Spatial Sound Design and Interaction for Virtual Environments in the Promotion of Architectural Designs

Virtual environment walk through applications are generally enhanced by a user’s interactions within a simulated architectural space, but the enhancement that stems from changes in spatial sound that are coupled with a user’s behavior are particularly important, especially within regard to creating a ’sense of place’. When accompanied by stereoscopic image synthesis, spatial sound can immerse the user in a high-realism virtual copy of the real world. An advanced virtual environment that allow users to change real-time rendering features with a few manipulations has been shown to enable switching between different versions of a modeled space while maintaining sensory immersion. This paper reports on an experimental project, in which an architectural model is being integrated into such an interactive virtual environment. The focus is on the spatial sound design for supporting interaction, including demonstrations of both the possibilities and limitations of such applications in presenting and promoting architectural designs, as well as in three-dimensional sketching.