as templates to showcase products to consumers. We aim to offer a new service that goes beyond what is currently available to companies in these fields, which would benefit both the sales of the companies and the satisfaction of their customers. Through the proposed project we plan to test different alternatives for designing easy-to-use high-end, as well as low-cost, software-hardware systems and explore their commercialization potential through both market research and usability testing.""