VREVAL - A BIM-based Framework for User-centered Evaluation of Complex Buildings in Virtual Environments

The design of buildings requires architects to anticipate how their future users will experience and behave in them. In order to do this objectively and systematically user studies in Virtual Environments (VEs) are a valuable method. In this paper, we present a framework for setting up, conducting and analysing user studies in VEs. The framework is integrated in the architectural design process by using BIM as a common modeling and visualisation platform. In order to define the user studies simple and flexible for the individual purposes we followed a modular concept. Modules thereby refer to different kinds of user study methods. Currently we developed three modules (Wayfinding, Spatial Experience and Qualitative Annotations), each having their individual requirements regarding their setup, interaction method and visualisation of results. In the course of a architectural design studio, students applied this framework to evaluate their building designs from a user perspective.