WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY?
Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, be it a real or imagined one. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones.
The "Ideal" Solution
A VR Integrated Construction System can be expected to:
•enable designers, developers, and contractors to use the VR system and virtually test a proposed project before construction actually begins.
•offer “walk through” view of the project so that problems can be found and design improvements can be made earlier.
•provide free flow of information between CAD systems and other applications work packages by professionals in industry, minimize the misinterpretation between participants of the project, especially between designers and clients.
•facilitate the selection of alternative designs by allowing different plans to be tested in the same virtual world.
In a VR Integrated Construction System, VR becomes the main interface for all application packages and construction information for every specialty throughout the construction (life) cycle of the project.
Existing Problems of Current VR system
•Currently two major functionality of VR in construction is interaction with objects in real-time and walk-through presentation. These features are mainly about visualization and simulation, instead of providing a basic interface between users and the project (subject).
•Most of the time VR systems are just supplementary to CAD packages. They can not perform stand alone design let alone be the bases of 2-D drawings and all engineering design. Lots of implementation problems come from the supplementary role of VR systems, and include difficulty in use, requirement of special skills, and expensive to implement.
•These problems, which mainly come from the lack of integration between application packages, constitute tremendous barriers to the implementation of VR systems in the real world.
What Is Needed To Make It Happen
To make the dream of virtual reality come true, a scheme similar to following needs to be set up:
•VR must become the general interface among the different applications instead of their individual interface.
•2D and 3D images must become not just a way of presentation, but more importantly they must become interface for interactivity.
•A central core which is a database system (most likely a knowledge based database system) will be the basis of the whole VR system, the application and the interface.
•The VR integrated construction system must be able to reside on a communications network (the Internet or more precisely the WWW).
A serious challenge to the actual deployment of a VR system is whether an Industry Standard is developed or not.
Before a complete solution can be provided to the user, the industry must be persuaded to adapt and move to a totally new, standards-based system.
VR APPLICATION PROTOTYPES
Construction Material Specification Integration
The integration of construction drawings, design and material specifications within a VR environment :
•allows the professionals and the owner/procurer of construction services to preview the final product of their effort.
•allows the participants in the project to more realistically determine the soundness of the design; the appropriateness of the construction techniques and the adequacy of the facility and materials finishes in meeting the owners needs, the execution of the project.
•the expectations of the parties will be more realistic and the risk of costly disputes will be reduced considerably.
Collaborative Virtual Prototyping
•Important applications are related to the "design phase". Virtual prototyping allows architects, engineers, contractors, and clients to create a design and evaluate it simultaneously for function, cost and aesthetics very early in the design process.
•The visual capabilities and the interactive inspection features offered by VR based tools are much more extensive than those offered by standard CAD tools.
•VR tools offer cooperative capabilities very useful in the design, by geographically distant teams, of large engineering projects. In that case, the virtual prototype can be considered as the starting point of the design process.
• After the first stage where the design teams test and validate the virtual prototype, relevant data is extracted from this prototype and is fed into CAD/CAM tools in order to be completed with more technical and detailed data
VR applications for detailed design
During the detailed design phase, virtual prototyping tools will allow the design office to refine the design proposed by the architect by adding constraints and modifications induced by the technical calculations (structural, thermal, lighting, etc.):
· Acoustics. The results of acoustic calculations can be related to the sound going through a window or a wall or the sound inside a room (e.g. a meeting room). These results are usually 3D sound WAV files associated to the
related building components.
· Lighting. Different lighting calculation methods can be used. The most effective ones are based on radiosity computation and raytrace rendering. These methods combined give a high realistic visual feedback on the architectural options taken.
· Thermal analysis. At this stage, thermal analysis is done in order to estimate the performance of HVAC systems and/or the comfort in the built environment. This should give a quick feedback on the architectural options taken (orientation, glazed surface, etc.).
· Documentation/annotations. During the design, users should be able to access, in line, to relevant documentation and standards about the building components.
EXAMPLE INTERIOR 3D IMAGE RENDERING
Conclusion
VR will offer the average user the potential to enhance the final presentation by combining 3D images, head-mounted displays, sounds, and self-movements.
The ability to support the illusion of the individual's movement through the virtual space will make the implementation of VR much more acceptable to humans. Users will be able to feel/see their movements in space, thus, improving the performance and well-being of the ultimate human user.
Users' movements and requests, in virtual space, will be monitored and controlled by an intelligent and integrated knowledge based system and other external construction applications where all communications with external applications' are carried out in virtual space in either a textual or graphical format.
The flexibility offered by virtual environments to visualize and interact with the virtual world, provided that these technologies are available at a reasonable cost, will enable designers, clients, and contractors to use VR to rapidly construct and test their prototypes before constructing the actual project.
1 comment:
One of the biggest issues I see with VR right now is that most of the time is being spent on improving the technology itself, and not enough time is being spent on understanding the user experience.
Virtual reality museum
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