Differences in spatial understanding between physical and virtual models

Abstract In the digital age, physical models are still used as major tools in architectural and urban design processes. The reason why designers still use physical models remains unclear. In addition, physical and 3D virtual models have yet to be differentiated. The answers to these questions are too complex to account for in all aspects. Thus, this study only focuses on the differences in spatial understanding between physical and virtual models. In particular, it emphasizes on the perception of scale. For our experiment, respondents were shown a physical model and a virtual model consecutively. A questionnaire was then used to ask the respondents to evaluate these models objectively and to establish which model was more accurate in conveying object size. Compared with the virtual model, the physical model tended to enable quicker and more accurate comparisons of building heights.