Virtual London: Gaming technology, VR and the built environment

Tuesday 14 January 2025

View speaker presentations

Kate Honey

Group Community Advocacy Lead
Landsec U+I

Nour Ragab

Head of Production
Virtual Viewing

David Munro

Senior Consultant
Cityscape Digital

Henry Louth

Senior Associate
Zaha Hadid Architects

Florence Maschietto

Senior Programme Manager

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The world of virtual reality technology is fast-evolving, and VR digital tools are now a mainstay of a number of design practices, with the AIA reporting in 2018 that 67% of large architecture practices have adopted VR technology. In addition, RIBA reported in 2022 that real-time technology in the gaming industry is helping to transform 3D visualisation in architecture.

This online talk covered some examples of parametric models and their increased utilisation within the built environment industry, and the drive by some to make such models an open resource platform to improve public knowledge of schemes and developments in the planning pipeline.

We discussed how such platforms can increase public engagement through effective collaboration with both local authorities and existing digital research initiatives to improve knowledge of the built environment across the board.

They also considered the role of AI generative tools and auto-composition algorithms within such models that could streamline design processes and further enrich this virtual world with more detailed visualisations.