EchoXR: A Collaborative VR Framework for Spatial Acoustics in Architectural Design

This paper introduces EchoXR, a multiplayer Virtual Reality (VR) framework enabling real-time, collaborative exploration of architectural acoustics. By leveraging advanced tracking and spatial audio technologies, participants can co-experience how design changes—such as adding absorptive panels, altering partitions, or varying materials—impact the acoustics of a virtual environment. Although acoustic simulations often require extensive processing time, EchoXR integrates optimized algorithms with VR’s immersive capabilities to deliver a realistic acoustic performance in real time. Notably, users can hear each other’s voices auralized according to the simulated acoustic conditions, providing an immediate, immersive sense of how proposed design modifications affect speech intelligibility and influence overall noise level in the space. .The system supports multiple concurrent users, allowing designers, clients, and stakeholders to engage in synchronous, spatially coherent discussions. Through intuitive 3D user interfaces, participants can collaboratively adjust design elements and instantly perceive the resulting acoustic effects. This shared acoustic experience fosters more informed decision-making, minimizing the need for costly late-stage interventions or hastily added acoustic solutions that can disrupt the overall design concept and function of the space.The preliminary implementation demonstrates the feasibility and potential of collaborative VR auralization for architectural design workflows. By facilitating a deeper understanding of acoustics in the early design phase, EchoXR underlines the transformative role immersive technologies can play in shaping the future of built environments.