Experiencing a project before it exists
 Large engineering projects are typically performed in parallel at a number of locations, making regular project reviews mandatory. Virtual reality gives large AEC firms a new way of conducting those reviews and of visualizing and managing increasingly complex engineering and design data for projects, such as railways, airports, shopping malls, and theme parks.
Walkinside offers a unique and robust mode of communication for team members and clients through:
- larger and more detailed models
- rapid and easy conversion
- amalgamated models using digital terrain models and various 3D CAD systems and formats
Project proposal
One of the key requirements for a project review application is the capability to federate distinct CAD models imported from multiple data sources in a single 3D model. The task of integrating the wide variety of CAD models from different vendors was once impossible because of format incompatibilities and the sizes of the output models.
The pervasive implementation of the virtual reality application facilitates business operations by speeding schedules, cutting costs, and ensuring quality as it reduces the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.
To make a virtual world look real, surface materials, small details, and lighting are essential. Any animation in the virtual world must obey the principles of physics to appear realistic.
Walkinside enables the creation of realistic-looking 3D virtual models that cover a large field of view. Walking avatars and crowd simulation enable the user to ‘feel’ the dimensions of the environment. Animations are created in real time while the user is moving freely in the virtual world.
There are two primary types of virtual reality user in the AEC market:
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Project team and supply chain
Users are concerned with reducing risk, increasing technological innovation, and improving business processes. VR models help consultant engineers, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers simulate the processes of construction and operation. They see visualization as a means, rather than an end.
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Those outside the project team
VR models are used for wider interactions with end-users, clients, managers, funding institutions, and planners. They use VR to offer customers a greater understanding of the design and the ability to make decisions by moving through the model in real time.
Benefits of Walkinside
• Coordination of detail design
A construction contractor can use the single, unified 3D virtual model to manage all project design details, including HVAC, steel, floors, and stairways. Identifying errors and conflicts early in the design process can help prevent rework to correct incompatibility problems.
• Design review
Collaboration reviews on complex projects with clients and end-users has shown that clients make better choices when they can see the impact of their decisions and are able to consider cost versus quality issues.
• Scheduling construction
Virtual reality can be applied to improve construction scheduling and reduce waste in the process.
• Interactions with clients, managers, and end-users
Walkinside helps demonstrate an organization’s technical competence and design skills during the project bidding process. Housing developers can reduce risk by selling from a realistic plan before starting a project.
• Simulating dynamic operations
ProcessLife and bidirectional links with crowd simulation applications can be used to visualize dynamic crowd behaviors, such as emergency escapes and traffic flow. |
