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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.

DT & AI for AEC showcase

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Digital Twins,  AI Design Showcase-Higher Education explored emerging digital technologies and their impact on the AEC industry. The event was organized by the Cincinnati BIM User Group and held on April 16, at College of Design Arcgutectyre, Art, and Planning (DAAP), University of Cincinnati.

Hosted by Prof. Ming Tang at the DAAP, the showcase featured student work from the University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University, and Cincinnati State. Attendees experienced digital twin, AI, and BIM technologies firsthand, highlighting how these student teams are helping shape the future of the AEC workforce.

The UC team presented several projects, including digital twins integrated with IoT, AI-based spatial computing with BIM (focusing on performance, sustainability, and wayfinding on the UC campus), and the SENSE + AI studio.

 

Photo by Nicholas Namyar. 04.16.2026

Special thanks to IMAGINiT Technologies for sponsoring this event.

Historic Avondale in VR

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Virtual Reality Development for Historic Avondale and Digital Heritage 

Principal Investigator (PI):  Anne Delano Steinert, Co-PI: Ming Tang.
Society and Culture Grant, UC Research Office.  2026. University of Cincinnati.

Timeline: 1/13/2026-07/01/2026 


Project Overview

The Historic Avondale Digital Heritage Project aims to create an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) reconstruction of Cincinnati’s historic Avondale neighborhood, focusing on cultural heritage preservation and community engagement. Through a collaborative effort between A&S and DAAP’s XR-Lab, the project will visualize approximately six urban blocks of Avondale as they appeared in a historically significant period in 1950s, enabling users to explore the environment through VR headsets and interact with its digital elements. 

This initiative supports experiential learning, public history dissemination, and digital preservation. The final VR experience will be designed for accessibility on standalone VR headsets (Meta Quest) and optimized for community outreach, classroom education, and museum-style exhibition. 

 

 Scope of Work

The Extended Reality Lab (XR-Lab) will lead the technical development, 3D modeling, and immersive environment creation. 
Specific responsibilities include: 

  • Environment Modeling: Develop a high-fidelity 3D digital model of approximately six blocks of historic Avondale, including building facades, streetscapes, and key landscape features based on historical references. 
  • Visual Assets: Integrate architectural elements, materials, vegetation, street furniture, and atmospheric lighting to accurately represent the period context. 
  • Immersive Interactivity: Configure the scene for full VR immersion, allowing users to navigate and interact using Meta Quest headsets. 
  • Narrative Integration: Collaborate with the A&S team to embed audio narratives, historical commentary, and interpretive storytelling within the VR experience. 
  • Optimization & Testing: Optimize performance for standalone VR headsets, conduct iterative testing, and ensure accessibility and stability for public demonstration. 
  • Deployment: Package and deliver a functional VR build ready for viewing via Meta Quest Browser or as an installable application. 

 Deliverables

  • VR Model of Historic Avondale – A completed, interactive VR environment covering approximately six city blocks. 
  • High-Fidelity Visual Assets – Accurately modeled architecture, landscape, and environmental elements. 
  • Integrated Audio Narratives – Recorded and embedded voiceovers provided by A&S collaborators. 
  • VR-Ready Application – Optimized and deployable version compatible with Meta Quest 3 headsets. 
  • Documentation Package – Summary of technical workflow, file structure, and recommendations for future updates or expansion. 


Figure 1. Coloraization of a historic photo with AI. By student Mario Bermejo.

Figure 2. video clips based on historic photo, using AI. 

Figure 3. Jewish Temple in Avondale. 1950s

 

AI symposium, Bearcat AI Award

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AI & Emerging Technology Symposium, UC Bearcat AI Award,  

Presentation at the UC 2026 AI & Emerging Technology Symposium on 02/18/2026 at UC TUC Center.

AI-Based Spatial Computing with BIM: Performance, Sustainability, and Wayfinding on the UC Campus

This project introduces an AI-enhanced spatial computing framework that integrates building-scale digital twins with intelligent autonomous navigation. Using BIM-derived geometry and utility metadata, the system combines LLM-assisted building-performance analytics with predictive modeling to support sustainable operations across an interactive, campus-scale digital twin environment. In parallel, we present INARA, a ROS 2–based indoor navigation platform that merges BIM-accurate simulation environments with a hybrid deep-reinforcement-learning and classical-control architecture, enabling safe, adaptive mobile-robot navigation within UC facilities.

Together, these systems advance AI-driven spatial computing by unifying building analytics, embodied intelligence, and digital–physical interoperability—laying the foundation for next-generation smart-building management and autonomous robotic applications.

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ARCH Seminar. Memory of the World

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Digital Heritage through VR and Generative AI

ARCH 7036-04/ARCH5051-04.Elective Theory Seminar, SAID, DAAP, Spring 2025

Class time: Monday. 10 am -12:50 pm.  Classroom: 4425-E, CGC Lab, DAAP building. 

Faculty: Ming Tang, Professor in Architecture and Interior Design, DAAP. Director of  Extended Reality Lab. XR-Lab

Seminar Description

This seminar invites students to explore the intersection of architecture, history, artificial intelligence, and immersive technologies by reimagining the past through digital heritage. Drawing on historic documents and archival materials from Cincinnati, students will work closely with historians to reconstruct a Cincinnati neighborhood as it existed in the 1950s, allowing users to step back in time and experience its spaces and stories through immersive visualization and virtual reality (VR).

Throughout the semester, students will investigate how generative AI, virtual reality (VR), and interactive visualization can preserve and reinterpret cultural memory. Using Unreal Engine as the primary platform, participants will design interactive VR environments for mobile headsets, creating spaces where history, atmosphere, and narrative merge into immersive experiences. The seminar aligns with UNESCO’s  Memory of the World initiative, emphasizing the preservation of documentary and architectural heritage for future generations.

In addition to a large collaborative group project, each student will conduct a samll individual research-based design investigation focused on a “lost” historic artifact—such as a forgotten art work or street furniture. Through AI-assisted modeling, reality capture, and digital prototyping, students will gain hands-on experience reconstructing the intangible layers of history while developing advanced technical and conceptual skills in digital heritage creation.

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