ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Virtual Environments for the AEC sector – The Divercity experience Per Christiansson Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark Laurent Da Dalto CS SI, Toulouse, France Jens Ove Skjaerbaek COWI A/S, Aalborg, Denmark S. Soubra & M. Marache CSTB, Sophia Antipolis, France ECCPM. Portoroz, Slovenia Sept. 2002

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University CONTENT - Participants - Goals - Working methodology - Results and findngs

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University PARTNERS Distributed Virtual Workspace for enhancing Communication within the Construction Industry - DIVERCITY

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY project data - Shared cost RTD project - Key Action II.2.2 (New Methods of Work / Workplace Design / Team Work) - Started in March Expected duration: 30 months - Total cost: 4 M Euro (app.) - Commission funding: 2 M Euro - Consortium (10 partners - 5 countries): - Objective : Design & Develop a Distributed Virtual Workspace adapted for the Construction Industry Contstruct IT (Coordinator) University of Salford CSTB CS SI SPIE Aalborg University COWI CRS4 VTT EVATA Developer User

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY project infrastructure

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY GOALS -To improve the process of building design and construction by enabling stakeholders (clients, architects, engineers, contractors, sub-contractors) to operate more efficiently and with better interaction - Research and Develop a Distributed Virtual Workspace that: Supports Continuous Design between different phases of the process (and different technical domains) by using a Model Driven (integrated) approach Allows multi-disciplinary project team members to share the same view about the project through a Visual representation Supports Collaboration between geographically distant sites 1/2

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY GOALS - bring important added value by integrating, into one seamless environment, recent breakthroughs in different (and for the moment separate) technological domains (global illumination simulation, multiresolution techniques, constraint based modelling, acoustics simulation, etc.) DIVERCITY aims to develop a "shared virtual construction workspace" that will allow construction companies to conduct client briefing, design reviews, simulate what if scenarios, test constructability of buildings, communicate and co-ordinate design activities between teams. Both synchronous and asynchronous interaction will be emphasised in this software framework. 2/2

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University THE AEC SECTOR -Complexity due to a high number of mostly small, and usually geographically distant, companies working on one single project -A major industrial sector in Europé (7% of working population + 14% indirect jobs in related sectors) -Stakeholders (clients, architects, local authorities, residents, etc.) have, on the basis of 2D drawings, different and incomplete understandings of the planned construction…. -Life cycle thinking and seamless transition of information and process between life cycle phases. -Complexity due to a high number of mostly small, and usually geographically 1/3

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University THE AEC SECTOR -Integrated Virtual Prototyping tools can improve communication between stakeholders around a visual (and thus intuitive) 3D representation of the planned construction 2/3 Sub-contractor Construction Site Architect Contractor Client Facilities Manager Consultant Architect Construction Site Consultant PROJECT MODEL Contractor Client Sub- contractor Facilities Manager

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University THE AEC SECTOR -Dramatic changes in procurement philosophies, as a result of the internet (partnering model). 3/3 Partnering model showing the stakeholders joining a common project group with mutual goals (COWI A/S Denmark)

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University The Virtual Building Model. The virtual building contains all documentation of the building including drawings, models, documents etc. It will normally contain redundant information and temporal information describing discipline related models and sub models of the building over time.

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY User Environment. DIVERCITY Application data container DIVERCITY Data container -IFC+ Collab. Application data container 'CAD' Appl. Application data container Appl. Application data container Appl. Collab. Virtual Workspace Acoustics Lighting Simulations Thermal Analysis 4D building site Building Model (IFC,…) Client briefing

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY - Virtual Workspace

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY - Virtual Workspace definition 'The Virtual Workspace, VW, is the new design room designed to fit new and existing design routines. VW may well be a mixed reality environment. The VW will host all design partners from project start with different access and visibility (for persons and groups) in space and time to the project, and will promote building up shared values in projects. The VW thus acts as a communication space with project information support in adapted appearances. VW gives access to general and specific IT-tools '

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Future Virtual Workspace features Based on this definition, the future distributed workspaces will have the following features: -The advanced administration tools for distributed personal, team, and project information repositories; - accessibility to virtual building models and collaboration environments through wireless networked workspaces and low cost virtual reality environments; -appropriate security levels for sharing the information over the inter/intranets; -process and workflow management tools to support variations in working practices between different projects; -definition and design of new ICT tools to support collaboration and communication with end-user. Divercity has created a virtual workspace for construction, which includes some of the features listed above. The details of Divercity’s Collaborative Workspace are discussed later in this handbook.

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY Framework E-viper client handles access to the workspaces and projects The Central eViper Server Source control stores different versions and keeps an history of all that happens on a project User profiling allows the server to identify people connected to, or trying to, connect to it and manage user access rights on projects. Security and integrity of information is permanently controlled by the server. Messages management is one of the most important feature of eViper. It controls information exchanged between users and manages priorities. Thanks to this feature, developers using eViper can build not only distributed but also collaborative applications. This is an open mechanism allowing any third party to use data controlled by the server (as long as they are authorised). The Distribution Manager The distribution manager is the client (user) side of the communication layer of DIVERCITY. It can be included in an application (it in the case of Phooka, the DIVERCITY client application) or can be a stand alone application, controlling data exchange between the client and the central server. The distribution manager has been released in JAVA and C++ and it is platform- independent. In this way, developers will be able to work in their own environment. This interface provides all necessary entries to send and receive message from the server. It also provides a simple way to plug any third party application to the central server of eViper. DSL Data Structure Layer

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Import Product of Model to Application SPF file IFC C++ generator C++ classes Divercity CAD-Tool (ArchiCad) Clent briefing PreCad

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DESIGN REVIEW APPLICATIONS (more PRODUCTS) Lighting module Thermal analysis module External Source Virtua l Sourc e Listener Local Sound Adjacent Sound Acoustic module

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY Design Review Lighting example -Interactive Radiosity -Visibility Graph subdivision associated with light transfer links -High shadows quality and optimised subdivision for real-time exploration (synchronous) (including object motion) ACD B

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY Construction Planning -VR based tools to organise and optimise the Construction site in 4D (Space and Time) Project Model

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY - Methodology A)user requirements capture, user environment design and early prototyping; B) implementation of DIVERCITY and end user alpha test (done within the DIVERCITY consortium) of basic functionality of the DIVERCITY products (applications); C)continued implementation and end user beta tests/evaluations of basic functionality of integrated framework and DIVERCITY products; D)final end user evaluation of DIVERCITY, and prototype refinement.

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Contextual Design Conceptual Work Models –Flow, structure representing communication and co-ordination necessary to do the work (roles, responsibilities, actions / communication topics, and spaces which in Divercity are regarded as project internal or project external memories and virtual/physical spaces); –Sequence, showing the detailed work steps necessary to achieve user intents. Sequence models can reveal alternate strategies to achieve the same intent; –Artefact, showing objects created to support the work; –Culture, representing constraints on the work caused by policy, culture or values, formal and informal policy of the organisation, business climate, self- image, feelings and fears of the people in the organisation, possibility for privacy; Physical, showing the physical structure of the work environment as it affects the work.

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Work Flow Model. Conextual Design

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Sequence Model. Contextual Design

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Storyboard development Using storyboards, the team develops the vision into a definition of how people will work in the new system and ensuring that all aspects of work captured in the work models are accounted for.

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Storyboard development

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Storyboard development

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Detailed Storyboard

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University Contextual Design. Structure and Sequence Contextual design UML based modelling

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University COWI EXPERIENCES Divercity is an example on a end-user co-defined developed workspace and, to our knowledge, one of the most coherent at the moment and might be the future platform for further plug-ins. The pro-active end user involvement have made significant modifications to the software architecture as well as to the individual products. The end-user involvement in the preparation and the planning of test scenarios contributed in ensuring that the VE will meet the requirements of the industry. The IFC-standard which is a core component in the Divercity framework is progressively been introduced to the Danish construction industry. At the moment COWI is participating in a test of the standard on the new head- quarters for the National Broadcasting Company (DR)

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY - RESULTS -Applications integrated into a extendible framework. -Framework based on Internet based client-server technology ( eViper). -Methodology for efficient user requirements capture, user environment modelling and system development.

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University END

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY WPs 1.User Requirements, Tests and Validation (82.5 months)[CIT] 2.Client Briefing Workspace Module (32 months)[USAL] 3.Design Review Module (91.4 months)[CSTB] 4.Construction Workspace Module (34.9 months) [VTT] 5.System Design and Integration (21.2 months)[CSSI] 6.Trials (30.8 months)[CIT] 7.Exploitation and Dissemination (10.5 months) [CIT] 8.Project Management (14.5 months)[CIT]

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY - Virtual Workspace 1/2 -VW is a set of interconnected design rooms that supports innovative (but also “classical”) design procedures. -Software and Hardware Infrastructure supporting the design and construction process (access to relevant visualization and communication IT-tools)

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY FrameworkLightingtool Acoustic tool Thermalanalysistool Network Datawarehouse - structured data (IFC 2.x) - EXPRESS-based semantics Renderingengine Optimizationmodule Geometrymodeler Constraintmanager Responsive Workbench Immersive space Desktop systems

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University DIVERCITY CLIENT

ECPPM Portoroz September Prof. Per Christiansson  IT in Civil Engineering  Aalborg University THE FUTURE Difficulties: 1Ownerships and IPR issues (The knowledge and effort of the users is not rewarded) 2How to introduce Divercity products to the industry- Divercity solutions are novel for the construction industry. impact of the collaborative environment, on real projects. 3The challenge of conducting scientific research and at the same time producing commercial products at the end of the research. E-Locus feed-back: Divercity partners would like feedback from the other projects on: 1The value and suitability of our technological collaborative solutions; 2Broader input on how to improve the collaboration of virtual teams within the construction industry. We are all involved in a continuos change process and design of the future together (with constant re- assessments). Great possibilities and time to do some creative, bold, and holistic inceptions at both universities and industries