Room Acoustics in the Architectural Design Process

The basic principles, methods, and digital tools for the analysis of room acoustics are the topic of this paper. Students have been using these analysis and simulation tools during a seminar at Stuttgart University to systematically investigate acoustical situations. Additionally to lecturing on the underlying physics of room acoustics we were trying to convey the impact of geometry on room acoustics and therefore the impact of room acoustics on shapes in architecture. This paper describes the implementation of a real time simulation module for room acoustics within our Virtual Reality System.