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Housing Studio

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2026. Housing Studio. 

SAID, DAAP, UC

This studio will focus on a large-scale housing project on one of two linear sites in Cincinnati. The proposal centers on a 100-unit dense housing intervention integrated with shared amenities serving both residents and the surrounding urban community. Rather than creating a singular tower or landmark, the studio will explore low-rise, high-density housing strategies organized as a continuous “housing-scape” — a mat-building or field-condition approach to multiple dwelling units (MDUs).
In this studio, AI is explored not only as a visualization tool, but also as an analytical design agent for evaluating solar exposure, wind, noise, daylighting, and carbon-neutral strategies during the early stages of design. AI is also used to generate conceptual sketch models that support rapid design exploration and iteration.
 
 

Re-storying Fort Ancient

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Re-storying Fort Ancient: An AI-Augmented Digital Twin Installation for Indigenous Earthwork
PI: Ming Tang, Co-Is: John Hancock, Tianyu Jiang, Samira Sarabandikachyani. $5,000. CDRI Grant, DAAP, UC. 5/23/2026- 8/23/2026

This project proposes the development of an AI-augmented Digital Twin installation for the Fort Ancient Earthworks, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Ohio. Using reality capture, spatial computing, and Large Language Models (LLMs), the project will create an interactive web- and mobile-based experience that allows users to explore the site through immersive visualization and natural language conversation.

The project builds upon existing 3D earthwork models previously developed by CERHAS together with earlier XR-Lab spatial computing workflows. This foundation allows the team to focus on AI-driven interaction, interpretation, and public engagement without needing to reconstruct the site from the ground up. The AI system will be developed through a carefully curated Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflow using approved scholarly, archival, and Indigenous-informed materials as its knowledge base.

Users will be able to ask questions about the geometry, ceremonial purpose, astronomy, landscape design, and cultural significance of the earthworks while virtually navigating a Digital Twin of the site. The project approaches AI as a tool for interpretation and storytelling that can support more accessible and engaging public experiences with cultural heritage.

At the same time, the project explores broader questions about authorship, representation, historical interpretation, and the role of AI in public humanities and creative practice.

CIC-VISTA

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Following six successful phases of the Building Safety Analysis with AI / Geospatial Imagery Analytics Research project (2020–2025), funded by the Cincinnati Insurance Companies (CIC), we are pleased to announce the launch of a new research initiative: VISTA – Virtual Immersive Systems for Training AI.

VISTA – Phase 2 ($74,368) 

Project Title: Virtual Immersive Systems for Training AI, Phase 2. PI: Tang. Award Amount: $74,368. Project Period: 06/01/2026 – 11/01/2027

VISTA – Phase 1 ($81,413) marks the continuation of XR-Lab’s collaborative research efforts at UC with CIC. This new track will explore advanced AI-related topics, including computer vision, synthetic imaging, procedural modeling, machine learning, and reinforcement learning.

Project Title: Virtual Immersive Systems for Training AI, Phase 1. PI: Tang. Award Amount: $81,413. Project Period: 07/01/2025 – 11/01/2026

 

Gensler’s AI Award

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SENSE-AI – Developing Spatial Experiences for Narrative and Sensory Emotions with AI. 
Gensler. AI Excellence in the Design Process Award.
PI: Tang. Amount: $100,000. Period: 06, 2026- 06.2027.

I’m very grateful to share that UC’s proposal “SENSE-AI: Developing Spatial Experiences for Narrative and Sensory Emotions with AI” has received Gensler’s AI Excellence in the Design Process Award. It is truly an honor, and we deeply appreciate Gensler’s support. 

We will explore how emerging technologies can support human-centered spatial prototyping in academic settings through iterative cycles of ideation, AI-assisted synthesis, immersive testing, and narrative refinement, informed by environmental psychology methods such as the Pleasure–Arousal–Dominance (PAD) framework. We will also explore how AI can function as a design collaborator throughout the full design process—from site analysis and early concepts to 3D modeling, animation, performance evaluation, and immersive representation—using AI and XR to experiment with new forms of architectural experience.

We are excited about the opportunity to share our research and teaching of AI with Gensler architects and to learn together about how emerging AI tools are shaping the future of professional design practice.

Motivation

Spatial design can be understood as a procedural system structured around differentiated knowledge layers, where core knowledge emerges from previous design iterations, reference material draws from precedent projects, critique incorporates user and community feedback, experience is captured through VR interaction logs, and judgment evolves through design decisions over time. This process is grounded in experiential cognition data, where design intelligence is not only derived from static information but from the dynamic interplay of precedent, narrative, user feedback, and simulation. Within this framework, digital twins act as integrative platforms that combine spatial data, behavioral simulation, historical layering, user perception, emotional response, and embodied interaction to create a more holistic representation of environments. While AI as a design agent has made significant progress through an automation layer that includes generative AI for images and design, simulation pipelines, and digital twin workflows, it still lacks critical human-centered capacities such as spatial reasoning, embodied experience, human perception, and emotional response. Future directions point toward bridging this gap through XR-enabled systems, where XR functions as a judgment engine by training AI with real-time human data such as VR user feedback, eye tracking, and emotional signals. In parallel, a human–AI co-design loop can be established in which AI generates ideas, humans critique them within immersive XR environments, and the system continuously updates its knowledge layers, enabling more informed, adaptive, and context-aware design intelligence over time

Reference

Gensler is a global architecture, design, and planning firm. Founded in 1965, Gensler has built a team of 6,000 professionals who partner with clients in over 100 countries each year on projects that act as catalysts for growth.

Design as Storytelling: How AI Is Transforming the Way We Imagine, Create, and Connect. Jordan Goldstein. Gensler blog.

 

Featured @ UC News

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Honored to be featured in University of Cincinnati News discussing how AI is shaping architecture and research innovation. Thanks Claudia Rebola for the interview.

AI as a creative partner

Exploring AI’s role in architecture and research innovation

By Claudia Rebola. 03. 2026

In architecture and design, artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming more than a tool; it’s a collaborator. University of Cincinnati architecture professor Ming Tang is exploring how AI can enhance research, teaching, and design creativity in his XRLab (Extended Reality Lab).Tang’s lab is focused on more than visualization and immersive experiences; it investigates how digital technologies and computational methods intersect with human-centered design. A significant area of research is computer vision. “AI has become powerful enough to recognize not just objects but the meaning of images,” Tang said. One long-term project, conducted with Cincinnati Insurance Companies, uses AI to assess building risk in the event of hurricanes. By annotating images and training AI models, his team can classify building components and predict vulnerabilities as a practical application that integrates architecture, computation, and real-world problem solving.Another research area involves large language models. Tang’s lab uses AI to enhance VR-based training, simulating interactions of users with the built environment. “Feeding large datasets into AI lets us communicate complex information to people who are not experts,” he said. These tools support a new level of simulation research from smart building management, digital twins, and Internet of Things applications, allowing humans to interact meaningfully with massive, previously opaque data sets.

Check out the full interview at UC News : AI as a creative partner

Credit: Rendering by Meghan Powell, Emma Cek for the “Museum of Emotions” course. Photo provided.