Poster: A hybrid direct visual editing method for architectural massing study in virtual environments

Abstract

We present a hybrid user interface and gesture-based direct visual editing techniques for quick and rough object creation and manipulation in three-dimensional (3D) virtual environments (VEs). The user interface includes a novel table-prop to resemble an architect's physical workbench. A tracked pinch glove and a stylus pen provide both rough and fingertip level precise spatial input. For quick placement, objects do not float in space, but instead obey a set of constrained physics laws. Experimental results indicate our design is effective for architectural massing study. Our work contributes to the hardware system design and novel gesture-based interaction techniques, which have the potential to bring VEs into practical use in architecture.