Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
need for accurate and precise object and terrain modification capabilities in VR).
Ease-of-use and associated fastest task completion speed were significant positive
outcomes to emerge from the comparison with GIS and CAD, pointing to a strong
future for VR in an urban planning context.
Keywords
3D Virtual environments • GIS • CAD • Urban design • Eficiency •
Effectiveness • Satisfaction
1 Introduction
1.1 Motivation
Virtual Reality (VR) has been investigated as a 3D technology that could aid the
urban planner (Camara and Raper
1999
; Axford et al.
2007
; Döllner
2007
). VR
is also a human-oriented technology, which suits the typical collaborative process
of urban planning. Its emphasis on 3D modelling represents a welcome shift from
the 2D-oriented tools—GIS and CAD (Campagna
2006
)—that these professionals
typically use. Yet all three tools now have 3D capability, making them suitable
for comparison. VR, through which one creates Virtual Environments (VE) inter-
acted with via an avatar, have only recently become widely and freely accessi-
ble, expanding the scope for use of such tools in the profession and affecting its
potential influence on how urban planning is done. There are abundant networked
examples, enabling remote communication and collaboration, but real-time pro-
cessing is a condition of this. Specific instances include Second Life (Linden
Research Inc.
2014
; e.g. Hudson-Smith
2008
) and its free, open source emulation
OpenSimulator (OpenSim
2014
; e.g. Lopes and Lindstrom
2012
).
To promote widespread future use of online VR, their usability needs to be
rigorously assessed, in order to iron out any issues and recommend best practice.
An initial usability testing (for satisfaction) on a virtual subdivision development
of a Dunedin suburb implemented in OpenSimulator (Zhang and Moore
2014
)
revealed that there is much potential in urban design for free online VR as a 3D
communication and marketing tool, if graphical limitations imposed by the need
for real-time feedback whilst online and OpenSim's inherent lack of geographic
sensibility could be mitigated.
This chapter details the follow-on study, which compares VR with GIS and
CAD in terms of the three aspects of usability testing (ISO
1998
): efficiency
(“resources expended in relation to the accuracy and completeness with which
users complete goals” e.g. time) and effectiveness (“accuracy and completeness
with which users achieve specified goals”) as well as satisfaction (“… positive
attitudes towards the use of a product”). The approaches to virtual world building
and rendering were modified for the follow on study, to address the geographical
and graphical feedback from the previous study.
