Perceptions of Augmented Reality in the Design Sector

Nowadays the architectural design industry takes account of collaboration among design team members as seriously as geometric and spatial features of the design itself. Effective collaboration should appreciate the difference in perceptions between architectural design practitioners. Productivity in design heavily depends on how effectively design ideas can be communicated to other design team members. Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which can insert digital information into the designers' physical working environment, is envisaged to be a promising solution to the collaboration problem faced by architectural design practitioners. This paper presents the findings from an empirical pilot study into the perceptions of using Augmented Reality technology for architectural design activity. The interviewees for this study were invited from a well-recognized Australian architecture company. The paper also presents the findings with a comprehensive discussion of the application of Augmented Reality technology in the design sector to achieve higher design efficiency and design collaboration.