Immersive VR versus BIM for AEC Team Collaboration in Remote 3D Coordination Processes

Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Reality (VR) are both tools for collaboration and communication, yet questions still exist as to how and in what ways these tools support technical communication and team decision-making. This paper presents the results of an experimental research study that examined multidisciplinary Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) team collaboration efficiency in remote asynchronous and synchronous communication methods for 3D coordination processes by comparing BIM and immersive VR both with markup tools. Team collaboration efficiency was measured by Shared Understanding, a psychological method based on Mental Models. The findings revealed that the immersive experience in VR and its markup tool capabilities, which enabled users to draw in a 360-degree environment, supported team communication more than the BIM markup tool features, which allowed only one user to draw on a shared 2D screenshot of the model. However, efficient team collaboration in VR required the members to properly guide each other in the 360-degree environment; otherwise, some members were not able to follow the conversations

Measurements and Verification (M&V) Guidelines for Weatherization Plus Health Program

Weatherization Plus Health (Wx+H), a pilot program introduced by the Washington State Department of Commerce, has proposed a new scope to improve the indoor environment quality (IEQ) for low-income housing residents—one that extends beyond energy benefits. Typical interventions include the distribution of green cleaning kits, walk-off mats, ventilation system upgrades, and resident education, among other elements. Wx+H experts are working to capture the long-term impact of these combined measures to assess the program’s potential. Although guidelines and best practices exist to measure and verify the impacts and influences of energy conservation, these indicators do not holistically incorporate occupant satisfaction and perceptions regarding health benefits in the context of low-income housing. This paper presents a preliminary literature review that summarizes measurements and verifications (M&V) schemes applicable to the residential sector from two major standards: ASHRAE Guideline 14 and the international performance measurement and verification protocol. Additionally, reports from the Washington State Commerce Department were analyzed to identify procedures and factors that might influence M&V schemes as applied by Washington State who are leading health and energy programs. Barriers, opportunities, and innovative M&V are discussed

Materiality: Challenges and Opportunities for Communication Theory

Increasingly, communication researchers are issuing calls for attention to the role materiality plays in communication processes (e.g., Boczkowski, 2004; Boczkowski & Lievrouw, 2008; Leonardi & Barley, 2008; Leonardi, Nardi, & Kallinikos, 2013; Lievrouw, 2013). Resulting in part from the challenges of studying new communication and information technologies, this new focus on materiality offers opportunities for communication researchers to theorize beyond communication through, with, and, in some cases, without a medium to think about the material structures of mediation itself. In this chapter we propose a model for thinking through the communicative roles and functions of the materiality of everyday objects, by using one type of objects, documents, as an extended theoretical example of the importance of materiality for communication

Effects of Virtual Reality on Complex Building System Recall

Multidisciplinary design and construction teams are challenged to communicate and coordinate across complex building systems, including architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, and piping (MEP). To support this coordination, disciplinary 3D models are combined and coordinated before installation. Studies show that besides the use of 3D models, industry professionals sketch building components to discuss coordination issues and find resolutions that require them to recall the building components in the model. In current practices, 3D models are explored with Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools presented on 2D screens, while Virtual Reality (VR) can provide users with an immersive environment to explore. This paper presents the results of an experiment that studied the effects of VR’s immersive environment on the participants’ complex MEP system recall compared to BIM via sketching. The comparison criteria were the 3D geometry properties of the piping system and the users’ self-awareness in the model categorized under color, shape, dimension, piping, and viewpoint. The results showed significant improvement in recall of shape, dimension, and piping when the model was explored in VR

Shifting logics of constructability and design : a study of emerging AEC integrated practices for enegry performance

In this paper, we analyze the practices of translation and synthesis for energy performance in building design. We use grounded theory method to collect and analyze qualitative interview and observation data to examine the difficulties of knowledge sharing and problem solving between builders and architectural and engineering designers. Extending the theory of disciplinary specific “institutional logics,” we show that designers and builders integrate their work in three ways: 1) by addressing gaps in their own knowledge that require information from a knowledge domain different from their own, 2) by synthesizing design and construction issues holistically, and 3) through integrating construction and design work practices. These insights offer evidence of shifts in the institutional logics that structure the construction and design disciplines.Non UBCUnreviewedFacultyOthe

MESSY TALK IN VIRTUAL TEAMS Achieving Knowledge Synthesis through Shared Visualizations

Engineering teams collaborating in virtual environments face many technical, social and cultural challenges. In this paper we focus on distributed teams making joint unanticipated discoveries in virtual environments. We operationalize Dossick and Neff’s definition of “Messy Talk” as a process in which teams mutually discover issues, critically engage in clarifying and finding solutions to the discovered issues, exchange their knowledge, and resolve the issue. Can globally distributed teams use “Messy Talk” via virtual communication technology? We analyzed the interactions of four distributed student teams collaborating on a complex design and planning project using building information models (BIM) and the CyberGRID, a virtual world specifically developed for collaborative work. Their interactions exhibited all four elements of Messy Talk, even though resolution was the least common. Virtual worlds support real time joint problem solving by 1) providing affordances for talk mediated by shared visualizations, 2) supporting team perceptions of building information models that are mutable and 3) allowing transformations of those models while people were together in real time. Our findings suggest that distributed team collaboration requires technologies that support Messy Talk--and iterative trial-and-error--for complex multidimensional problems