Virtual Ning

Report from the ANZAScA2002 Conference Ning Gu, PhD Candidate
Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, Australia

With the generous support of the Rosalie McCutcheon Scholarship, I presented a paper titled “Virtual Worlds = Architectural Design + Computational Elements” at the Australia and New Zealand Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA) 2002 conference. This is the 36th ANZAScA conference, held in the School of Architecture and Building at Deakin University, Geelong, from November 1st to 4th 2002. 76 papers from nine countries were presented in the conference. This year’s conference theme “The Modern Practise of Architectural Science: from Pedagogy to Andragogy” was well presented in the four-day conference. Andragogy can be defined as the art and science of adult learning. In the context of architectural Science, it focuses on how architects teach, learn and research within our unique profession.
		Ning Gu at Deakin University Architecture Gallery

The 2002 ANZAScA conference covered various subdisciplines of Architectural Science such as sustainable Architecture, Environmental Technologies, Construction Technologies, Design Theory and Architectural Science Education. The impact of Information Technologies has also recently established a new, but promising research field, which is named “Theory and Practice of Digital Technologies.” In fact, about 30 percent of the conference proceedings are directly under this category and almost 80 percent are related to the development or the application of Information Technologies. The conference presentations are a showcase of current development of teaching, learning and research in the field of Architectural Science, specifically in the region of Australia and New Zealand, as well as Asia, North and South America.

The paper that I co-authored with Professor Mary Lou Maher was presented on the second day of the conference. The paper explored some design and implementation issues of a newly established area called“ Virtual World”, “Cyberspace” or “Virtual Architecture”. A virtual world is a multi-user networked threedimensional (3D) virtual environment. Most virtual worlds have been developed for the entertainment industry, but we are beginning to see virtual worlds for educational and professional uses. These worlds draw on our experience in the physical world and mimic many of the forms and activities from the designed physical world. We can consider a virtual world as a composition of architectural metaphors and computing entities. The architectural metaphors are useful for providing a sense of place and, if multi-user, a sense of awareness of others. We have developed the use of virtual worlds for education and gained experience in the potential
functions of virtual worlds for collaborative design.

As an assembly of computing elements, virtual worlds can have programmable functions to support various online activities. Current 3D virtual worlds on the web are largely static. The world’s creator can make changes to the world but only in special cases can the users change the world, or can the world change itself. Such a restriction makes these 3D virtual worlds useful for modelling existing designs but less useful as an environment for ongoing professional activities. There are two levels at which modifications can occur: firstly, the user can directly change the world through their direct actions, and secondly, the world can modify itself as a consequence of the user’s actions. In the paper we focused on the use and extension of a virtual world platform, called Active Worlds, and its relationship to architectural design. This platform focused on the implementation of interactive 3D models. In these virtual worlds, a person is represented as an avatar that can interact with 3D objects to build, teleport, and animate.

In the paper, we reviewed some design principles and showed examples of interactive virtual worlds designed by students at the University of Sydney in Australia and MIT in the US. It was very exciting to present in front of an audience with such diverse backgrounds. and very beneficial for me to receive feedback from scholars who were working on the same area. More interestingly, it was truly inspiring to listen to the comments made by experts from other domains. For instance, Professor Terry Purcell, an experienced researcher and educator who has been working extensively in the field of Design Cognition, approached me after my session and raised some questions regarding human perception about space and place. His suggestion came from a totally different perspective than that of my supervisor and colleagues, and helped me gain further understanding of my research.

After the conference, I spent two days in Melbourne before returning to Sydney. I visited Federation Square, a newly built urban space, which has been widely discussed among architects recently. I also visited a photography exhibition by Nan Goldin, a part of the Melbourne Festival. On the day of the Melbourne Cup, I met Annette Yiu, an IH alumna who was in a gorgeous black dress and of course “that” hat. She invited me for a buffet dinner by the Yarra River for an early birthdaycelebration. It was so sweet of her. Thanks, Annette! Finally, on my way back to Sydney, I was on the same flight as Priya Kannan, another IH alumna, who was flying to Sydney for her graduation ceremony. Congratulations, Priya!

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