Real-Time Lighting Analysis for Design and Education Using a Game Engine

Abstract

Real-time lighting analysis is a crucial aspect of architectural design, as it allows designers to evaluate the lighting conditions of a space and identify potential problems or issues that may impact the appearance or function of the space. In this paper, we present an interactive tool for real-time lighting analysis using a game engine. Our tool provides users with a range of features for assessment of lighting conditions, using real-time global illumination, physically based materials, and post-processing techniques such as tonemapping and color grading provided by the game engine. This allows users to study the effect of different lighting conditions on the appearance of the space, and to identify areas of the space that may be too bright or too dim. Users can change the reflection properties of materials, the light characteristics of every luminaire, including intensity, color profile, color temperature, and IES photometric web. The user can walk interactively inside the virtual space to see how these changes affect the lighting distribution in the scene and/or the effect along a specific viewing direction. Light orientation can also be changed, including incoming sunlight. In addition to its usefulness for architects and lighting designers, our tool has the potential to be an educational tool for students in architecture. By allowing students to interactively modify the lighting conditions of space and study the effects of these changes, our tool can provide a valuable hands-on learning experience that helps students to understand better the principles of lighting design and analysis and the human visual perception system.