VR or Not VR - No Longer a Question?

Virtual Reality (VR) software has developed to the point where, for the architect who is averagely technically adept, it can be incorporated into the design process with reasonable effort and costs. For VR to be an effective design tool, it must add value to the design process and should give insights and opportunities not available by other methods.Previous research by the authors reported on the results of an international student workshop which focused both on the workflow (to prepare the architectural models for the new VR systems) and the spatial perception that users experienced. In this paper, we continue to explore the question: "Can low cost VR be an effective addition to the architects' design toolbox, or does it still remain a "far-fetched, high-tech expensive folly?"To do this we are working with a larger group of students, a more developed workflow and we are also expanding this to architects in practice. We will be assessing both the practicality of integrating VR into the design workflow and the spatial perception of the designer when interacting with the model. We are experimenting with additional interface tools.