Multidisciplinary design in virtual worlds

Large design projects, such as those in the AEC domain, involve collaboration among a number of design disciplines, often in separate locations. With the increase in CAD usage in design offices, there has been an increase in the interest in collaboration using the electronic medium, both synchronously and asynchronously. The use of a single shared database representing a single model of a building has been widely put forward but this paper argues that this does not take into account the different representations required by each discipline. This paper puts forward an environment which provides real-time multi-user collaboration in a 3D virtual world for designers in different locations. Agent technology is used to manage the different views, creation and modifications of objects in the 3D virtual world and the necessary relationships with the database(s) belonging to each discipline

Defining Reality in Virtual Reality: Exploring Visual Appearance and Spatial Experience Focusing on Colour

Today, different actors in the design process have communication difficulties in visualizing and predictinghow the not yet built environment will be experienced. Visually believable virtual environments (VEs) can make it easier for architects, users and clients to participate in the planning process. This thesis deals with the difficulties of translating reality into digital counterparts, focusing on visual appearance(particularly colour) and spatial experience. The goal is to develop knowledge of how differentaspects of a VE, especially light and colour, affect the spatial experience; and thus to contribute to a better understanding of the prerequisites for visualizing believable spatial VR-models. The main aims are to 1) identify problems and test solutions for simulating realistic spatial colour and light in VR; and 2) develop knowledge of the spatial conditions in VR required to convey believable experiences; and evaluate different ways of visualizing spatial experiences. The studies are conducted from an architecturalperspective; i.e. the whole of the spatial settings is considered, which is a complex task. One important contribution therefore concerns the methodology. Different approaches were used: 1) a literature review of relevant research areas; 2) a comparison between existing studies on colour appearance in 2D vs 3D; 3) a comparison between a real room and different VR-simulations; 4) elaborationswith an algorithm for colour correction; 5) reflections in action on a demonstrator for correct appearance and experience; and 6) an evaluation of texture-styles with non-photorealistic expressions. The results showed various problems related to the translation and comparison of reality to VR. The studies pointed out the significance of inter-reflections; colour variations; perceived colour of light and shadowing for the visual appearance in real rooms. Some differences in VR were connected to arbitrary parameter settings in the software; heavily simplified chromatic information on illumination; and incorrectinter-reflections. The models were experienced differently depending on the application. Various spatial differences between reality and VR could be solved by visual compensation. The study with texture-styles pointed out the significance of varying visual expressions in VR-models

Defining Reality in Virtual Reality: Exploring Visual Appearance and Spatial Experience Focusing on Colour

Today, different actors in the design process have communication difficulties in visualizing and predictinghow the not yet built environment will be experienced. Visually believable virtual environments (VEs) can make it easier for architects, users and clients to participate in the planning process. This thesis deals with the difficulties of translating reality into digital counterparts, focusing on visual appearance(particularly colour) and spatial experience. The goal is to develop knowledge of how differentaspects of a VE, especially light and colour, affect the spatial experience; and thus to contribute to a better understanding of the prerequisites for visualizing believable spatial VR-models. The main aims are to 1) identify problems and test solutions for simulating realistic spatial colour and light in VR; and 2) develop knowledge of the spatial conditions in VR required to convey believable experiences; and evaluate different ways of visualizing spatial experiences. The studies are conducted from an architecturalperspective; i.e. the whole of the spatial settings is considered, which is a complex task. One important contribution therefore concerns the methodology. Different approaches were used: 1) a literature review of relevant research areas; 2) a comparison between existing studies on colour appearance in 2D vs 3D; 3) a comparison between a real room and different VR-simulations; 4) elaborationswith an algorithm for colour correction; 5) reflections in action on a demonstrator for correct appearance and experience; and 6) an evaluation of texture-styles with non-photorealistic expressions. The results showed various problems related to the translation and comparison of reality to VR. The studies pointed out the significance of inter-reflections; colour variations; perceived colour of light and shadowing for the visual appearance in real rooms. Some differences in VR were connected to arbitrary parameter settings in the software; heavily simplified chromatic information on illumination; and incorrectinter-reflections. The models were experienced differently depending on the application. Various spatial differences between reality and VR could be solved by visual compensation. The study with texture-styles pointed out the significance of varying visual expressions in VR-models

DesignWorld : a tool for team collaboration in high band virtual environments

Current software tools for documenting and developing models of buildings focus on supporting a single user who is a specialist in the specific software used within their own discipline. Extensions to these tools for use by teams maintain the single discipline view and focus on version and file management. There is a perceived need in industry to have tools that specifically support collaboration among individuals from multiple disciplines with both a graphical representation of the design and a persistent data model. This project involves the development of a prototype of such a software tool. We have identified multi-user 3D virtual worlds as an appropriate software base for the development of a collaborative design tool. These worlds are inherently multi-user and therefore directly support collaboration through a sense of awareness of others in the virtual world, their location within the world, and provide various channels for direct and indirect communication. Such software platforms also provide a 3D building and modelling environment that can be adapted to the needs of the building and construction industry. DesignWorld is a prototype system for collaborative design developed by augmenting the Second Life (SL) commercial software platform1 with a collection web-based tools for communication and design. Agents manage communication between the 3D virtual world and the web-based tools. In addition, agents maintain a persistent external model of designs in the 3D world which can be augmented with data such as relationships, disciplines and versions not usually associated with 3D virtual worlds but required in design scenarios

Évaluation d'un espace de travail collaboratif assisté par ordinateur pour la conception intégrée des bâtiments

La conception des bâtiments est un processus social de prise de décisions, d’analyse d’alternatives et d’explorations de solutions dans lequel les professionnels de l’industrie de la construction doivent collaborer afin de délivrer un produit répondant aux exigences définies par le client. Mais l’industrie se trouve confrontée à des problèmes de fragmentation et de séquentialisation du processus de conception. Ces deux phénomènes génèrent des îlots opérationnels qui dégradent la communication et la collaboration des équipes de projet, aboutissant ainsi à des solutions sous-optimales et des bâtiments aux performances inadéquates. Pourtant, les bâtiments doivent aujourd’hui satisfaire des exigences de plus en plus élevées sur le plan des coûts, de la qualité, et des performances générales. Les professionnels de l’industrie se retrouvent donc confrontés au besoin d’adopter de nouvelles pratiques favorisant la conception intégrée et l’intégration des technologies de l’information. Ce projet de recherche aborde cette problématique en présentant un espace de travail collaboratif assisté par ordinateur (le LCAOCo) unique au Québec et au Canada, combinant des équipements et des technologies visant à offrir l’environnement collaboratif digital idéal en conception. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer l’impact des outils de collaboration mis en place dans le LCAOCo sur les réunions de conception multidisciplinaires synchrones au même endroit. La méthode d’évaluation employée dans ce projet est inspirée de la méthode Test Charrette, et la stratégie de mesure de performance utilisée est basée sur le découpage d’une réunion de projet en tâches descriptives, explicatives, évaluatives et prédictives. Cette méthode et cette stratégie ont permis de comparer la collaboration traditionnelle d’une équipe utilisant le papier comme support des artefacts de conception à la collaboration digitale dans le LCAOCo. Les résultats de la recherche montrent que les outils de collaboration du LCAOCo ont un impact globalement favorable. Ils permettent à une équipe de conception de consacrer plus de temps sur des tâches prédictives qui sont des tâches d’explorations d’alternatives, donc sources d’innovation. Enfin, les outils numériques tendent à faciliter les interactions entre les concepteurs d’un bâtiment et les versions digitales des artefacts de conception