Virtual Reality Archviz in Smartphone

Mobile Application for Architectural Visualization in Virtual Reality.

The technology of Virtual Reality and stereoscopy is a novel alternative of 3D visualization that can be applied to Architecture obtaining superior results with respect to more traditional forms of presentation. Although at international level concrete steps have already been taken in the use of architectural visualization in Virtual Reality, in Cuba this technology is still not used. The objective of this research is to create a tool for the visualization of architectural projects in Virtual Reality using mobile technology, to be used by professionals and students of Architecture in our country.

We analyzed the available technologies for the generation of 3D graphics in real time and for the visualization of stereoscopy and virtual reality, as well as a list of the existing applications at international level that have the same objective as the present investigation, and with this was determined the technological and use characteristics and the software to be used to build the tool.

The tool created, called Tenant VR, is part of the project of more long-term Tenant for the visualization of Architecture using computing, and takes advantage of the results of a first phase of that project, called "Tenant 1.0 beta" implemented in a project of thesis of 2016. Tenant VR allows the exploration of architectural projects previously prepared in the software 3ds Max through a visualization in Virtual Reality. It is obtained with the Unity 3d software in conjunction with the Google Cardboard SDK, due to which the visualization is executed through a smartphone with Android system mounted on a helmet or smartphone type display. The code of the Unity 3d part is completely programmed in the C # language. The export of the model from 3ds Max to Unity 3d for the subsequent generation of the Android application is done through an additional application programmed in MaxScript.

The performance of the tool was tested with the specific case of an architectural project of a student of the Architecture career of the UCLV. The trial and analysis of the same required the use of techniques of optimization of the 3d model in order to facilitate real-time 3d rendering in the Smartphone application.

Keywords: Tenant, Virtual Reality, stereoscopy, architectural visualization, Unity 3D, Google Cardboard, Android, smartphone, apk, 3ds Max, C #, real time, navigation, interactive.

Thesis / Javier Hernández Morel / 2018