Ubiquitous computing technologies provide exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and activities of people within them. However, many aspects of the human characteristics of ubiquitous computing systems in built environments can only be explored in the context of the target environment (the texture of the environment is crucial to the success of the potential system). In evaluating these systems it is not only necessary to explore conventional properties of usability but it is also necessary to explore properties of the environment that contribute to the experience of its users. The displays, devices and sensors form an integrated whole contributing to the texture of the target environment. Fielding such systems for testing purposes is, in many cases, not feasible because of the potential disruption to the ongoing business of the environment. Consider, for example, an emergency evacuation scenario. Also, developing the system to a deployable state might imply commitment to design decisions that can be expensive to reverse. Nevertheless, the potential impact of a system in user practice, justifies that its design should be explored as early as possible [3]. It should be possible to use prototypes to explore the consequences that different design decisions might have, while promoting the identification of new solutions Simulated 3D environments offer an interesting solution to immersive prototyping [1, 2, 5, 4]. 3D Application Servers and game engines provide a fast track to developing virtual worlds that replicate the type of environments that needs to be prototyped. The use of these 3D Application Servers as the basis for a immersive prototyping framework enables agile development of simulations of the ubiquitous environment. However, to be successful, immersive prototyping requires a thorough alignment with the key properties of the target environment, both at the technical and social level, and a strong focus on the specific evaluation goals and they can be met while considering the specific limitations immersive prototyping. Simulated environments may offer a very diverse set of properties, Published in Human-Computer Interaction: Human-Centred Design Approaches, Methods, Tools and Environments, volume 8004 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 421-430. Springer. 2013. The final publication is available at link.springer.com.
