Immersive technologies as a tool for architectural design: literature review

Immersive technologies are a digital proposal that offers users to experience space from virtuality, with sensitive characteristics such as color, sound, light, form, or function, hence its practical and sustained use in architecture. The present work sought to deepen the knowledge of the application of immersive technologies in the exercise of architectural design by carrying out a systematized review of the literature in recent works. The results demonstrate the progressive increase in scientific production and citations on the topic, which makes it a priority for the study since it influences various areas of the creative process. Furthermore, virtual, augmented, and mixed realities are used to validate design criteria, about the user and their needs, at various work scales, from the urban to the landscape, the architectural, the interior space, and the construction elements such as roofs, windows, and facades. Other topics addressed by the virtualization of the architectural object are energy efficiency, luminosity, thermal comfort, acoustics, and project management. At the center of the experience is the interaction of the person in the virtual environment with the digital model, to know and understand the architectural design.