CAREER: Domain-Specific 3D Interaction Techniques for Design and Construction Tasks in Immersive Virtual Environments

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This is a 5-year continuing award. This research effort will address the application of immersive virtual environments (VEs) to the architectural design and construction industries. Specifically, it aims to make immersive design applications - those in which the designer can create or modify a 3D space while immersed within it - possible. There are four components to this work. First, the PI will design and evaluate user-centered 3D interaction techniques specially targeted at design and construction tasks. He will then design and implement a high-level software framework that supports rapid prototyping and development of immersive design applications. Next, he will develop several proof-of-concept VE applications using the domain-specific interaction techniques and implemented in the software framework. Finally, the PI will educate students, both in HCI (through a new course and textbook on 3D interaction), and in the design disciplines (through the use in courses of the VE applications developed in this project). This research will have a significant impact in the VE and 3D interaction communities, leading to an increased understanding of how interaction techniques can be tailored to particular tasks and domains. The software framework will impact research in immersive design, allowing graphics and VE novices (domain experts) to build powerful interactive VE applications. The example applications the PI builds will impact the design and construction industries, providing a tighter design cycle and an increased understanding of difficult 3D problems. And there will also be a two-pronged impact in the classroom, where the PI will use VE technology as a learning tool in the design disciplines and introduce cutting-edge research in 3D interaction to graduate-level HCI students.