BIM technology, virtual and augmented reality: here are all the advantages
What are the real advantages offered by augmented reality and virtual reality to building professionals? How can they be integrated and interact with a BIM design? (part 2)
The connection between BIM, virtual reality and augmented reality is very deep (read part 1 ).
Planning and the subsequent maintance and control activities result very easy since early stages, having real-time information on construction details and on installation systems and being able to check the activities progress and all its critical points.
There are many factors that need to be monitored by architects and engineers in order to ensure that everything is done according to the project, with regard to health and safety and above all according to the delivery time established.
In this context the BIM methodology, smart devices, virtual reality and cloud technologies replace the manual work methods, changing processes, the involved roles and team’s way of working and making collaboration possible.
The advantages of virtual reality during the design stage
The presentation and sharing of the project idea is a fundamental element of the architectural design.
Floor plan, sections and elevation views of a project are the two-dimensional representation of the project idea and transmit information to those interested in the building construction.
Nevertheless the greatest limit of 2D technical drawings is that they can not transmit the project’s aesthetic and functional characteristics to the end user (generally the client). In many cases only the construction sector’s experts and technicians would be able to understand the drawing tables specifications (for example in connection to floor plans and articulated sections).
Thus the end user is not often able to grasp the essence of a project from the designer’s drawing table.
Thanks to the technical and technological evolution the representation of the projects has now become closer to reality making the transfer of information easier to convey the design implied emotion.
Virtuale reality and its use in urban planning
Over time many new and unimaginable representations of the project have been introduced: three-dimensional axonometries, perspectives, photo-realistic renderings, photo insertions, and even animations and films.
Tools such as the renderig in real-time (with immediate rendering time) and / or immediate view of the rendered 3D model, allow the designer to access new methodologies of design.
Furthermore, thanks to these technologies architects and engineers can generate multiple options and scenarios more rapidly for the same project and get an extraordinary competitive advantage and consequently being able to make better and more sustainable decisions, with clear savings in terms of costs.
Architectural design and virtual reality
For example, they can evaluate in real time:
- if a window is well positioned as compared to the wall exposure
- if the shadowing of a curtain is sufficient during the brightest hours of the day
- if an element of the structure represents an obstacle
- if the architectural elements are well sized
- if the colors of the walls are matching with the floor and surrounding objects.
Designers thus have endless possibilities to check the quality of their project.
The potential of this accurate reality is enhanced even in the moment of confrontation with the client: the client can explore the house and understand the designer’s choices in advance, with the possibility of ordering any changes to the project, saving time and money and avoiding any kind of surprise.
Immersive virtual reality offers great advantages and extraordinary opportunities to the world of design.
BIM architectural design software and virtual reality
Today, a software allowing an immersive architectural type of design is already available.
Edificius, the architectural BIM design software, allows you to generate 360° photos and check them directly via the viewer.
BIM voyager is the new technological frontier implemented for the transmission of design data and for the presentation of the project itself. Virtual reality applied to architecture, in fact, allows you to share the entire 3D rendered model.
Online BIM models browsing with BIM-voyager
The technical expert, the company or the client can therefore travel in the project and live our design choices in terms of architectural spaces, furnishings, materials, arrangement of the external spaces.
The involvement is assured and the transmission of information is at the highest level.
Do you want to browse an architectural or structural BIM model? Discover BIM voyager
