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Augmented Reality-based Collaboration - ARgan, a bamboo art installation case study

  • August 2020
DOI:10.52842/conf.caadria.2020.2.313
  • Conference: CAADRIA 2020 - Proceedings of the 25th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, pp. 313-322
Authors:
Garvin Goepel at The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Garvin Goepel
Kristof Crolla at The University of Hong Kong
Kristof Crolla
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Abstract

ARgan is a geometrically complex bamboo sculpture that relied on Mixed Reality (MR) for its joint creation by multiple sculptors and used latest Augmented Reality (AR) technology to guide manual fabrication actions. It was built at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the fall of 2019 by thirty participants of a design-and-build workshop on the integration of AR in construction. As part of its construction workflow, holographic setups were created on multiple devices, including a series of Microsoft HoloLenses and several handheld Smartphones, all linked simultaneously to a single digital base model to interactively guide the manufacturing process. This paper critically evaluates the experience of extending recent AR and MR tool developments towards applications that centre on creative collaborative production. Using ARgan as a demonstrator project, its developed workflow is assessed on its ability to transform a geometrically complex digitally drafted design to its final physically built form, highlighting the necessary strategic integration of variability as an opportunity to relax notions on design precision and exact control. The paper concludes with a plea for digital technology’s ability to stimulate dialogue and collaboration in creative production and augment craftsmanship, thus providing greater agency and more diverse design output.
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  
      
   
     

        
           
         
          
           
           
       
        
         
        
          
       
        
          
          
         
         
          
       
       
   
   
 
         
          
            
          
         
           
           
           
          
          
            
               
          
     
            
            
           
            
           
            
            
            
      
            
        
          
         
        
           
         
      
            
       
           
         
          
         
         
      
          
         
         
               
         
           
            
           
            
         
          
          
 
           
         
       
   
          
 
           
         
           
            
           
           
            
        
              
          
           
           
       
           
       
             
         
         
         
       
            
          
        
          
            
         
           
     
     
   
           
          
              
           
             
             
            
    
      
         
          
              
             
            
            
          
           
             
           
            
           
    
           
            
           
           
        
                
          
              
              
   
          
            
       
            
   
          
     
 
          
            
          
          
          
         
          
         
             
            
          
           
         
           
            
         
  
         
            
          
             
    
   
         
          
            
             
            
          
           
        
          
          
           
           
             
         
           
            
         
         
           
           
  
     
       
          
 
        
       
        
         
         
         
      
          
           
         
          
         
        
           
          
         
         
        
           
         
           

   
    
          
           
          
             
            
         
         
        
            
          
          
          
         
           
         
   
 
          
        
           
          
         
          
           
        
          
          
        
          
     
           
         
         
          
          
       
         
      

          
         
          
          
            
            
             
           
               
           

              
           
         

             
         
 
             
     
           
        
   
               
          
   
              
              
     
               
           
        

            
      
              
           
    
... Fabrication in augmented reality has proven to be an effective and expedient method for forming and assembling complex structures from steel (Jahn et al. 2018), bricks (Mitterberger et al. 2020;Jahn et al. 2019) and steam bent timber (Jahn, Wit, and Pazzi 2019). Recent work has also demonstrated augmented reality applications working with flexible materials such as bent bamboo (Goepel and Crolla 2020) or non-uniform and unprocessed timber (Lok 2022). However there remain few examples of augmented reality fabrication approaches to forming complex surface topologies due to the challenge of correctly judging surface depth with current generation augmented reality displays. ...
... Artillion Studio utilized augmented reality to form a complex double curved sculpture from hand-bent pieces of stainless-steel flat bar ("Inferno Redux/ Wind Stone" 2018). Kristof Crolla and Garvin Goepel have demonstrated the use of augmented reality to form double curved surfaces from interwoven strips of bent bamboo (Goepel and Crolla 2020). Yang Song completed a project called BloomShell as part of Soomeen Hahm's research lab at the Bartlett that explored the use of thermoplastic sheets to form and assemble double curved surfaces from augmented reality guides (Song 2020). ...
Depth Camera Feedback for Guided Fabrication in Augmented Reality
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Nov 2022
Augmented reality environments have been demonstrated to assist with architectural fabrication tasks by displaying construction information at full scale and in context. However, this information typically needs to be sparse in order to prevent virtual models occluding a fabricators view of the physical environment, and this limits the application of augmented reality to tasks such as surface forming. To address this issue, we propose a method for guided fabrication in augmented reality using real time comparisons between depth scans of as built conditions and target conditions defined by design models. Through the design and fabrication of a small proof of concept prototype from paper strips, we demonstrate that guided fabrication is adequate for high speed, approximate and ad-hoc fabrication of complex surface geometries without the need for extensive rationalization for fabrication constraints or explicit documentation of parts. We further show how this method generalizes to other processes such as additive fabrication or part placement and speculate on the implications of accessible real time depth data from the HoloLens within Grasshopper.
... The use of mixed-reality devices in digital-fabrication methods has become increasingly common in recent years. Mixed-reality devices were used in digital fabrication applications such as knitting with bamboo material [6], brick wall assembly [7,8], knitting with metal bars [9], timber structures assembly [4], making a vault structure with Styrofoam pieces [10], and rubble bridge-making [11], as well as in additive manufacturing [12]. Mixed-reality devices were also used in the design and digital fabrication study with composite parts that are stretched and shaped [13]. ...
Interactive Parametric Design and Robotic Fabrication within Mixed Reality Environment
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2022
In this study, a method, in which parametric design and robotic fabrication are combined into one unified framework, and integrated within a mixed reality environment, where designers can interact with design and fabrication alternatives, and manage this process in collaboration with other designers, is proposed. To achieve this goal, the digital twin of both design and robotic fabrication steps was created within a mixed-reality environment. The proposed method was tested on a design product, which was defined with the shape-grammar method using parametric-modeling tools. In this framework, designers can interact with both design and robotic-fabrication parameters, and subsequent steps are generated instantly. Robotic fabrication can continue uninterrupted with human–robot collaboration. This study contributes to improving design and fabrication possibilities such as mass-customization, and shortens the process from design to production. The user experience and augmented spatial feedback provided by mixed reality are richer than the interaction with the computer screen. Since the whole process from parametric design to robotic fabrication can be controlled by parameters with hand gestures, the perception of reality is richer. The digital twin of parametric design and robotic fabrication is superimposed as holographic content by adding it on top of real-world images. Designers can interact with both design and fabrication processes both physically and virtually and can collaborate with other designers.
... In recent years, there have been remarkable advances in mixed-reality technologies for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). Most augmented and virtual applications in AEC focus on structured manual activities (Goepel 2020 Collaborative activities in the field of AEC can involve a plethora of different stakeholders with heterogeneous backgrounds and expertise. Furthermore, stakehold-ers can involve remote collaborators, ranging from on-site to off-site users. ...
Extended Reality Collaboration: Virtual and Mixed Reality System for Collaborative Design and Holographic-Assisted On-site Fabrication
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Sep 2022
Most augmented and virtual applications in architecture, engineering, and construction focus on structured and predictable manual activities and routine cases of information exchange such as quality assurance or design review systems. However, collaborative design activities such as negotiation, task specification, and interaction are not yet sufficiently explored. This paper presents a mixed-reality immersive collaboration system that enables bi-directional communication and data exchange between on-site and off-site users, mutually accessing a digital twin. Extended Reality Collaboration (ERC) allows building site information to inform design decisions and new design iterations to be momentarily visualized and evaluated on-site. Additionally, the system allows the developed design model to be fabricated with holographic instructions. In this paper, we present the concept and workflow of the developed system, as well as its deployment and evaluation through an experimental case study. The outlook questions how such systems could be transferred to current design and building tasks and how such a system could reduce delays, avoid misunderstandings and eventually increase building quality by closing the gap between the digital model and the built architecture.KeywordsMixed realityVirtual realityInteractive designCollaborative virtual environmentsRemote collaborationImmersive virtual environment
... Beyond improving productivity of conventional construction, augmented reality may also enable new approaches to design and construction by adding digital precision to traditional hand crafts. Woven structures are one example where augmented reality allows the innate flexibility and elasticity of bamboo to form curves described by digital models (Goepel & Crolla, 2020). ...
Augmented Reality For Construction From Steam Bent Timber
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Apr 2022
Digital models viewed in augmented reality can serve as guides to form and assemble parts during construction and reduce the need to build temporary formwork or sub structures. However, static digital models are often inadequate for describing the behaviour of material that is dynamically formed over time, leading to breakages and difficulty following augmented reality guides during assembly. To address this issue, we propose a method for fast and approximate simulation of material behaviour using a goal-based physics solver, enabling the design and fabrication of steam bent timber parts using an adaptable system of sparse formwork. Through the design and construction of a pavilion from steam bent timber we demonstrate that approximate simulation of material behaviour is adequate for wide tolerance construction by hand and eye in augmented reality, avoiding part breakages and accumulative error.
... While it retains a lot of openness through its abstract nature it is well equipped to be taken more literally. Modules could then be fabricated in a fab lab and constructed by laymen using tested augmented reality assembly processes (Goepel and Crolla, 2020), keeping the spirit of the fab movement in the project. ...
Project Disco As A Participatory Platform
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Jul 2021
Inspired by recent developments in architecture around the topic of discreteness and the movement that emerged around fab labs, Project DisCo was created as an immersive sandbox game for playful co-design of modular structures. This paper investigates the potential of Project DisCo as a design tool for participatory projects at the scale of public spaces. Describing ways of scenario building, we propose a module kit to play out a design brief for a participatory project, introducing different methods of shaping the interaction of participants in a design session. The paper concludes by reviewing a design outcome from an experimental design session with four participants.
... As demonstrated by work from peers, applications can easily be diversified to other trades, such as bricklaying (Franco 2019), plywood construction (Jahn, Wit, and Pazzi 2019), steel artwork production (Jahn et al. 2018), bamboo construction (Goepel and Crolla 2020), and many more, indicating that a paradigm shift in manual production has been set in motion. Rather than surrendering human skill to automation in manufacturing, AR enhances human capacities to participate in complex processes through simplified instructions (Goepel 2019). ...
Augmenting Craft with Mixed Reality: A Case Study Project of AR-driven Analogue Clay Modelling
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Nov 2020
This paper discusses novel methods for and advantages of integrating augmented reality (AR) and photogrammetry in hand clay-sculpting workflows. These techniques permit nontrained users to achieve higher precision during the sculpting process by holographically overlaying instructions from digital 3D source geometry on top of the sculpting material. By employing alternative notational systems in design implementation methods, the research positions itself in a postdigital context aimed at humanizing digital technologies. Throughout history, devices have been developed to increase production, such as Henry Dexter’s 1842 “Apparatus for Sculptors” for marble sculpting. Extrapolating from this, the workflow presented in this paper uses AR to overlay extracted information from 3D models directly onto the sculptor’s field of vision. This information can then become an AR-driven guidance system that assists the sculptor. Using the Microsoft HoloLens, holographic instructions are introduced in the production sequence, connecting the analog sculpture fabrication directly with a digital environment, thus augmenting the craftspeople’s agency. A series of AR-aided sculpting methods were developed and tested in a demonstrator case study project that created a small-scale clay copy of Henry Moore’s Sheep Piece (1971–1972). This paper demonstrates how user-friendly software and hardware tools have lowered the threshold for end users to develop new methods that straightforwardly facilitate and improve their crafts’ effectiveness and agency. This shows that the fusion of computational design technology and AR visualization technology can innovate a specific craft’s design and production workflow, opening the door for further application developments in more architecture-specific fabrication contexts.
A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM PROPOSAL ON THE USAGE OF EXTENDED REALITY SDKS IN AEC DISCIPLINESA DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM PROPOSAL ON THE USAGE OF EXTENDED REALITY SDKS IN AEC DISCIPLINES
Article
  • Nov 2022
Technology is employed in the fields of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) for characteristics like producing visual representations and offering assistance during the building phase. Both users and creators of these tools are able to immediately take advantage of the technology's potential as well as create a variety of workarounds for its drawbacks. Both viewpoints will be looked at in this study with regard to mobile extended reality SDKs (software development kit). By excluding the articles that did not provide the relevant information, this research concentrates solely on the papers that discuss the technological aspects of the SDK that were used, the opportunities the SDK offers, and/or the flaws of the SDK. The study's main objective is to compare the technological contributions made by the SDKs employed in the scope of the examined literature to the AEC disciplines and to the contexts in which such contributions are made. Through applications in literature research, the study aims to highlight the contributions of mobile extended reality SDKs to the fields of architecture, engineering, and construction. An entry-level developer can use the SDKs in accordance with his work by using the comparison diagrams, produced in this study, to see the relationships and comparisons between them, as well as to build a framework for what uses should be made in which domains. The technological capabilities and constraints of SDKs have an impact on how research is designed. Making relationality diagrams on the SDK to use and the effects it will have throughout the research phase is also crucial. As a result of the research, SDKs permit flexible uses in a variety of sectors, and their use also financially and logistically supports literature studies.
SECRET WHISPERS & TRANSMOGRIFICATIONS: A case study in online teaching of Augmented Reality technology for collaborative design production
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Apr 2021
This paper focusses on teaching the integration of Augmented (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), combined referred to as Extended-Reality (XR), and photogrammetry technology into handicraft using an online-taught digital fabrication workshop as an educational case study. Set up in response to restrictions from Covid-19, workshop "Secret Whispers & Transmogrifications" had students and instructors around the world participate in a course that challenged our understanding of educating craft and technology without the necessity of physical presence. The integration of AR into craftsmanship enhances architectural design and fabrication processes as it overlays computation-driven information onto the hands of the end user. These computer-numerically-controlled workflows incorporate and rely on manual actions as an integral part of a process that is typified by inevitable, unpredictable, human error. In doing so, the workshop questions common infatuation with precision in digital fabrication and construction by striving for alternative approaches that embrace the inaccuracies and imprecisions innate to technologically-augmented human craftsmanship. Participants took part in a hands-on clay modelling "secret whispers" experiment that was designed to introduce theoretical concepts and applications of XR technology into the production workflows. This paper concludes by highlighting that the accessibility of today's technology enables AR-enhanced craftsmanship to be successfully taught remotely and online.
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