Abstract
A building code sets the minimum standards of a building project in various aspects for architects, engineers, constructors, and other stakeholders to abide by, such as requirements for building accessibility, structural safety, and occupant health/comfort. Regarding accessibility, each public building must have an accessible design that assures the locations of the entrances and exits of the building are accessible by people with disabilities, in addition to other accessible requirements from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, without a proper simulation, it is difficult to assess if a building design satisfies the actual access need of people with disabilities, even if the design met accessibility code requirements. The use of virtual reality (VR) simulation, on the other hand, has a great potential to help people assess building accessibility before its construction, in an intuitive and objective manner; because potential occupants would be able to experience the building design in an immersive way. To test out the idea, the authors developed a model for a one-story administration building design in Unity 3D game engine and visualized the simulation in a VR environment. The building has spaces designed according to wheelchair accessibility requirements in ADA regulations, and spaces designed without such considerations. The simulation was tested by 10 volunteers during which they were required to check the ADA compliance and noncompliance cases in the building model by navigating through it using a game simulation in a computer and in the VR environment. The majority of the volunteers easily identified the spaces accessible and inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. The results showed that although the simulations in a computer and in VR both fulfilled the compliance verification purpose, the VR environment was mostly preferred.