Virtual Reality in the Service of User Participation
The normal application of Virtual Reality is to the simulation of environments which are in some way special - remote, hazardous or purely imaginary. This paper describes research and development work which changes the paradigm by simulating perfectly ordinary buildings for special people. Some of the population have some form of physical impairment - a proportion which is likely to rise in line with an ageing population. New legislation, such as the UK Disability Discrimination Act places additional responsibility on building owners to ensure adequate access for people with an impairment and this in turn will place additional responsibility on the architect. Current methods of auditing access for new building are primitive and require the auditor to interpret plans/sections of the proposed building against a checklist of requirements specific to the special need. This paper reports on progress in the use of an immersive VR facility to simulate access to buildings for two broad classes of user:

i) those with a mobility impairment

ii) those with a visual impairment

In the former case, a wheelchair motion platform has been designed which allows the wheelchair user to navigate the virtual building; a brake and motor connected to the rollers on which the wheelchair sits facilitate the effects of slope and surface resistance.
HyCon - a virtual reality design support tool for hybrid concrete structural frames
Hybrid concrete can provide high quality, cost effective structural frames in a variety of situations when compared to other, more conventional, solutions such as in-situ concrete and steel frames. The key players in the design and construction supply chain process for hybrid concrete are lead frame contractors and design engineers. The use of hybrid concrete, however, is sometimes not considered by contractors and designers during the initial stages of design. This is often because of a lack of reliable and accessible hybrid concrete cost and production time information. Without this information, contractors and designers may disregard hybrid concrete as a design alternative, potentially omitting the most appropriate solution before it has even been considered.
This paper reports on a collaborative research project in the United Kingdom which has developed HyCon - a prototype design support tool which allows contractors and designers at the conceptual design stage to carry out "what if?" analysis in a virtual reality environment to consider various hybrid concrete alternatives against a range of 'hard' and 'soft' performance criteria. The 'hard' criteria allow contractors and designers to assess initial and whole life cycle cost and production duration implications. The 'soft' criteria encourage the whole project team to assess and prioritise the importance and performance of design alternatives against criteria such as physical form and space.
Design of reinforced concrete lining in pressure tunnels, considering thermal effects and jointed rockmass
Abstract Jaeger's theory (Jaeger, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering , Cambridge University Press, 1972) of the design of the lining for a pressure tunnel applies to a tunnel located in an isotropic, homogeneous and elastic medium. The theory is derived from the elasticity equations for the plane stress condition. In this paper, Jaeger's theory is extended to a plane strain situation. Also included is a discussion of the effects of a uniform increase (or decrease) in the lining temperature, jointed rockmass, cracking of the tunnel lining, and cracking of the rockmass around the opening. Tables are presented for the modulus of subgrade reaction for various rockmass conditions and for rock sharing pressures for various lining conditions. The reduction factor to include the effect of joints in rockmass is derived by the analysis of a numerical model of the lined tunnel by the finite-infinite-interface element method.