VRiC: Mimarlıkta yapı bilgisi öğreniminde kullanılabilecek bir sanal ortam önerisi
VRiC (virtual reality in construction): Proposal for a virtual reality based learning environment for architectural construction systems
Yazar: VARLIK YÜCEL
Danışman: DR. ÖĞR. ÜYESİ SEMA ALAÇAM
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Bilişim Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarımda Bilişim Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2018
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture
Dizin: Sanal öğrenme ortamları = Virtual learning environments

Özet:
Günümüz teknolojilerinin eğitim alanındaki potansiyelleri sanal eğitim ortamlarını önemli bir çalışma alanı haline gelmiştir. Bugünün öğrencilerin bilgi ile katılımcı ve interaktif bir ilişki kurabildikleri, görsel medyalar ile zenginleştirilmiş öğrenim metotlarına ve ortamlarına yatkınlık göstermektedir. Bu durum yüz yüze, didaktik eğitimden; kendi kendine öğrenme, oyunlaştırma ve teknolojik gereçler ile öğrenme doğrultusunda ilerleyen bir dönüşüm yaşanmasına neden olmaktadır. Mimarlık eğitiminin bu dönüşüme uyum sağlayacak ve bu teknolojilerin potansiyellerinden yararlanacak şekilde yeniden sorgulanması çalışmanın esas hedefidir. Bu bağlamda geleneksel eğitim ortamlarında interaktif bir biçimde incelenmesi oldukça zor olan, yapı sistemlerinin, malzemelerinin, teknolojilerinin, yapım teknik ve süreçlerinin incelenmesini kapsayan yapı bilgisi, Sanal Gerçeklik (Virtual Reality) teknolojisinin potansiyellerden güçlü bir biçimde yararlanılabilecek bir konu olarak belirlenmiştir.
Mimarlık öğreniminde yapı bilgisi dersleri önemli bir yer tutmaktadır. Bu derslerde yapı bileşenleri, malzemeleri ve sistemlerinin incelenmekte; yapım teknik ve teknolojilerinin araştırılmaktadır. Mimarlık öğreniminde yapı bilgisi konularının işlenişinde Sanal Gerçeklik (SG) teknolojinin potansiyellerinden nasıl yararlanılabileceği sorusu ve bu soruya aranan cevaplar tezin kapsamını belirlemiştir. Tez kapsamında Türkiye ve dünyadaki öncü on mimarlık okulu seçilmiş ve bu mimarlık okullarında yapı bilgisi konularının ele alındığı dersler, içeriklerine ve işlenişlerine göre gruplandırılmıştır. Seçilen dersler, yapı bilgisi konularının işlenişinde öğrenci ve bilgi arasında kurulan ilişki biçimlerine göre analiz edilmiştir. Bunun sonucunda incelenen mimarlık okullarında yapı bilgisi konularının işlenişinde öğrencinin bilgi karşısında pasif bir konumda olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Öğrencinin bilgi karşısında etken konumda olduğu aktif bir etkileşimin kurulması öğrenme düzeyine pozitif etki yaratacağı varsayılmıştır. Öğrencilerin yapı bilgisi konuların çeşitli etkileşimler ile deneyimlenip, öğrenebileceği sanal bir etkileşim ortamı kurulmasının bu anlamda olumlu olacağı öngörülmüştür. Bu bağlamda literatürde geçen benzer çalışmalar ve uygulamalar, etkileşim biçimleri ve arayüz tasarımı açısından irdelenmiştir. 
Mimarlık okullarında yapı bilgisi öğrenimi ve sanal ortamda yapı bilgisi öğrenimi üzerine yapılan araştırmaların devamında Virtual Reality in Construction (VRiC) isminde bir sanal öğrenme ortamı önerilmiştir. Önerilen sanal ortamın yaratılması için Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) oyun motoru kullanılmıştır. 3ds Max programında, detay ve malzeme katmanları ile birlikte modellenen bir yapı UE4 ile SG ortamına aktarılmıştır. Öğrencilerin yaşayacakları sanal ortam deneyiminde, bir mimari yapı içerisinde var olma duygusu hissetmeleri amaçlanmıştır. Yapı içerisinde gezinirken biryanda da kurdukları etkileşimler ile yapı bileşenleri ile ilgili çeşitli bilgi katmanlarına ulaşabilmeleri planlanmıştır. Geliştirilen sanal ortam içerisinde öğrenciler Oculus Rift Sanal Gerçeklik Gözlüğü (Virtual Reality Headset) kumandaları, çeşitli jestler ve menüler vasıtası ile tasarlanan sahne ve sahne içerisindeki nesnelerle etkileşime girebilmektedir. Farklı görüntüleme biçimleri ile yapı bileşenleri üzerinde incelemelerde bulunabilmektedir. Öğrenciler seçtikleri yapı bileşenlerinin farklı malzeme katmanlarına ulaşarak, bileşenleri meydana getiren her bir yapısal katmanı ayrıntılı bir biçimde gözlemleyebilmektedir. Taşıyıcı sistemleri, bu sistemlerin bir araya geliş biçimlerini ve detaylarını kurgulanan etkileşimlerin ve tasarlanan arayüzlerin kullanımı ile incelenebilmektedir. 
Geliştirilen sanal öğrenme ortamı İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesinde lisans ve yüksek lisans öğrenimi gören altı öğrenciden oluşan bir grup ile test edilmiştir. Gerçekleştirilen kullanıcı testi çerçevesinde VRiC sanal öğrenme ortamı kullanılabilirlik ve esneklik bağlamında değerlendirilmiştir. Sanal ortam içerisinde tanımlanan işlevlerin öğrenciler tarafından sağlıklı bir biçimde gerçekleştirilebilmesi sanal ortamının kullanılabilirliğini tanımlamaktadır. Farklı inceleme biçimlerinin, kurgulanan etkileşimlerin ve tasarlanan arayüzlerin öğrencilerin farklı ilgi ve istekleri doğrultusundaki yeterliliği ise sanal ortamın esnekliğini tarif etmektedir. Yapılan kullanıcı testleri sonucunda VRiC'nin birçok özelliğinin kullanılabilirlik bağlamında öğrenciler tarafından olumlu karşılandığı görülmüştür. Buna karşı önerilen sanal öğrenme ortamı esneklik bağlamında değerlendirildiğinde ise çeşitli yetersizliklerinin ve eksikliklerinin bulunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu bağlamda VRiC sanal öğrenme ortamı üzerinde yapılabilecek geliştirmeler tartışılmıştır.

Abstract:
With the ever-increasing ease of access to digital and physical tools that enable the use and development of the technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), they have become an area of study for many different disciplines from design to education. The participation of these technologies into the field of education has made virtual learning environments (VLE) an important field of study. The motivation of this study is derived from the examination of the potentials of VR technologies in the field of architectural education. This study aims to introduce a VLE implementation, which covers generation of 3D architectural structural elements, and building materials in VR, examination of VR models by students and evaluation of VLE based on user experience.
Today's learners are more inclined to learn with visual media tools that are used in a participatory and interactive manner. This situation leads to a shift from face-to-face, didactic learning to self-learning and learning with gamification. Therefore, the establishment of an integrated structure of educational environments with different interactive visualization techniques is playing an important role in learning context. In this sense, VLE can be considered as a crucial aspect that needs to be examined in the technical and pedagogical context. For this reason, architectural education should be reconsidered to benefit from the potential of this new field within the scope of VLE. 
Construction education has an important place in architecture education. Examination of the building components, materials, structural systems and, investigation on the construction techniques and technologies are the main interests of the construction education. The aim of the proposed VLE is to investigate the potentials of virtual reality technology in learning construction in architectural education. To understand the content and the method of the courses related to construction education, Turkey's and world's leading architectural schools are examined. Construction courses are analyzed according to their contents and the relationship between students and the knowledge. The method of the courses are decisive on the relationships created. It is possible to examine construction education in architectural undergraduate education in four group according to their content. These are construction systems, structural systems, building physics and building management. It is also possible to sort them in five group according to the teaching method. Which are lectures, seminars, project or application based studies, case studies, field trips and laboratory work. Deeper investigation has been done on construction systems courses in relation to the scope of the study. Examination of architectural components and their integrations are the subjects of construction system courses. Building materials, construction techniques and technologies are also the focus of the construction systems. 
As result of the research on architecture schools, it has been determined that giving lecture is the most common teaching method. Student are not able to interact with the information when the information has given by only lectures. There is a passive relationship between the student and the information. Furthermore, there are inadequacies on facilitation of interactive learning environment where students can examine closely building components and materials by touching, experiencing so on. Traditional learning spaces (classes, lecture halls, etc.) do not allow the detailed analysis of systems such as structure, facade, insulation, which are the most basic parts of the construction and material knowledge. In addition, it is often not possible to examine the structural sections and their system details in the physical world because of their physical properties. It is assumed that the establishment of a learning environment, where allows active interaction in construction education, would have a positive effect on the level of learning. It is concluded that students can benefit form a VLE in where students can learn and examine the construction education related phenomenon through various interactions. It is possible to effect students learning on building systems positively. 
Investigation on the learning building information in virtual environment is another important part of the research. Academic studies and applications have been examined in the context of construction education in virtual environment. They are grouped in four category according to their subjects. These are virtual exploration environments, structural analysis in the virtual environment and the construction management in the virtual environment. It has been determined that there is a strong correlation between context of construction courses in the architectural schools and the virtual environment. It is possible to conclude that there are common concerns and goals both in physical and virtual learning environments. Context of the proposed VLE has been determined based on the inferences from these two different learning environments. 
Within the scope of the study, a VLE named VRiC: Virtual Reality in Construction is proposed. It is aimed to create an environment where students can examine building components such as columns, beams, floors, walls, doors and windows in an interactive way. It also allows examination of the structural details of the systems. In the proposed VLE, students can learn by discoveries, experiments and experiences. In this context, a building model, which is a generic house unit, is created. Different information layers are integrated to the model. It is possible to feel presence in the building with the help of VR technology. With the learning environment proposed it is possible to examine building components and structures in their own physical context. While students are walking inside the building, they will have the opportunity to examine the building elements and to peel the material layers. Therefore, students can explore the building in a new way, which is not possible in the physical world. 
There are various physical and digital tool are used in the development phase of VRiC. The Oculus Rift VR system is the physical tool used to create connection between user and virtual environment. Oculus Rift is also responsible from creation of the VR experience. System consists of a head mounted display, two sensors and two controls. The Oculus Rift sensors can scan a 180-degree angle. Within this angle, the position and movement information of the user and the controls can be monitored instantaneously. It is possible to interact with the objects and the menus with the buttons on the Oculus Rift controller. It is also possible to communicate with the virtual reality environment with various gestures. 3ds Max modeling program and Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) game engine are the digital tools that are used. 3ds Max is used to create 3D model of the building and its component. Materials and the details of the components are also modeled in 3ds Max. UE4 is used for development of the system architecture of the VRiC. Design of the interface and the creation of the interaction has been done in UE4. In addition to that, UE4 is able to produce high quality images compatible with virtual reality headsets. 
In the virtual environment, Oculus Rift controllers, various gestures and menus are used to communicate between the user, the scene and the objects. The tools responsible for the establishment of communication are explained as user interfaces. Actions, the result of this communication are discussed ass user experiences. User interfaces are reviewed in two parts; physical interfaces and graphic interfaces. Physical interfaces define the connection established by Oculus Rift controls and gestures. View modes and preference menus are introduced in detail as graphical interfaces. View modes are consists of x-ray mode and contour mode, which provide various displaying styles while examining the building elements in VRiC environment. Preference menu allows user to choose and show different layers on building components. 
Interaction with the scene and interaction with objects are introduced under the title of user interaction. Interaction with the scene describes how the user communicates with the scene created in the virtual environment, how to perform the movement in the scene, how to go from one point to another. Interaction with the objects defines the interaction between users and objects in a virtual environment. Object selection, displaying the layers of the objects and removal of the objects from the scene is also explained in the interaction with the objects title.
Success of the VRiC is measured by an user test based on user experience. This success represent whether the students can experience in VLE without a problem, whether the interactions planned can be established properly. Evaluating the possible positive potentials on architectural education was the main purpose of the experiments. Understanding the problems or deficiencies of the VRiC and producing solutions was also another aspect, which is planned to reveal by the experiments. The general attitude of the students about the virtual environment is evaluated. According to problem they live, comments they make, ideas they produce and their behavior during the sessions, it is possible to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the virtual learning environment. Furthermore, the similarities and differences of the attitudes observed during the experiment will be an important determinant for the evaluation. VRiC is tested with an experiment conducted with a six students studying at İstanbul Technical University. Half of the students was graduate and the other half was undergraduate. In the framework of the experiment, VRiC VLE is evaluated in terms of usability and flexibility. The ability to use the functions defined in the virtual environment properly by the students represents the usability of the virtual environment. The adequacy of the different display methods, the interaction types and the interfaces to the different interests and intends of the students describe the flexibility of the virtual environment. 
It has been determined that the proposed environment can have a positive effect on the students' knowledge of structural learning. It has been seen that VRiC can create interactive learning environment, which enhance student learning in the context of construction learning. With the proposed VLE it is possible to create virtual exploration environments in which students can examine and experience the building components and systems in an interactive and participatory manner. On the other hand, it has been determined that usability of the selection menu, flexibility of the interaction with the models, flexibility of the examination methods and the flexibility of the information layers are found to be re-evaluated and improved. Hence, a series of improvements have been made on the interactions and interfaces. 
It can be said that testing the VRiC with more students will give more comprehensive results. It is also possible to test VRiC during the building information courses throughout the undergraduate architecture education. During this period, the contribution of VRiC to architectural learning can be measured. Thereupon, the effect of the VRiC on the students learning can be determined.