I stand in the middle of the apartment and look around. I move around carefully and uncertainly and look at my hands in which I have the controllers. I go around the kitchen table. I push the button on the controller in my right hand and teleport myself to hall. I push again a different button on the controller and move my hand towards the handle of the bathroom door. The door opens and I enter. With the controller on my left hand, I change the colour schemes of the bathroom and the colour of the wall tiles in the bathroom changes. Would I prefer the turquoise blue of the sea or is the calm grey better after all? I leave the bathroom and view the apartment from the main door point of view. I move forward and teleport myself next to the bed, near the French balcony. I can experience the proportions of the apartment in a completely different way than just by looking pictures. I take off the virtual reality (vr) headset and I am back in the classroom from where I just left to get familiar with DAS new apartment building project’s apartment.
DAS is planning new apartment building for students to Riihipellonpuisto opposite to University of Lapland. Planning has been going on as a wooden construction. DAS project makes the campus area compact and it combines the two separate University campuses. The new joint campus area consists of Lapland UAS and University of Lapland and already existing DAS apartment buildings. The City of Rovaniemi, DAS, students and Universities have works together to create the development plan for the as partnership-planned area. Lapland University of Applied Sciences does research work related to the DAS project and with the planning of the project is used data modelling, which allows the usage of virtual, modelling.
Students had the opportunity to get involved to planning when the RDI-services of Lapland UAS arranged a co-design event for future users. In the co-design event, the users were able to explore the model apartments in virtual reality, examine different colour schemes and functionalities, and comment the designs. The model apartment’s virtual model was made according to the data model in Software Engineering Laboratory pLAB of Lapland UAS.
Sami Ikäläinen puts the vr headset on. He uses the controllers and moves around in the virtual reality much more freely and relaxed way than me. Even though he tells that this is the first time he uses the vr headset. Sami studies construction for the first year in Lapland UAS. He does not live in DAS apartment now but ponders that moving in to wooden student apartment building would be interesting.
Meri Suominen is also first timer to use vr headset but virtual reality and controllers are quickly in control and Meri opens the closets in the virtual apartment and looks around with great interest. Meri studies Interior and Textile Design for the fifth year in University of Lapland. She lives in DAS apartment at the moment. Meri signed in to comment on the DAS project for the interest towards virtual modelling. She sees virtual modelling as a great tool also for the branch of interior design, which she is studying.
Both Meri and Sami think that familiarizing oneself with virtual model to the becoming apartment gives much more information than just a picture. It is much easier to piece together the apartment that way. Both students also answer the feedback inquiry after the virtual round in the apartment. They gave opinions about the colour schemes and functionalities of the apartment.
Experience about virtual reality is confusing and amazing at the same time. It would be quite nice someday to give the student virtual headset in DAS customer service and tell that this is the apartment you have been offered, please step inside! Getting familiar with the apartment would be easy and the student could see the apartment more vivid and picture how one’s own furniture would settle in to the apartment. Maybe we are not that far from that reality anymore?
Visit to the virtual reality was made by Kaisamarja, DAS customer service manager