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From BIM to VR - The design and development of BIMXplorer
Abstract
The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries are currently undergoing a change from a drawing-based form of information exchange to a model-based. Using the concept of Building Information Models (BIM), the content produced by architects and designers has evolved from traditional 2D-drawings to object-oriented 3D-models embedded with information to describe any building in detail. This, in turn, has opened up new possibilities of using real-time visualization and Virtual Reality (VR) as a tool for communication and understanding during the design process. However, as primarily created to describe a complete building in detail, many 3D dataset extracted from BIMs are too large and complex in order to be directly used as real-time visualization models. Because of this, it is still difficult to integrate VR and real-time visualizations as a commonly used tool during the design process. The recent introduction of a new generation of Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) has also made the situation even more challenging. Although these new types of VR devices offer huge potential in terms of realism, sense of scale and overall suitability for design and decision-making tasks, they are also far more demanding when it comes to real-time rendering performance.
In order to address the current situation this thesis contributes with the design and evaluation of a new software application that provides a simple interface from BIM to VR. Following a design science research approach this application has been developed in order to fulfil a set of requirements that has been identified as important in order for VR and real-time visualization to become an everyday used tool for design and communication during the building design process. Along that path, three new technical solutions have been developed:
-An efficient cells- and portals culling system automatically realized from BIM-data.
-An efficient approach for integrating occlusion culling and hardware-accelerated geometry instancing.
-An efficient single-pass stereo rendering technique.
The final system – BIMXplorer – has been evaluated using several BIMs received from real-world projects. Regarding rendering performance, navigation interface and the ability to support fast design iterations, it has been shown to have all the needed properties in order to function well in practice. To some extent this can also be considered formally validated, as the system is already in active use within both industry and education.
... Building models and their use of 4D simulations are considered part of Virtual Reality (VR). The term VR is within the scope of the thesis follows the definition by Johansson (2016), who defines VR as a computer-generated visualisation of spatial data which a user interactively controls. Furthermore, VR is primarily seen in the design phase at the moment, with some initiatives reported during the construction phase. ...
... Also, it has been found that participants who work in service and maintenance prefer using VR to using desktop CAD!/BIM viewers. This preference is traced to VR being seen to resemble better their natural work environment (Wolfartsberger, 2019) When it comes to different types of VR at the construction site, this has been studied in a series of research projects conducted between 2014 and 2021 (Johansson et al., 2014;Johansson, 2016;Roupé et al., 2016Roupé et al., , 2017Johansson andRoupé, 2019, 2021). These studies aimed to use VR as a user-friendly interface to the BIM to help construction workers and site personnel explore, review, and understand the project and different work tasks better with similar conclusions as in design reviews mentioned earlier. ...
... Also, it has been found that participants who work in service and maintenance prefer using VR to using desktop CAD!/BIM viewers. This preference is traced to VR being seen to resemble better their natural work environment (Wolfartsberger, 2019) When it comes to different types of VR at the construction site, this has been studied in a series of research projects conducted between 2014 and 2021 (Johansson et al., 2014;Johansson, 2016;Roupé et al., 2016Roupé et al., , 2017Johansson andRoupé, 2019, 2021). These studies aimed to use VR as a user-friendly interface to the BIM to help construction workers and site personnel explore, review, and understand the project and different work tasks better with similar conclusions as in design reviews mentioned earlier. ...
Construction projects have for a long time been characterized by increased specialization, low productivity, and a fragmented information exchange culture, resulting in inefficient work processes, with time delays and budget overruns. Research within the context of construction planning and scheduling and IT points to improving communication, collaboration, and cooperation to address these problems. However, the focus has been chiefly on production planning processes and scheduling tools and software. Research also points to collaborative user-friendly scheduling systems remaining under-researched; even though collaborative approaches have been introduced, the technological support and implementations are lacking.
In this context, this thesis presents a novel collaborative planning and scheduling process and software system, supporting multiple modes of interaction such as individual review, planning, collaborative scheduling and review work in 4D, both co-located and remote. A Design Science Research approach was used to identify requirements that guided the collaborative production planning system's design and development and evaluations. These evaluations show that implementing the collaborative planning and scheduling system enhances understanding of the planning and scheduling of projects and supports both individual and group work. The developed system facilitates information gathering when creating activities and improves collaborative production of the schedule. Furthermore, the new collaborative setting shortens the length of planning workshops while simultaneously increasing the quality output. Thus, the thesis contributes to the body of knowledge of collaborative production planning, collaborative IT systems in construction, how these systems can support communication and collaborative processes in a social context, and how a design science approach could be used in this setting.
... VR at the construction site have been studied in a series of research projects conducted between 2014 and 2021, (Johansson, 2016;Johansson et al., 2014;Johansson andRoupé, 2019, 2021;Roupé et al., 2016Roupé et al., , 2017. These studies aimed to use VR as a user-friendly interface to the BIM to help construction workers and site personnel explore, review, and understand the project and different work tasks better. ...
... VR at the construction site have been studied in a series of research projects conducted between 2014 and 2021, (Johansson, 2016;Johansson et al., 2014;Johansson andRoupé, 2019, 2021;Roupé et al., 2016Roupé et al., , 2017. These studies aimed to use VR as a user-friendly interface to the BIM to help construction workers and site personnel explore, review, and understand the project and different work tasks better. ...
... This paper's data is compiled from prior observations, field notes, interviews, and evaluations performed in the overarching research project. For the collaborative planning and scheduling, in total, seven scheduling workshop observations with four (Johansson andRoupé, 2019, 2021). different construction projects, seven interviews with nine workers and managers, and 15 prototype evaluations have been conducted Viklund Tallgren et al., 2015;Viklund Tallgren, 2018;. ...
During the last decades, the introduction of Building Information Models (BIM) has opened new possibilities to ensure better communication and a shared understanding between stakeholders in construction projects. Similar benefits have been found in 4D simulations of the schedule. While BIM and 4D use has seen a steady increase, the potential benefits have not fully been realised, primarily due to tools not supporting and enabling the full potential of collaborative stakeholder involvement in scheduling. The benefits of 4D simulations come from improving communication between stakeholders. While traditional 4D modelling connects an existing BIM model with an existing schedule, a move from this type of passive 4D visualisation toward social co-creation enables all stakeholders to be involved in the scheduling process. This connection is further enhanced with the use of Virtual Reality (VR). Recent research has shown VR to enhance understanding and perception of the space and details and, thus, a better understanding of the project. This paper maps collaborative planning and scheduling method and traditional 4D scheduling using process modelling. This mapping is followed by implementing the 4D collaborative planning and scheduling method in the virtual project planning system with support for a multi-user interactive VR environment. The system enables social co-creation both during the planning and scheduling and during 4D modelling; it improves understanding of the project and the planning and scheduling.
... One of the most important factors that are believed to affect perception in IVEs is the level of details (LOD) in VR. Reducing the 3D model complexity is the major concept of LOD which is investigated to have a less detailed model when it is far in the VR scene without affecting the quality of the user vision, which can be applied for a simple representation (Johansson, 2016). Creating a simplified detailed model is commonly achieved by; reducing the number of model's polygons, adding textures instead of using geometry or using both ways toward reducing a big LOD. ...
... Furthermore, it is worth nothing that such details CI 22,2 increase the whole model size, which requires heavy computer power. Baking textures is one of the alternatives that reduces computer power and amount of geometry of the model as well merging the lighting with the texture by baking to have the same result (Niehorster et al., 2017), (Johansson, 2016). The LOD is investigated to have a less detailed model when it is far in the VR scene without affecting the quality of the user vision, which can be applied for a simple representation (Johansson, 2016). ...
... Baking textures is one of the alternatives that reduces computer power and amount of geometry of the model as well merging the lighting with the texture by baking to have the same result (Niehorster et al., 2017), (Johansson, 2016). The LOD is investigated to have a less detailed model when it is far in the VR scene without affecting the quality of the user vision, which can be applied for a simple representation (Johansson, 2016). ...
Purpose
Immersive virtual environments (IVEs) aid in perceiving spaces by providing a platform for all stakeholders to make better decisions at early design stages. Nevertheless, they are not widely used in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This paper aims to illustrate the impact of level of details (LODs) in participants’ perception for architecture design alternatives in IVEs.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an approach to estimate how distance perception varies between real and virtual environments when different design alternatives are implemented. First, a fully three-dimensional (3D) model for a replica meeting room was created and the level of details (LODs) inside the IVE was gradually modified. Second, a questionnaire was designed to collect responses about how the perceived experience of an IVE is compared to that of the physical environment, where the two environments have the same dimensions. Twenty-six participants were recruited in this study to estimate eight distances in the IVEs while putting on a head-mounted display.
Findings
Obtained results show that decreasing LOD has negative effect on users’ perception. Thus, when all of the available LODs were added to the IVE, the perceived perception was significantly enhanced. These findings emphasize the relation between the physical details and distance perception in IVEs and shed light on how to design virtual reality architectural models in an efficient manner.
Originality/value
Different experiments were conducted to analyze perception differences associated with factors such as LODs, gender and whether participants are wearing glasses.
... However, the visual representation of the BIM model in a game engine platform to a virtual reality environment provides many more opportunities and advantages (Asgari and Pour, 2017). The BIM and game engine integration is utilized in as-designed and as-built BIM model view in the virtual environment; changes to design tracking, monitoring, and control (Du et al., 2018b;Johansson, 2016); collaborative design with immediate inputs of stakeholders; well-informed and collaborative decision making (Du et al., 2018a;Iris, 2019;Enscape, 2019); remote work, site visit, design, control; staff training for safety Sachs et al., 2013); design communication (Protchenko et al., 2018;Wang et al., 2014); user interaction and so on. ...
... There may be data loss during this process (Protchenko et al., 2018). There are several methods for the BIM model into import of game engine (Protchenko et al., 2018;Johansson, 2016;Wang et al., 2014;Motamedi et al., 2017). Additionally, point cloud data can be imported in BIM packages while cannot be directly imported in game engines without any data loss (Stets et al., 2017;Bruder et al., 2014;Berge et al., 2016;De Lima Hermandez et al., 2019;Discher et al., 2018;Thiel et al., 2018). ...
Recently, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has gained much attention as a key driver of change in the architecture, engineering, construction, operation, and facility management (AECO/FM) industry. However, the adoption of ICT is relatively slow in the AECO/FM industry when compared to other industries. Immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and extended reality (XR) are visualization technologies that change the way of human’s interaction with visual information. The integration of BIM and immersive technologies is envisaged to become an innate feature of visualization within the AECO/FM industry. However, research on BIM and immersive technologies for information sharing is rare. Industrial revolutions eased and developed the production processes throughout history. Increasing product rates, project size, and project complexity led to improvements in production processes.
... Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the end-users (faculty and students) possess the necessary intelligence and information management competence to exploit the potential available to them fully. Teachers can benefit greatly from having access to high-quality reference resources since they are widely acknowledged as instrumental in the classroom [127]. First-year educators might feel safe and confident with the help of textbooks. ...
Successful concepts are adopted throughout the phases of the building lifecycle to provide maximum comfort and benefits to occupiers without compromising the function of such a project. Although there is limited information on building information modeling (BIM) execution in developing countries, BIM drivers have received significant attention from different researchers, but with a limited investigation into the influence of BIM barriers on such building projects. Our goal with this research is to identify and remove any challenges that may stand in the way of using BIM in developing country construction projects. To this end, a comprehensive literature search uncovered impediments to BIM implementation. To assess the relative importance of the numerous challenges to BIM mentioned in the literature, a survey questionnaire was distributed to a sample of specialists in the construction industry. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to classify these challenges, and partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was created to bring attention to the most pressing ones in the context of BIM adoption. The results of this research will inform policymakers in underdeveloped nations interested in adopting BIM on the pitfalls they should avoid.
... As the technical platform in this study we have used and further developed BIMXplorer (Johansson, 2016;BIMXplorer, 2022). BIMXplorer is a high-performance VR-viewer that supports the IFC file format (IFC2x3, IFC4) and creation of federated building models (i.e. ...
The integration of immersive virtual reality (VR) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) has many applications within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries, and it is mainly VR’s ability to convey scale and details that is put forward when comparing it to non-immersive visualizations. More recently, immersive VR has been extended to support multi-user sessions where several participants can experience the same model at the same time. However, there is currently a lack of real-world studies exploring multi-user VR in a construction-oriented context. In this paper we present and discuss our findings from evaluating a VR-system with multi-user capabilities at multiple occasions on several real-world construction projects. In all cases the VR visualization has been directly realized from the design teams IFC-models and the multi-user sessions has been performed both co-located as well as fully remote. Our results show that multi-user VR improves communication, understanding, and collaboration, and by letting staff with knowledge and experience from construction production review the project in VR, many design errors and constructability issues can be identified and resolved before reaching the actual production stage. Moreover, the use of VR is helpful regarding sequencing and planning, and to identify alternative design solutions. In addition to the evaluations and analysis, we present technical details of the developed VR-system.
... Since the VPP system was designed with a web interface that uses an application program interface (API) to communicate with the server, it enables connecting other interfaces as well. Since the web interface is somewhat limited concerning the size of the model it can handle, another tool called BIMXplorer (Johansson, 2016) is used to visualise the full model. The connection between tools is facilitated by a WebSocket communication protocol, which means that the VPP system can connect to one or several BIMXplorer clients. ...
Construction planning and scheduling processes have been relatively unchanged until the last decades when 4D-planning has been promoted along with the rise of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Some 4D-systems have been developed for visualising schedules rather than to aid in the actual creation of the schedule. In contrast, some scheduling software in more recent years has been enhanced with 4D-modeling capabilities. Furthermore, the use of BIM-viewers during scheduling partly enables both design and schedule review before construction. This paper aims to show how an alternative approach to 4D-modelling could be used to produce schedules. The paper presents a prototype software for planning and scheduling where the production-schedule is created directly from the model in a lean construction Last Planner manner from the building components. Findings from evaluations of the prototype indicate a move of 4D-modelling from a passive visualisation to an active modelling process. This move enables knowledge to be created and exchanged in the social co-creation context of the 4D-schedule by the stakeholders. The co-creation and understanding can be further enhanced with the extension into virtual reality using head-mounted displays where the 4D-schedule can be created and reviewed directly.
... BIMXplorer is a software application that has been specifically designed to allow real-time visualization of large and complex BIMs in VR. By taking advantage of efficient occlusion culling it allows very large and complex BIMs to be visualized in VR without the need for any preparation or optimization of the input dataset (Johansson, 2016). It works either as a plugin to Revit or as a standalone application that can import IFC-files through the xBIM Toolkit (Lockley et al., 2017). ...
In Scandinavia, recent years have seen an increased effort to move away from traditional 2D-drawings at the construction site, and instead let site personnel extract necessary information directly from the Building Information Model (BIM). However, although BIM-viewers and mobile applications are constantly improving, there are still issues around user-friendliness and ability to extract information and correct measurements directly from the model. In order to improve on the current situation, this paper presents a VR-application that allows construction workers to interact with the BIM through a user-friendly interface. By using modern VR hardware, such as HTC Vive, they can enter and freely navigate, inspect, and interact with the BIM in scale 1:1 and extract information, take measurements, define section planes, and control visibility of individual components or sub-models. A core component in this interface is the concept of "3D-labels", which let the user easily place and arrange information and measurements as needed. From within the VR environment it is then possible to take snapshots that can be uploaded and accessed on portable units on the construction site. In addition to present technical details of the developed VR-system, we also present an evaluation of it performed at four different construction sites.
Previous studies revealed that most accidents were attributed to a lack of proactive and preventive measures. This, in turn, has opened new possibilities of using BIM-based VR. Although many researchers have studied BIM-based VR, and health and safety issues, but these topics rarely studied together from contractor perspective. Now, construction industry is lacking information concerning the potential of BIM-based VR and contractor perspective. Hence, there is a gap between the coordination of BIM-based VR and contractor perspective. The aim of this research is to study the BIM-based VR in reducing health and safety problems in Malaysia construction industry. To achieve the research objective, literature review and survey has been carried out to gather data and information to support the literature review and research questions. The targeted population is the Grade 7 contractors registered under CIDB in Petaling, Selangor. Simple random sampling will be using to pick a portion of them to represent the whole population. In this research, BIM-based VR can result in improved occupational safety in contractor companies to provide virtual safety training and learning, virtual inspection, maintenance and monitoring, and hazard identification. Besides, contractor can utilize BIM-based VR for safety planning and management in real-life project and recognize possible hazards before the construction proceeds. However, the result of this study revealed that the main barriers for implementing the BIM-based VR are :1.) Lack of training, 2.) Lack of knowledge of highly skilled labours, 3.) High initial cost. The results from this research can act as a driver for government or academicians to further investigate, find out effective way to increase their willingness in adopting BIM-based VR in dealing with health and safety issues. In conclusion, for successful wide spread application of BIM-based VR in Malaysia, a good push from the government alone is far from enough. All other construction industry players mentioned must assist in promoting the use of BIM-based VR.
Traditionally the layout plan of temporary facilities for road construction sites was mainly based on expert experience. However, the complicated terrain conditions made it difficult for project managers to comprehensively understand the geographical features of the site. The site layout plan often did not apply to the actual construction process, resulting in loss of time and cost. To provide an intuitive, immersive virtual environment to support experts’ experience in the site layout design, this research proposed a framework of a decision-support platform that combined building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) technology. This paper described the architecture and modules of the platform, as well as the application process, functions and implementation process. The proposed platform enables project managers to interactively place temporary facilities in the integrated model of highways and surroundings in the virtual environment; generate and compare alternative site layout schemes with automatic calculation according to preset criteria.
Presentation of Research Paper "Interactive Rendering To View-Dependent Texture-Atlases"
This study, of the similarities between the perception of architectural space experienced in physical space conditions and in Virtual Reality, intents to clarify to what extend subjective and objective attributes of architectural space can be conveyed through a direct use of Building Information Models in Virtual Reality. 60 test persons experienced a specific test space as either a physical or a virtual environment, while data from their experiences was collected through a quantitative/qualitative questionnaire. The overall conclusion, from this phase of the study, is that even a simple BIM model through HMD VR can convey rather precise information about both subjective and objective experiences of architectural space, ambience and atmosphere. Next phase of the study will include eye-tracking data from the two scenarios.
With the growth of building information modeling (BIM) approaches to facility design, architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has been shifting to the use of three-dimensional (3D) virtual facility mockups during design. Studies have shown that 3D models when displayed in an immersive projection display environment allow users to interact with the virtual environment at full scale, and review the designed space in a more intuitive manner. Virtual environments and VR systems however, can vary greatly in levels of immersion and user experience they offer. Thus, for a novice user choosing an appropriate and effective system for specific tasks can be daunting. To understand the benefits of specific VR systems for facility design, this research presents results from conducting design reviews in two immersive display systems. The first system was a fully immersive 5-wall CAVETM environment, while the second was a semi-immersive 3 screen display system. For each design review, the user experience of a reviewing team was documented and analyzed through targeted questionnaires. The large screens, field of view, level of immersion and the overall value of both systems for design reviews were rated consistently high. Furthermore, based on the comments provided by the project team, the fully-immersive system was found to be more appropriate for smaller groups that desire a higher level of immersion. Additionally, the semi-immersive system with a larger footprint was found to be more suitable for larger groups for various use cases. These results aim to guide future users to make an informed decision when selecting an appropriate immersive display system.
COLLADA is a COLLAborative Design Activity for establishing an open standard Digital Asset schema for interactive 3D applications. This book explains in detail how to use the COLLADA technology in a project utilizing 3D assets, and ultimately how to create an effective content creation pipeline for the most complex development. Errata are posted at http://collada.org/mediawiki/index.php/COLLADA_book.
Virtual Prototypes are increasingly being used during design reviews of specialized buildings such as healthcare facilities. However, most of these virtual prototyping approaches do not allow the reviewers and end users to interact directly, in real time with elements and objects within the virtual model. This paper focuses on a method to combine the use of 3D game engines with the emerging experience based design approach for healthcare facilities to develop a systematic approach to scenario-based design review of healthcare facilities in an interactive virtual environment. First, a virtual facility prototyping framework for rapid creation of a scenario based design review system is defined. Next, strategies to implement this framework to develop an Experience based Virtual Prototyping Simulator (EVPS) application are described. Design information workflows were developed and tested between various BIM authoring tools and the Unity game engine that is used for developing the interactive virtual prototype system. Finally, some lessons learned and issues are highlighted that help direct future research and implementation.
This book is an introductory text on design science, intended to support both graduate students and researchers in structuring, undertaking and presenting design science work. It builds on established design science methods as well as recent work on presenting design science studies and ethical principles for design science, and also offers novel instruments for visualizing the results, both in the form of process diagrams and through a canvas format. While the book does not presume any prior knowledge of design science, it provides readers with a thorough understanding of the subject and enables them to delve into much deeper detail, thanks to extensive sections on further reading. Design science in information systems and technology aims to create novel artifacts in the form of models, methods, and systems that support people in developing, using and maintaining IT solutions. This work focuses on design science as applied to information systems and technology, but it also includes examples from, and perspectives of, other fields of human practice. Chapter 1 provides an overview of design science and outlines its ties with empirical research. Chapter 2 discusses the various types and forms of knowledge that can be used and produced by design science research, while Chapter 3 presents a brief overview of common empirical research strategies and methods. Chapter 4 introduces a methodological framework for supporting researchers in doing design science research as well as in presenting their results. This framework includes five core activities, which are described in detail in Chapters 5 to 9. Chapter 10 discusses how to communicate design science results, while Chapter 11 compares the proposed methodological framework with methods for systems development and shows how they can be combined. Chapter 12 discusses how design science relates to research paradigms, in particular to positivism and interpretivism. Lastly, Chapter 13 discusses ethical issues and principles for design science research. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014. All rights are reserved.