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Abstract

Architectural design workflows still rely heavily on post-occupancy evaluation (POE), where usability and experiential issues are often identified only after buildings have been constructed. Although advances in real-time rendering and game engines enable immersive architectural visualization, most existing tools primarily support passive walkthroughs and remain disconnected from systematic user-experience evaluation. This limitation highlights the need for interactive approaches that allow stakeholders to experience and assess architectural spaces prior to construction. This paper presents Binara, a game-based three-dimensional simulation framework designed to support immersive pre-occupancy architectural design evaluation. The proposed framework integrates architectural construction tools, immersive walkthrough exploration, and conversational feedback collection within a unified game-engine environment. Binara introduces an iterative Design–Test–Evaluate workflow in which users construct spatial layouts, explore simulated environments at human scale, and provide contextual feedback mediated by conversational non-player characters (NPCs). This mechanism enables users to report spatial usability observations and design concerns during immersive exploration. A functional prototype implemented using Unreal Engine demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed framework. An exploratory pilot evaluation involving end users and architectural experts was conducted to assess system usability and perceived usefulness. The results indicate that immersive walkthroughs combined with in-environment feedback collection enable participants to identify spatial usability issues and provide contextual design insights during early design stages. Overall, the study demonstrates the potential of immersive game-engine environments to support participatory and experience-driven architectural evaluation, enabling more informed design decisions before construction.

Keywords

Game-based simulation, Pre-occupancy evaluation, Immersive environments, Unreal engine, Human–computer interaction, Participatory design

Article Type

Article

First Page

94

Last Page

101

Publication Date

6-30-2026

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