The Case Study of a Computational Model for Immersive Human-Process Interactions within Design Optimization

Virtual reality enables incorporating new cues and affordances into design optimization interfaces. Designers visually interact with optimization algorithms to examine solutions, define the search space, and present tradeoffs or outcomes. We hypothesize that additional dimensions of the human-process interface yield a higher probability of discovering the global optimal solution. To test this hypothesis, this work develops a computational model for visual-based process interactions in design optimization. The model is inspired by the Van Wijk model for visual analytics. Initial numerical results support the hypothesis.