4 June 2007 : Demonstrating Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging technology that enables the combination of real world and computer generated data. World leaders in this field are QinetiQ, a major UK and North American defence and security company, AEC3 is working with QinetiQ as part of the team developing the "TOmorrow’s Building todaY (TOBY™)" product that will enable building information models to be combined with real installations.
On May 24th, at the offices of the International Code Council in Washington D.C., we were able to facilitate a significant demonstration of the potential of AR. This included a live demonstration of the ICC conference room with representatives from a number of US federal agencies present. Before the demonstration, we took the 2D drawings of the conference room and converted them into a BIM with a 3D shape representation. This was viewed through the AR viewer which can be a pair of binoculars or a laptop screen with a miniature video camera with some added technological wizardry. The actual room was overlaid on top of the BIM and the synchronization was maintained as the viewer moved around the room. Most important, differences between what the design intended and what was actually constructed become immediately obvious through AR. As the demonstration progressed, there was a real ‘wow’ factor in the room. The range of possibilities for AR started to emerge. Not only could you compare design with reality, you could also present a complete building to a client on site before it was even started, locate and avoid hazards particularly where hidden hazards are concerned, help building control officials with site inspections and much more.
We think AR is an important development that extends the idea of buildingSMART into new areas. Already, we are working with QinetiQ on more demonstrations and on enhancing the BIM part of then technology.
For further information on QinetiQ, see www.QinetiQ.com
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