At home with holograms

Virtual reality isn't so scary. Far from proving divisive and alienating, it's actually making for more accessible consultations on housing issues. That's why Rosalind Dean, on behalf of the Housing Corporation, finds it so exciting.

It's a high tech medium, certainly ­ but 'virtual reality' works across the high tech barrier. As used in community consultation in housing and regeneration, it can give tenants and residents a way of getting to grips with ideas that don't (yet) exist in the physical world, and of interacting directly with computer-generated three-dimensional moving images. This, in turn, can help them get involved in planning for the future, as equal partners with professionals.

In a project funded by the Housing Corporation, consultants HACAS Chapman Hendy found some two dozen examples of housing providers, developers, architects or consultants using 'virtual reality' in their consultations.

The objectives included:

• Allowing residents to choose colours and finishes for interior walls, floors, fittings and furnishings.
• Conveying an impression of the exterior of homes and buildings after improvement.
• Envisioning an unfamiliar building process. Illustrating a new type of independent living arrangement for the elderly.
• Consulting on plans to remodel an estate, demolish or retain tower blocks, change road layouts or create new facilities.
• Master planning on a larger scale for a whole area or neighbourhood.

People's reactions were so positive, they gave the research consultants a real sense of excitement. Typical of the enthusiasm was the housing association that described virtual reality as "a brilliant tool that transformed the consultation". Overcoming the difficulties that people commonly find in getting their heads around plans ­ many of us are "dyslexic when it comes to drawings", as one association put it ­ the 3D virtual reality models proved far more accessible. People could locate their own homes, see what the space was like, concentrate on what interested them, and generally get "a much better sense of being there". As a result it was simpler to get messages across, and less of a challenge to explain proposed changes ­ but also less labour intensive than Planning for Real.

Essentially a visual medium, virtual reality can range from cartoon-like animations of buildings falling and rising, to photo-realistic journeys through an area. All the models show movement ­ 'walk through', 'drive through' or 'fly through'. In some cases residents could go where they wanted within a 'real-time' VR model, while in others they watched a pre-recorded 'tour' through computer animation.

Models can be shown in various ways: projected on a big screen at meetings, shown on a small screen to individuals or groups, viewed on video, CD-ROM or project website, or, in the most high tech examples, seen at a virtual reality centre ­ a purpose-built facility with screens surrounding the audience.

This does not turn out to be the divisive technology some had feared. On the contrary, it is proving to be empowering, and capable of promoting greater social inclusion. Interactive consultation can draw in people whom traditional community consultation fails to reach. It has been very effective in involving older people, younger people, those who don't speak English well, and those who can't get to meetings.

The pioneering projects have overcome some of the initial barriers. Interactive community consultation is not too difficult, nor too expensive. Digital tools can be used to stimulate the imagination and explore what alternative futures might look like. A working model can be refined from the master plan to incorporate details of individual dwellings. In researching what has already been achieved, we have had a glimpse of a future where virtual reality models can become fully integrated in the development of sustainable communities.

Rosalind Dean is associate consultant at HACAS Chapman Hendy.

The report 'A Picture tells a Thousand Words' can be downloaded from www.hch.eu.com/publications/vr/index.htm. You can help keep the website up to date by sending new examples and information to : ann.martin@hch.eu.com, 0113 242 9898.

1 February 2003

Rosalind Dean