Physical Simulation in a VR Tool for Urban Design

Physical influences on a city, such as noise, light, air flow, and solar energy quantities, can already be simulated on computers, however, these simulations are usually not embedded into the urban planning process. Regarding a broad field of these influences and their correlations will improve the quality of the design. The use of simulations in the sketching stage provides the possibility of reacting accordingly for the urban planner, which is essential for sustainable design. This paper describes the development of a virtual reality tool for the early urban design process, in which we realized a network connection between a software package calculating noise propagation in urban spaces and a virtual reality design environment. In this dynamic VR design tool, it is possible to experiment with simple geometric forms and objects (these objects can be added to constructions, removed, and transformed). Interactively, with each action of the planner, simulations are generated and visualized in the VR environment in real-time. The last part of the paper describes our concept, how this VR design tool should be integrated in the study of urban planning, and how we want the students to get a sense for the impact of their design on physical phenomena in an urban scale