3D Building Information Model (BIM) Visualization Comes Alive [Holograms]
March 18th, 2010 | Author: Travis Reinke
Three-dimensional space is a geometric model of the physical universe in which we live, work and are now entertained. Television manufacturers are quickly working to release the 3D-capable broadcasts that cable and satellite providers are already offering. For example, the 2010 Masters will be broadcast live in 3D on CBS, April 8-11. 3D movies used to be a rarity, but are now found weekly in theaters across the nation.
Physical 3D models have been used for decades to visualize City improvements in need of public approval and to help architects portray their ideas to the owner. Topographic contour maps have been used to visualize ground terrain in a two-dimensional environment for drainage studies, military strategy planning, city planning, etc. These models are often costly and take too long to construct.
Printed renderings are more easy and cost-effective to produce, but they lack the interactiveness of even the physical models.
Augmented Reality v0.1
March 3rd, 2010 | Author: Travis Reinke
In 2002, to experience augmented reality was to lash 26 pounds of equipment to your body and hobble waywardly within the confines of predefined area. In 2010, you can augment the entire world with a free app for your smartphone.
This shot of the Columbia University’s Mobile Augmented Reality System(MARS) comes from a PopSci story written 10 Februaries ago. (The magazine’s searchable archives just went online.) This right around the time that augmented reality had made the jump from esoteric sci-fi concept to actual thing, albeit in the form of awkward research projects and simplistic military applications:
If you strap on this rig, as [the writer] had, you begin to understand the profound possibilities of an AR system, which can superimpose computer-generated text, graphics, 3D animation, sound, or any other or any other digitized data on the real world.
Cars are Good, Buildings are Bad — We Need Another National Lab
March 3rd, 2010 | Author: Travis Reinke
The title is not completely correct, cars are not really good, but they are less bad than buildings.
We hear constantly:
- “Cars cause Global Warming” (more accurately contribute to Climate Change).
- People are purchasing hybrids to do their part to help save the earth and lower our need for fuel.
We rarely hear:
- Buildings are the main problem. (They are)
BIM, specifically the data component, holds great promise to dramatically improve the performance and operation of buildings, as well as insuring that ecologically superior building products are specified. BIM is dependent upon accurate and available data.
Apple 3D Head-Tracking – The Ultimate Display for Construction Plans
January 5th, 2010 | Author: Travis Reinke
by Houston Neal
The latest talk of the town in the Apple blogosphere is 3D head-tracking. Apple recently filed a patent for technology that allows users to change perspective of an object by moving their head or body. So instead of dragging your mouse to rotate a graph or chart, you simply look behind it; a more intuitive approach (at least in the eyes of Apple engineers). Here’s a quick video of how this could be used to view 3D construction plans:
With all the attention augmented reality is getting, we’re not surprised to see big players like Apple experimenting with this genre of technology. Novelty aside, there seems to be endless applications. We think the technology would be great for the construction industry. Combined with construction software, contractors could use it to visualize complex construction projects, like the example above which uses 3D building models from Synchro software.
View the future in your phone
December 18th, 2009 | Author: Travis Reinke
Augmented reality will soon be available on smartphones to transform site visits. Written by Simon Johns
Imagine walking down the street, looking for somewhere to eat. You use your phone to photograph a restaurant, and the overlay on the screen shows you menu items pulled from the restaurant’s online menu, reviews from newspapers and so forth.
Science fiction? No, this is available right now from a startup called Layar (www.layar.com), with content from Yellow Pages, Google, Flickr and Wikipedia.
Modern smartphones, such as iPhones and Google Android devices, can determine their own location through GPS and an internal compass, they can download data through mobile broadband connections and they have reasonably powerful graphics-processing capabilities. These provide the necessary ingredients for mobile augmented reality.
New Online Course from RedVector Details the Basics of BIM
December 10th, 2009 | Author: Travis Reinke
Two-hour interactive online offering for design and construction professionals explains Building Information Modeling – how it works, who can benefit, and why it’s important
To help architects, engineers, contractors and other design professionals keep up with the rapidly evolving world of virtual modeling technology, RedVector is pleased to release “Building Information Modeling (BIM): An Introduction.”
The course covers the ways that a Building Information Model can use a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility to enable collaboration among all the stakeholders on a project, and shows how it can increase productivity from the planning stages through the finished product. The origins of BIM are discussed, along with some common limitations, current standardization activities, and its increasing popularity as a primary tool in the industry for project information and coordination.
ecoScorecard Advances BIM Capabilities With Google SketchUp™ Integration
November 19th, 2009 | Author: Travis Reinke
Phoenix, November 11, 2009 – ecoScorecard, the technology platform that helps building product specifiers evaluate environmental attributes of products, today revealed the new ecoScorecard plug-in that works with Google SketchUp and provides a critical link between popular BIM (Building Information Modeling) tools and important environmental rating systems such as LEED. The announcement was made today in conjunction with the opening of the US Green Building Council’s annual Greenbuild Expo.
The new integration will enable users to easily access environmental product attributes and rating system calculations for ecoScorecard enabled products that are in the Google 3D Warehouse, resulting in faster and more accurate rating system documentation for Google SketchUp users.
“The BIM process is built on the concept of coordinated information, and ecoScorecard takes that process a step further by providing an immediate to link to environmental product attributes and rating system calculations,” said Martin Flaherty, president of ecoScorecard. “Users can now pull data from ecoScorecard enabled products directly into the model and use that information throughout the design process.”
GSA Awards Ten Nationwide BIM Services IDIQ Contracts
October 7th, 2009 | Author: Travis Reinke
The General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Services (PBS), has officially awarded ten Nationwide Building Information Modeling (BIM) Services IDIQ Contracts to the following firms:
- Beck Technology
- Applied Software Technology
- DPR Construction, Inc.
- Ghafari Associates, LLC
- Hallam Associates, Inc.
- KlingStubbins, Inc.
- HNTB Corporation
- ONUMA, Inc.
- View by View, Inc.
- Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc.
Congratulations to all of these firms! It will be interesting to see how much work actually comes out of this contract and how it will impact the architectural industry. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates on this monumental contract award.
