AUC Researchers Use VR to Reshape Campus Navigation

Have you ever ended up lost in an AUC building on the first day of classes? Were you proud the first time you remembered the path to your favorite campus coffee spot, taking shortcuts only an insider would know?

Tamir El-Khouly, associate professor in the Department of Architecture, and research assistants Yomna Elghazouly and Asmaa Eldiasty addressed important questions about  navigation and wayfinding with the help of AUC’s virtual reality lab. Their results aim to optimize architectural designs for campus buildings and make wayfinding tools, such as landmarks and signage, more accessible in complex buildings. They’re now seeking to publish their findings in a research journal.

Virtual Reality Design

The team’s main goal was to examine how users navigate complex architectural layouts, such as university campuses. After conducting the research, the team made recommendations for the design of university campuses and navigation systems for new buildings.

“The AUC community has identified a pressing need to explore the phenomenon of wayfinding, particularly in school buildings that often resemble a labyrinthine maze. This investigation seeks to improve navigation, spatial orientation, and user experience within these complex environments,” said El-Khouly.

Using the School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE) building as a model due to its complex architectural typology, the research team explored how individuals reached specific destinations. El-Khouly’s team categorized participants into two groups: experienced and inexperienced building users. Each participant had to locate the VR lab on the second floor from a controlled starting point in the main lobby on the plaza level.

“We identified a pressing need to explore the phenomenon of wayfinding, particularly in school buildings that often resemble a labyrinthine maze.”

Elghazouly was responsible for programming the model of the building in VR, a process that was full of challenges but ultimately very fulfilling. She said, “I began by working on my computer, extruding the building’s basic plans to create an initial structure. Then our team went through the building to photograph every space, capturing the finer details.”

The challenge was translating those small, memorable details into the VR model. “To see which features students actually referenced, we had to add multiple layers of detail. This process took months as we carefully added textures, tiles, soundscapes and even specific signs and doors,” said Elghazouly. It was those layers of detail that made the VR environment realistic, emulating true navigation and recall of complex spaces.

The VR technology also allowed for precise data collection as El-Khouly shared that they used eye and path tracking as well as time sampling to pinpoint when participants paused, looked around and made navigational decisions. 

Eldiasty was responsible for selecting significant space syntax analyses and measures for studying indoor navigation. Her focus was on integrating results from the VR experiment’s space syntax, using data from eye and movement tracking. “I aimed to explore the correlations among these datasets and analyze how they correspond to spatial syntax outcomes,” Eldiasty said.

Informing the Future of Campus Navigation

The team found that inexperienced users relied heavily on visual cues such as maps, signage and room numbers, while those familiar with the SSE building, especially long-term users, drew on their cognitive maps and memory to create mental shortcuts. The second group took direct and even unexpected routes, often choosing a completely different path to return to the starting point.

“Students from different majors used varied spatial landmarks to find their way,” said Elghazouly, noticing that “certain architectural features stood out as stronger landmarks than the signage, and many students struggled with reading campus maps.” El-Khouly pointed out an example of this: many experienced users recognized a green couch on the first floor of the SSE building as a sign that they were on the wrong floor.

These insights can inform future campus designs. Elghazouly said that the campus should “offer multiple ways for students to orient themselves” in order to create a more accessible, student-centered campus design. 

“We are equipped with an upfront technology that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the Middle East, and we are looking forward to benefiting from it through our research applications.”

El-Khouly also noted implicit factors revealed by the experiment, such as the “social logic” of spaces. For instance, users tried to pass quickly through zones where they found themselves alone, so “we try to avoid segregation zones in our designs,” he added.

El-Khouly emphasized the importance of aligning with smart campus principles, specifically through digital, adaptive signage that can show real-time events as well as voice-assisted navigation and sensory or haptic feedback for inclusivity. In addition, he noted that integrating mobile and augmented reality navigation for real-time, location-based guidance could aid users across complex buildings. 

These types of projects, El-Khouly said, are already underway at AUC, where engineers are using sensors of WiFi routers to locate and direct users around the building. Meanwhile, internet sensors could monitor high-traffic zones to adapt layouts or signage in real time to improve flow.

The Research Team: Where Are They Now?

Hoping to do more with the VR lab in the near future, El-Khouly said,  “We are equipped with an upfront technology that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the Middle East, and we are looking forward to benefiting from it through our research applications.”

El-Khouly is currently collaborating with Eldiasty on the development of her PhD thesis project, which investigates the phenomenon of urban walkability in new cities. Eldiasty hopes to use the VR technology to analyze and enhance walkability in emerging urban contexts. 

And while Elghazouly is now completing her PhD in Canada, she hopes to eventually build a VR model of the entire AUC campus to test navigation techniques on a larger scale, even hoping to incorporate intelligent non-player characters to simulate social interactions within the space. “Imagine an interactive campus in the Metaverse where anyone anywhere can explore and appreciate what makes AUC unique,” she said.

Yomna Elghazouly, Associate Professor Tamir El-Khouly and Asmaa Eldiasty work together as a research team in AUC's virtual reality lab.

The Educational Virtual Environment Lab is a collaborative effort between the Mechanical Engineering and Architecture departments and is co-managed by Professor Khalil El-Khodary, Professor Sherif Abdelmohsen, and El-Khouly.