How VR Can Change Occupant Behavior
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The world of architecture and gaming was, at one time, completely separated. In the last 5 years, with the evolution of VR and AR that has changed. VR has opened the world of architecture to in-the-moment design and life action design. In December, I was able to witness an amazing use of VR in the architectural world. I met with Heather DeGrella, Sustainability Design Leader at Opsis Architecture. I had been invited to participate in a VR game called HEATWAVE: Sympathy for the HVAC. I had no idea what to expect, but I’m a gamer and a lover of new things, so I thought it would be fun.
What is VR and AR?
For most people who know about VR and the impact that it’s already making on the design world, we know that the focus is on adjustment in design and detecting irregularities. In a blog, Metropolis notes that Gensler has “VR Jams” with their staff on a weekly basis in 28 Gensler offices. This allows them to walk through the space and really see what has been done, and what can be done. It’s a fully immersive experience, which is why it’s VR.
While AR (augmented reality) is available, it’s more of a ‘layover’ technique. It lays digital content over the real world. With MR (Mixed Reality) is a lot like AR however there is one key difference. According to Foundry, MR allows that overlay of digital content to be anchored and react to the real world.
What the Game Is For
Opsis Architecture had teamed up with Portland State University’s Research-Based Design Initiative to create the game. The purpose of the game was to study the impact that training and design decisions had on occupant behavior. The game designed by Opsis and PSU is to reach the goal of reducing the impact that occupants have on the energy consumption of a building. That is a very different take than most in the VR-meets-architecture world.
For the architectural world VR or AR is normally used to see the design possibilities in a real-life setting. PSU wanted to approach this opportunity from a different angle. They wanted to see if utilizing VR would assist in getting occupants to register the impact of their decisions on energy use in their building. Utilizing the Oculus Rift, a VR headset, they endeavored to put the occupant into a decision-driving game to lower the energy use in the room.
The other aspect of the game was to train the occupant. Let’s face it, people learn more by doing than by hearing. When it comes to energy performance, “…the people using the building ultimately decide whether or not it’s going to be efficient.” However, talking at people about how important it is to not use the AC the moment it gets slightly stuffy isn’t going to do much. So, PSU decided to do something that might just be fun enough to garner a learning moment.
The game puts the occupant in the driver’s seat. They play the role of the AC unit. The occupant is in control of the room, and the rising temperature. The ‘boss’, a robot that starts the game off by yelling at you and being rude, tells you to cool the room down but you better not spend hardly any energy to do it. Energy isn’t free, you know. There is a timer on the wall, with a display of the quickly rising temperature, along with the target temperature. The game records the choices of the occupant in how they can cool the room without using the AC energy. Their ability and desire to better utilize systems such as shades, ceiling fans, lighting controls, and operable windows will be tracked with the game.
Ability and Desire
Ability and desire change the way occupants use a building. Ability is defined as ‘possession of the means or skill to do something’, whereas desire is defined as ‘a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen’. When you look at how a building is designed, it will give you one set of numbers as to how that building can be more energy efficient. However, that doesn’t take into account the ability nor the desire of the occupant to utilize those options.
The way an occupant behaves in a building, together with control systems, is a critical factor in the overall building energy performance. The fact is, static and overly simplistic assumptions on behavioral patterns of an occupant gives very little in real data for predicting building energy performance. In a research review analysis, it was found that “It has been widely acknowledged in the literature that there is an alarming performance gap between the predicted and actual energy consumption of buildings (sometimes this has been up to 300% difference). Analysis of the impact of occupants’ behavior has been largely overlooked in building energy performance analysis.” This shows how important it is to get real data.
The game that was created by PSU and OPSIS was an effort to not only gather than information with actual occupants, but to utilize it as a training tool. A tool that can show the occupants what their choices are effecting, and what options they are missing.
So, What Was it Like?
Donning the headset, it was impressive how quickly the VR room felt comfortable to move around in. Put off for a moment by walking through a table, I quickly got to work. I’m a gamer, and I couldn’t stand not ‘winning’. I had to get that temperature down. However, my natural predilections were a major hinderance. I am an AC lover. I run my AC all the time. I would rather turn everything off in my house to put that energy toward the AC unit running. So, I was already behind the 8 ball with this game. I turned on ceiling fans. I opened one door, but not the others. I never even touched the blinds. I scored very, very badly.
It was an eye-opening experience. I work in the ‘green’ industry. I have learned so much in the year I have been with all of you in this wonderful space. However, never would I have thought that I was such an energy hog. However, this game showed me that I had become so accustomed to using energy to cool a room, that I had literally forgotten simple solutions that save energy AND cool the room. The game worked! For at least one person, it worked – and isn’t that how we change the world?
VR is becoming a standard way to see how buildings and interiors can be designed. As PSU and Opsis showed me, it can also be used to train the occupants of those buildings to utilize our resources better. What is your company doing to utilize this new technology to change the way your industry operates?
For more information or to discuss the topic of this blog, please contact Brad Blank
