ALEXANDRIA: New technology conceptualized in Dubai could change the way architects give shape and form to society's aspirations, culture and experiences, said a leading expert. Dr Ahmad Okeil of the British University in Dubai convened over 80 experts from 25 countries in a three-day conference hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt to discuss the most recent trends in virtual architecture, said a press statement. Virtual architecture merges architecture, new media and computational technologies to assist with the planning and development of a wide range of construction projects. "The integration of IT and architecture results in many changing and expanding forms of interaction between the physical world and the virtual world, said Okeil, senior lecturer in architecture at the university. "The potential benefits of Virtual Architecture's power and versatility make for exciting construction projects and new techniques for imagining the world around us, added Okeil. Conference delegates estimated that in recent years new technologies outpaced many architectural design issues. The architectural profession now accepts digital design tools and technologies as something to be integrated in both the design process and into everyday life. In his opening speech, Okeil introduced two metaphors to be discussed during the conference. The first addressed aspects of virtual environments that resemble our physical world. The second metaphor looked into the means and modes of interaction between human bodies and such virtual environment, exploring modes of user interaction with virtual worlds by using the screen cursor as the hand, digital avatar as the body, or virtual camera as the eye. Presentations covered a wide range of topics within the subject area, from integrating Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) in education, research and practice, to different techniques of urban city modeling, creative visualization and information visualization. Participants also discussed the potentials of new design trends, such as mass customization, performance simulation, virtual prototyping, virtual design and virtual construction, on the final product in the construction industry and how this affects user satisfaction. Several approaches to collaborative design, intelligent design, case reasoning, design methods, synthetic methods, web-based design, revolutionary architecture and generative form were presented during the conference. Research papers indicated that different modes of interaction with the virtual world can enrich human understanding of interaction in the material world and might include insights into the way we understand and interact with space. The event was sponsored by several bodies including the British Council and the German Academic Exchange Service. Presented papers will be included in the Cumulative Index of Publications about Computer Aided Architectural Design (CUMINCAD) which is an international database of research used by scholars in the subject area.
