USC Viterbi School of Engineering – USC Viterbi School of ...



ILLUMIN: CALL FOR PAPERSCould Being a Better Gamer make you a Better Builder? A look into 3-D Modeling Interface and the Practicality of Integrating Video-Game Controllers as Navigating AidsPrepared by: Anna SevertMay 2, 2014Key words: Autodesk, Navisworks, BIM, 3-D, Models, Video-Games, Augmented RealityABSTRACTThe program Navisworks, primarily a viewer for 3-D construction building models created in other Autodesk platforms, allows users see three dimensional elements in and outside of simulated buildings by orienting the view up, down, and side-to-side; yet to those unfamiliar to the software, simply walking through the model using a mouse is tedious. First providing an overview of similar technologies and applications for collaborating partners within the construction industry, this paper will then highlight how handheld controllers, such as those already being utilized with video game consoles, may be a solution for simpler navigation as well as a means of better communication between different entities on a construction project.INTRODUCTIONOn a construction site, a video-game controller –in its most obvious application, a toy— would seem out of place. However, one of the ways in which general contractors and other members of the Architect/Engineer/Contractor (AEC) industry are making the most of computer simulated construction is by using intuitive controllers to navigate through and evaluate dense 3-D models. Inspired by C.W. Driver, a southern California contractor who addressed the lack of research for more intuitive rather than trial and error model navigation, Kevin Miller (portrait below), chair for the Construction Management program at Brigham Young University decided to adopt this challenge. Miller and his research team found that using an inexpensive program available for download online, they could program an Xbox 360 controller to function and operate as computers navigational commands. Intended primarily to “improve accessibility in gameplay”, Xpadder works by allowing users to assign keyboard functions and mouse clicks to either the control stick or combinations of buttons [1]. In a limited group of participants, Miller and his research team found that users new to Navisworks?, a model viewing program, had comparatively less difficulty in moving through models when using the Xbox controller. Given the parallelism of both industries, AEC users and developers of these BIM technologies can look to examples already set by the gaming world. BIM: A BRIEF OVERVIEWBIM is an acronym for Building Information Modeling systems. A well written definition comes from Michael S. Bergin of the Architecture Research Lab at Archdaily: “BIM software must be capable of representing both the physical and intrinsic properties of a building as an object-oriented model tied to a database. In addition most BIM software now features rendering engines, an optimized feature specific taxonomy and a programming environment to create model components. The user can view and interact with the model in three-dimensional views as well as orthographic two-dimensional plan, sections and elevation views of the model.” [2] Shown below is a desktop screen shot of a sample BIM software illustrating several of its capabilities.right3732530Figure 1: A desktop screen shot of an open project in the program Autodesk 2011 Revit Architecture (3-D modeling software tool). A ribbon in the command window (upper left corner of screen) shows that commands such as “Wall” allows for users to place walls of different types and editable properties. On the right side of the screen, the two windows demonstrates how users can model detailed and accurate representations of future or existing construction, including topography, landscaping and annotated elevations. The middle of the screen shows how orienting the model to “Plan View” can allow for users to compare their work to the geometry depicted in 2-D construction documents.00Figure 1: A desktop screen shot of an open project in the program Autodesk 2011 Revit Architecture (3-D modeling software tool). A ribbon in the command window (upper left corner of screen) shows that commands such as “Wall” allows for users to place walls of different types and editable properties. On the right side of the screen, the two windows demonstrates how users can model detailed and accurate representations of future or existing construction, including topography, landscaping and annotated elevations. The middle of the screen shows how orienting the model to “Plan View” can allow for users to compare their work to the geometry depicted in 2-D construction documents.BIM software gives AEC professionals the ability to model detailed and accurate representations of buildings with a uniform standard database of building components grouped by type. Like a combination of the Windows program Paint and virtual Legos, users can drag in, modify, place, cut, copy and paste individual elements. By far the most popular modeling software for BIM and the widely accepted industry standard, is Autodesk? Revit?. Architects can model intricate masses, and builders can model to a level of detail that includes the studs in drywall framing. Even allowable tolerances and necessary clearances per the American Institute of Architects and other applicable building codes can be conceptually modeled with masses. Practical for the visualization of future construction, three dimensional models can be distributed to multiple collaborators on a project for constructability review. Additionally, building sequence for a 4-D time lapse of the construction of building components and placement of groupings of elements (a common function of many model viewers) is a powerful assist tool in the verification of logistics. More likely than not, the sister software for Revit, Autodesk? Navisworks?, is being used to present and navigate through models, create 4-D video simulations, and discern “clashes”. Navisworks is great twofold: (1) It uses significantly less of the Random Access Memory (RAM) and Central Processing Unit (CPU) available on personal computers (heavily loaded Revit models have been known to crash) (2) Given set margins for error, it can scan through models and pick out overlapping and duplicate elements with its Clash Detector tool within a matter of minutes. This is what the “B” and “M” of BIM is all about – the ability to build a better building, troubleshooting design issues with a essentially a prototype. The “I” of BIM will be discussed later, but first the focus must be brought to the need behind introducing an Xbox controller to a construction site.THE NAVIGATION NUISANCE The drawback to Navisworks, however is not its ability to present Revit models, but in the users’ ability to navigate through the model. Username Jeradooka, an active member on Autodesk Community’s online forums, typed: “I find it a stumbling task to navigate in Navisworks files. In World of Warcraft, they have a very smooth flow for 3D navigation while in the air…I would love Navisworks much more if Autodesk could duplicate this navigation” [3]. The user is referring to the difficulty in adjusting to the “Glide” mode of exploring a model in Navisworks (popular because it allows viewers to quickly pan through elevations), and goes on to explain the WASD keyboard commands of the online computer game (see diagram below). 0152400Figure 2: A diagram of WoW keyboard functions.400000Figure 2: A diagram of WoW keyboard functions.The Glide tool moves the camera, or perspective of the model by moving the mouse as such: left button with mouse moving forward to go further into building, left button with side-to-side to look left and right, left button, forward and side-to-side to turn; middle mouse to look up and down, and cntrl with middle mouse to zoom into wherever the camera is pointing. Given that moving a cursor across the desktop is within a two-dimensional plane, it’s obvious to see why even the Autodesk handbook concedes that practice may be needed and that, “at first these tools may seem cumbersome or difficult to use” [4]. Unlike the WoW flying commands, this interface combines two different types of mental models, or ways in which the brain perceives the translation of movement to on-screen commands. Mouse clicks and holding combinations are directional natural mappings, “Think Street Fighter 4: up to jump, left/right to move, down to crouch, and buttons to punch or kick” [5]. Moving the mouse into and around the model is incomplete tangible natural mapping, such as with the Nintendo Wii console, where players move their remotes to create mirrored kinetic movement in the games. At least with video games, different senses of “presence” are created with these mental models. According to research done by Paul Skalski, Ron Tamborini, Ashleigh Shelton, Michael Buncher, and Pete Lindmark, comparing the gameplay of the Playstation 2 with dual-shock controller and the Nintento Wii with wiimote versions of Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’07, players felt that the wiimote swung like a golf club felt more natural. While that finding was expected, measuring the results of each group with qualitative questions, the players who used the wiimote also felt a correlation in their controls with “spatial presence” or being there [5]. The brain has to go back and forth between moving the mouse and pushing buttons on the keyboard and mouse. Additionally, while moving the mouse to mimic a person walking through the building is intuitive, the motion is linked to a simulated camera, and the natural feel to a camera is carry it, which you cannot do with the mouse. Deductive reasoning would justify that different feels between moving as one does when walking and pushing a button and expecting something to happen would not only confuse the viewer, but would also take away from the perception that one is inside the actual building; frankly taking away from the power of the 2-D to 3-D visualization. Miller and his team’s solution bypasses the need to switch between these mental models of controls, making the adaptation of the controller and model navigation easier to attain. A similarly effective solution comes from John Aaron Phillips, director of technology and BIM services for SHP Leading Design. Phillips installed a software tool kit released for Windows-based machines and programmed a Wii remote to act as a controller navigating models in another one of Autodesk’s model viewers, Design Review?. Phillips’ testimony was that when he “showed the technology to peers who had never used 3-D modeling software,” “they were almost instantly able to graps controls and learn how to navigate” [6]. The “natural feel” is critical to first time user, and in an industry where several stakeholders need to view information organized in a model, technology such as Navisworks needs to be simple enough to be universally recognizable and useful on a project, ultimately fulfilling the “I” construct of BIM. THE REAL GAME CHANGER: BIM AS A KNOWLEDGE RESOURCEExpanding on the informational or, “I” component of BIM, perhaps the acronym modified to include some indicator of relaying and sharing the Information constituent. Jane McGonigal, a game designer and researcher at The Institute for the Future, in a TED Talk shared her analysis of the persistence of online gamers and their determination to achieve “epic wins” [7]. Studying WoW gameplay alone, McGonigal found that collectively, gamers had spent “5.93 million years solving virtual problems of Azeroth”, the game’s fictional setting. McGonigal would go on to point out that with approximately 80,000 articles, contributed by WoW gamers, and utilized monthly by 5 million the World of Warcraft wiki is second to Wikipedia for largest wikis. Because they view the series of missions in the game as fun rather than daunting, gamers are what McGonigal calls, “super-empowered, hopeful individuals”. WoW wiki and Jerdooka’s community post have the same significance, being free information available translated from a peer to another. The voluntarily brain wracking, practice and teamwork that comes out of these video games is a product of constant validation. “There’s no unemployment in World of Warcraft” and, “everywhere you go, hundreds of thousands of people [are online,] ready to help you achieve your epic mission. BIM is intended for shared ownership by the builders, the contractor, the architect and the owner. The majority of contributors to builds need to be exposed to the model if it is to be used as contractual document or 3-D version of 2-D plans. Rather than reserve the expertise for BIM departments and a select few within companies, model viewing should be practiced by as many directly affected employees on a project (which I imagine to be the entire project team) for the sake of familiarity, accuracy and above all, sharing the common goal of procuring the best model and thus plan of construction possible. Simultaneous involvement from different groups is definitely another essential to this notion of “BIM democratization”, as some members of the Autodesk User Group Internation (AUGI) are calling it. WoW has real-time gameplay with millions of other users also logged in at once, that may team up. Analogously, cost-effective, harmonious conflict resolution on a construction project comes from immediate, clear and direct discussion. When finalizing BIM models for official use and record, it is a common practice for an owner or managing group to mandate meetings to go over issues with the model, i.e. clashes detected in Navisworks with all parties who contributed elements to the consolidated model. Collaborators discuss model errors either in person or via online and telephoned conference calling and come up the necessitated model revision together. If the AUGI were more like the WoW gamers, it would firstly, be much larger, but secondly everyone would have a shared sense of purpose and cohesive shared upon dependence. Beyond the video game controllers and the stunningly real graphics, video gamers may have already encountered akin successes and failures to builders. With the commonalities shared between both industries, it is high unlikely that one will not borrow elements from another and it will be a worthwhile ride for anyone catching the wave of upcoming and (for BIM) needed changes. THE FUTURE: VR / ARSpeaking more now for the “modeling” aspect of BIM, with regards to the formatting and communication of builders’ communication, simplicity and a more developed sense of spatial presence is exactly where the AEC industry is heading. Virtual reality and Augmented Reality, VR and AR respectively, are two more acronyms that are going to be increasingly grouped with BIM. Virtual reality is a computer generated, three dimensional environment that is interactive and can allow the user or to become immersed in what it is that they are viewing. Augmented reality layers computer images with stagnant environments to that both the simulated and actual images appear to coexist. Thanks to 3D laser scanning, in combination with AR software, an infinite number of points can reference corresponding coordinates in a model. With current handheld platforms, such as an iPad or other mobile device with a camera, allow any foreman to walk onto a construction site and scan a strategically placed QR code to overlay building components existing in a 3-D model, but perhaps not yet constructed on site. left151130Figure 3: An employee of the general contractor/construction management firm Bernards using augmented reality via an iPad device.00Figure 3: An employee of the general contractor/construction management firm Bernards using augmented reality via an iPad device.A QR code, related to the barcode, simply a unique arrangement of black and white squares, can reference a linked image or rendering taken from the model, and pull up the image on their device within the camera application so that it appears as a single view. A very real potential for AR programs will be in the ability to walk through a steel superstructure and see all of the modeled elements projected on-screen as the user pans with the iPad as naturally as they would turn their heads – Google Maps similarly is able to register location and switch from bird’s eye to street view when arriving to a desired location. Chris Pechacek, Virtual Design and Construction Director of McCarthy Builders states of on-site AR usage, “[Construction workers and supervisors] don’t have to be software gurus and know how to navigate through the model…It enables all users to instantly access the information they need, saving precious time and avoiding frustrations with traditional systems” [8]. With teaser advertising for products such as Google Glass, real-time projections onto any surface is alluded to in a nearby future more heavily integrating augmented reality, rather than in something dreamed up for a sci-fi movie. And with the amount of investors and software developers across the entertainment and visual display industries looking to evolve computer graphic imaging, it will be sooner than later that we will be hearing of virtual reality fooling our eyes [9]. As exciting as these advancements are, BIM is not an animator’s dream, but rather a toolbox for collaboration and it is critical to reiterate the problem solving application of the current technologies when thinking about its future. The virtual Legos have more meaning than placeholders and pretty pictures. While it will be worth watching both the gaming and AEC industries to see how fancily an artificial visual can be presented, leaders in general contracting and construction management can steal a set of problem solving ideologies from the community of gamers.CONCLUSIONTraditional construction documents were once limited to 2-D documents; blueprints drawn to reflect floor and simple elevation views. In terms of the concept, BIM origins can be dated back to the 1962, when architect Douglas C. Englebart suggested the evolution of drafting a design advanced enough to have revisable elements drawn in three dimensions, each carrying specifications such as physical properties and properly scaled dimensions. For one final time, this analogy will be repeated for emphasis: The important concept is not virtual Legos, more so in the ability to attach important pieces of data to the elements so that one could look at one model and identify these properties without referencing legends, notes or specifications contractual documents. One way in which Englebart’s dream is taking shape is in the adoption of user friendly controls, and with increased usage in multiple areas of the construction industry further advancement of BIM is not only anticipated, it is vital. Works Cited [1] “Making a Game of Model Navigation” Internet: , Jul. 2, 2013 [Feb. 19, 2014]. [2] M.S. Bergin. (2012, Dec.) “A Brief History of BIM / Michael S. Bergin.” ArchDaily: Architecture News. [On-line.] Available: [Feb. 19, 2013].[3] Jeradooka. “Ideal Navisworks Navigation WoW” Internet: , Aug. 15, 2012 [Feb. 19, 2014].[4] J. Dodds, S. Johnson. Mastering Autodesk Navisworks 2013. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012, pp. 3-7. [5] J. Madigan. (2010, Sep.) “Motion Controls and Presence” The Psychology of Video Games: Examining the intersection of psychology and video. [On-line]. Available: [Feb. 19, 2014].[6] J.A. Phillips. (2012, Apr.) “Game On for A/E/C” DesignIntelligence UPDATE. [On-line]. Available: [Feb. 19, 2013].[7] J. McGonigal. TEDActive (Palm Springs). “Gaming can make a better world.” Riviera Resort & Spa, 1600 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262, Feb. 10, 2010.[8] D. Barista. (2013, Sep.) “Augmented reality goes mainstream: 12 applications for design and construction firms” Building Design + Construction. [On-line] Available: [9] L. Frum., “Emerging technology heightens video-game realism,” CNN: 2013/11/14/tech/gaming-gadgets/realism-video-games/, Nov. 14, 2013 [Feb. 19, 2014].GRAPHICS’ SOURCES[1] (2014). “revit-architecture-4848-1.jpg,” in Malavida [Online]. Available: [May 1, 2014][2] Flickr user JerryLuo0520 (Jan. 22, 2014). “controls-1280x1024.png” [Online]. Available: [May 1, 2014][3] Twitter user patkeany (Apr. 4, 2014). “BHBVOTLCUAA5008.jpg” [Online]. Available: [May 1, 2014] ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download