Architecture with VR

Documentation

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One Line Summary

Framework to test corelation between the spatial, climatological aspects of environment and the physiological, neurological response to the space with VR as the medium.

Description

Virtual Reality promises new fields in entertainment such as immersive gaming and virtual tourism. However, the territories remain uncharted now for most. Designers base their design on intuition for the lack of a quantitative relation between architecture and cognition. In this collaborative project by ETH Zurich and Bauhaus University, a Virtual Reality framework is created to explore corelation within multidimensional spatio-cognitive data in the virtual world.

The spatial parameters (centrality, integration, connectivity) are defined by the space syntax model obtained from the 2D plan. The environmental data is extracted from a custom assembly of sensors that record levels of dust, noise, sunlight, temperature, humidity, and pollution of the space.

We use Empatica E4 to record physiological parameters of the subject (electrodermal activity, skin conductance, heart rate, body temperature) and for the neurological EEG data, we use the wearable by EMOTIV.

Time

May 2015

Collaborators

Reinhard Koenig, Matthias Standfest, Ashris, Constantinos Miltiadis

Summarized internship project work
An assembly of fourteen GoPros was used to capture 360 Video
Sample 360 scene shot at ETH with the GoPro assembly to be viewed in OculusVR
Depth Map extracted from the stereoscopic pair of images collected using the assembly to get the spatial data from
Oculus + EMOTIV EEG Setup to monitor brain waves while experiencing the virtual space
Profile generated from Empatica E4 after wathing a series of videos triggering different emotions.
Compact ETH Backpack sensor was made to collect environmental data
The backpack contains an Intel NUC, Libelium Meshlium (Wifi sniffer to get num of people around), Libelium Waspmote (gas, light and sound sensor), and a GPS Antenna
Luminosity levels recorded on a test walk done using the backpack
Sound intensity level recorded on the test walk

An extension of the workflow was to automate blurring of human faces in the VR experience created using public footage as per the Swiss laws.

Auto blurring framework set up using OpenCV

The internship terminated at the point of setting up the framework to create VR experience, extract the spatial, environmental and physiological data. Future tasks involve analysing this huge data to check for corelation and study the results.

Farewell, ETH
other projects

Automated Site Analysis by Method of Overlay | Link

I devised a numerical method to automate the (really boring) process of zoning a site for an architectural project by taking into account climatological and toplogical input from the architect.


Alumni Class Gift, IIT Kharagpur | Link

I designed a 15 feet tall structure dedicated to the Alumni Batch of 1972 of IIT Kharagpur. The designed evolved through a series of sketches and initial walkthrough renders.

internships
ETH Zurich, Switzerland, May - Aug '15

I interned under Prof. Gerhard Schmitt at the Chair of Information Architecture. I implemented machine learning to create tools that enable architects to design spaces with greater control on the cognitive response of the user.

Based on my performance and enthusiasm, I was offered a research project at Bauhaus University, Weimar.

Witworks, Bangalore, Dec '15 - Jan '16

I was the Product Design intern at Witworks, a tech startup founded by alumni of my university in Bangalore. I worked on their second product called 'Blink', an IoT wearable that provide access to services on-the-go.

Through the branding campaign and media content, I helped increase the brand visibility and social media outreach to 16k Facebook followers.

Fablab CEPT, Ahmedabad, May - Aug '14

As a maker intern, I developed 'The Musical Facade', a dynamic screen that responds to music with motion. I did hands-on programming, electronic design, digitial fabrication to materialize my ideas into things.

I got accepted to the Smartgeometry 2014 based on my work at FabLab, being the youngest international delegate at the conference.

conferences
Smartgeometry 2016, Sweden, 4 - 9 Apr

I was selected in the '20,000 Blocks' Cluster headed by DU Darmstadt at Smartgeometry 2016. We worked on a gamified architectural platform to allow non-architects be an active part of the design process while having fun.

Smartgeometry 2014, Hong Kong, 14 - 19 Jul

In the 2014 edition, I was part of the 'Design Space Exploration' Cluster headed by ETH Zurich. We worked on devising algorithms that automated urban planning by taking subjective user input into consideration.

competitions
GES 2017 Hackathon

I was the Winner at Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 Hackathon organized by Gupshup. I built a Messenger chatbot that helped people find their missing items by pairing them with people in a 7 kilometer radius zone who have reported a found report to the bot matching their description. Source can be found here.

GE Edison Challenge 2016

My team 'Trafix' was the Finalist ( Top 10 in India ) in the GE Edison Challenge 2016. We built an app prototype that uses gamificiation to make following traffic rules fun. Trafix uses route planning algorithms on crowdsourced data to predict traffic congestion and plan individual trips in a way that optimizes the overall traffic.

Tata Social Entreprise Challenge 2016

I was the Quarter Finalist ( Top 40 in India ) at Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2016 for 'Pullypal', a social initiative that focuses on generating employment through rural tourism. Pullypal offers a unique experience to travelers who wish for a more immersive cultural and social experience in their travel.

featured
Inspiring Minds, IIT Kharagpur

Spring Fest, IIT Kharagpur launched a series called 'Inspiring Minds' featuring students and alumni who are an inspiring role model for the student community and I was honored to be included in the list ^_^

Internshala Remarkable Internships

My blog about my experience at ETH as a research intern got selected as a 'remarkable internship' by Internshala, India's largest portal for student internships.

tools

[ WEB DEVELOPMENT ]

HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Node, Express, Mongo, Handlebars, socket.io

[ CREATIVE PROGRAMMING ]

Processing, OpenFrameworks, p5js, threejs, d3

[ PROGRAMMING ]

Python, Javascript, C, C++

[ MACHINE LEARNING ]

Tensorflow, R, MATLAB

[ DESIGN ]

Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Rhino + Grasshopper

[ PHYSICAL PROGRAMMING ]

Arduino, Raspberry Pi

You can check out the other things I do here.

[ PERSONALITY TYPE ]

My Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI) is INFP [Introvert | iNtuitive | Feeling | Prospecting]. The favorite people I share my type with are Kurt Kobain, Bill Watterson, Lana Del Rey, and Calvin. You can find yours here.

[ FILM MAKING | PHOTOGRAPHY ]

I make movies about things that strike a chord with me. 'Sweeten' is both about nothing and many things at once. I made it on my visit to Sweden, and hence the pun. 'Melancholic Times' is shot in the ancient city 'Hampi'; it captures moments of contrasting inner peace and turmoil. I also make not-so-serious videos, mostly Indian college-centric ones under the banner of 'Spectecool' (34k+ views). While at it, you may also like to see me being kicked out of my comfort zone performing stand up comedy over here. I click pictures of pretty places here.

[ WRITING ]

I pen down my thoughts on issues I care about on Medium and answer questions that I think will be of use to others on Quora. Some articles that I like are: The Open Cage: Modern Day Slavery and Religion 2.0.

My article on consumer behavior titled 'The Irrational Consumer' was published in Economica, the publication on economics and public policy by Economics Club, IIT Delhi.

Questions I've answered about architecture: What are the most well architected buildings in the world?, , What career paths combine computer science and architecture?, What is the difference between a 'space' and a 'place' in architecture?

and some general ones: Why is money not the most important thing in life?, What is a paradigm shift?, Why are some languages written with straight lines while others with curved lines?, How can I visualize 4D shapes in my mind?

[ SOCIAL CAUSE ]

I am part of the LGBTQ support group in my campus called 'Ambar' which is trying to sensitize the student community about gender diversity and make the campus a better place for all students irrespective of their orientation.

[ DEBATING ]

As the member of the Debating Society, I have represented IIT Kharagpur in four national tournaments: National Law University Asian Parliamentary Debate 2012, IIT Bombay British Parliamentary Debate 2013, IIT Delhi Asian Parliamentary Debate 2013 and Kalinga School of Law Asian Parliamentary Debate 2012. I am also the Winner of the National Level Debate at Spring Fest 2015 that had 300+ participants. I was the Director of Communications at Model United Nations too in 2013.

[ LEADERSHIP ]

As the Executive Editor of The Scholars' Avenue, the campus newsbody of IIT Kharagpur, I am responsible to launch new projects and ensure their execution. I mostly take up creative assignments such as 'The Happiness Project', 'The Marauder's Map', 'The KGP Society Periodic Table', 'KGP: Year in Review' and such. Under my leadership, the media body has seen a rise in the Facebook followers to 36k+ and monthly readership to 10k+

[ !ARCHITECTURE? ]

I have a love-hate relationship with Architecture. To me, Architecture is a field which in its essence is as surreal as poetry or music but has been reduced to the stature of make-up for real estate. I think Architecture is more about the soul and the mind than about buildings. I do not inted to pursue the field in the way it is practiced, but I do value the impact of the architectural design process in all of my works. For my undergrad thesis (to be completed by July 2017), I am designing the 'Centre for Emotional Technology and Artificial Intelligence' that shall embody everything I have learnt and wish to give back to architecture.

resume
Thank you for your time. You can find my resume here.

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