This study describes a system that has been developed to address a number of these issues. Based on research findings from the field of Artificial Intelligence which expounds on the need for multiple techniques to represent any complex area of knowledge, we have selected a particular approach that focuses on multiple techniques for design representation. We review this approach in depth by considering its many facets necessary when implementing a knowledge-based system. We then partially test the viability of this approach through a small case study, implementing a knowledge-based system for designing stairs. While this effort only deals with a small part of the total design process, it does explore a number of significant issues facing the development of computer-based design assistants, and suggests several techniques for addressing these concerns.

In virtual reality a user encounters a computersimulated environment through the use of a physical interface. The user can interact with the environment to the point of becoming a part of the experience, and the experience becomes reality. Natural and

instinctive body movements are translated by the interface into computer commands. The quest for perfection in this human-computer relationship seems to be the essence of virtual reality technology.

To begin to capture the essence of virtual reality without first-hand experience, it is helpful to understand two important terms: presence and immersion. The sense of presence can be defined as the degree to which the user feels a part of the actual environment. The more reality the experience provides, the more presence it has. Immersion can be defined as the degree of other simulation a virtual reality interface provides for the viewer. A highly immersive system might provide more than just visual stimuli; for example, it may additionally provide simulated sound and motion, and simultaneously prevent distractions from being present.

A building while being designed can be visualized and criticized from its solid model, and the model can take a variety of forms depending on its part): computer-based, drawn in orthographic or perspective projection, constructed of cardboard or wood, or described narratively by means of text, programmatic data, performance model or animation. However, practicing architecture is the process of recording and communicating the decision making process and the contractual obligations that result. In actual practice, in contrast to the designer directed ideal, more participants are brought in sooner at the beginning of a project and with more publicity, which in turn means keeping more, not fewer, records. As the profession evolves, records of the string of design decisions will become more automated, more carefully structured and more retrievable. More buildings will be "tracked" and exposed to review in this way because public environmental sensitivity will improve. The communication between a single designer and his own thoughts will become less and less important.

Additionally, this type of component model construction for the production of technical drawings offers a unique bridge over the gap between the practice of architecture and the teaching of architecture. Rather than teaching students how to "do working drawings," something all practitioners wish the academic institutions did, students would develop the ability to design, integrate, and construct complex three-dimensional assemblies and present them in a variety of ways using the standard sections, layers, view, etc. inherent in any reasonable threedimensional computer based modeling system.