In the CAVE environment, city planners were able to experience and improve the results of a proposed urban architectural project—including changes that it would bring to the city’s soundscape.

Thanks to audio-visualization of urban architectural projects in virtual space, planners can physically experience and, if need be, revise their proposed undertakings even before construction begins. In the case of the Bindermichl project, the chief objective was to measure the effects of noise pollution on those living adjacent to a proposed underground urban expressway.
The Ars Electronica Futurelab installed a model of the neighborhood including its specific soundscape in the interactive environment of the CAVE. The user could move about freely in the VR application and thus gain an impression from any point in the virtual urban layout. The push of a button was all it took to shift between different simulations and thus to compare the acoustic and optical consequences of the construction with the original situation.