| Robert Amor's Publications in 2011 |
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Amor, R. and Owen, R. (2011) Beyond BIM - It's Not the End of the Road!, AECbytes Viewpoint #58, http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2011/issue_58.html |
Abstract: Over several decades, academics around the world have investigated the necessary tools, techniques, and conditions which would allow BIM (building information modeling) to become a positive force in the world of construction. As the research results matured, BIM started to become commercially available. Researchers and many in industry soon realized that BIM, as a technological innovation, was, in and of itself, not the end point in the journey. The technical adoption of BIM has to be supported by process and culture change within organizations to make a real impact on a project (for example, see AECbytes Viewpoint #35 by Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks and Kathleen Liston). Current academic research aims to understand the steps beyond BIM, which will help chart the future of our industry over the coming decades. This article describes an international research effort in this area, coordinated by the Integrated Design and Delivery Solutions (IDDS) initiative of the CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction). We hope that it responds to and extends the discussion initiated by Brian Lighthart in AECbytes Viewpoint #56, which asked about who is charting future BIM directions.
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McMeel, D. and Amor, R. (2011) I think therefore i-Phone, Proceedings of CAADfutures 2011: Designing together, Liège, Belgium, 4-8 July, pp. 69-83. |
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the ongoing usage of pervasive media and cellular phones within communications and value transfer across the disciplinary threshold of design and construction. Through participation in a building project we analyze the subtleties of interaction between analogue communications, such as sketches and digitally sponsored communication, such as e-mail and mobile phone usage. Analyzing the communications between the designer and builder during construction suggests the distinctions between design and construction processes are complex and often blurred. This work provides an observational basis for understanding mobile computing as a dynamic 'tuning' device-as hypothesized by Richard Coyne-that ameliorates the brittleness of communication between different disciplines. Within collaboration individual communiqués have different levels of importance depending on the specific topic of discussion and the time and place of the contributing participant. This project expands upon what mobile computing is and enabling us to infer how these emergent devices affect collaboration. Findings suggest that the synchronous and asynchronous clamor of analogue and digital tools that surround design and construction are not exclusively inefficiencies or disruptions to be expunged. Observational evidence suggests they may provide contingency and continue to have value attending to the relationships within a complex system such as design and construction. Finally we briefly discuss a current follow up investigation, 'digital fieldnotes' (dfn) is a bespoke iPhone application designed to test further suppositions regarding the influence exerted upon group working by mobile computing.
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Amor, R. (2011) Analysis of Reference IFC Models, Proceedings of CIB W78, Nice, France, 26-28 October, pp. 1-6. |
Abstract: With the establishment of an open repository for IFC models there is now a growing resource of models available for use by all in the community. This repository should help researchers undertake experiments which are able to be compared, validated and replicated by any other researcher in the community. This is commonly undertaken in other research domains, such as medicine. The repository should also be of benefit to those in the industry who wish to test out software which utilise IFC data models by identifying models which are close to the type of building they wish to work with. In order that researchers, or practitioners, can identify the best model for their particular analysis it is necessary to provide significant meta-data about the models, including analyses of the models by various checkers and IFC analyzers. The current status of the repository is surveyed in this paper with statistics on the wide range of data models available. While this indicates that there is good variability in the just over 100 models currently in the repository, it also points to issues in growing the repository to being a comprehensive resource. This problem will exist unless the community are willing to deposit models into the repository as they are created, and to make them freely available to all to utilise.
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McMeel, D. and Amor, R. (2011) CONSTRUCTION AIDs: Augmented Information Delivery, Proceedings of CONVR 2011, Weimar, Germany, 3-4 November. |
Abstract: This paper investigates the potential delivery of design information to construction sites through smartphones and tablet computing devices. There continues to be an increase in the complexity of Building Information Models (BIMs), which are capable of representing a variety of building aspects. This can encompass physical models, construction models as well as thermal and energy models. Despite the wide spread adoption of computing by architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industries over the last thirty years, and notable attempts to deliver information digitally (Fu et al. 2006), this sophisticated data continues to be abstracted to paper drawings for information transfer. In this paper we review test cases in data delivery that appropriate the 'good enough' methodology found in contemporary computing culture. Augmented Reality (AR) tools are used as a vehicle to deliver information, which provides insights into the resistances and opportunities that AR and mobile computing might present within design and construction. In this project we adopt the 'good enough doctrine' that resonates with contemporary digital media. Using AR techniques (GPS, LLC tags, markers etc.) we rethink the delivery of information direct to location through smartphones and handheld tablets. Our project chooses not to replicate sophisticated BIM functionality such as collision detection, 4D time management or programmatic interrelations that has been explored elsewhere, for example in Plume and Mitchell's A Multi-Disciplinary Design Studio using a Shared IFC Building Model (2005). Rather, following suppositions from the 'good enough' phenomenon, it potentially supports the provision of 'good enough' information to a critical mass of participants. It interrogates notions of information densification and localised delivery, which are shifting the contemporary landscape of consumer computing. Finally it presents observational evidence that points to opportunities and resistance that AR may offer within design and construction.
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D'Souza, L., Pathirana, I., McMeel, D. and Amor, R. (2011) Kinect to Architecture, Proceedings of IVCNZ 2011, Auckland, New Zealand, 29 November - 1 December, pp. 155-160. |
Abstract: For a client to be able to immerse themselves within an architectural model there needs to be a natural and intuitive interface. A keyboard and mouse based interface can detract from the focus on the space being navigated and therefore a more intuitive approach to such interaction needs to be identified. The Kinect device provides significant recognition ability for whole body gestures and its use was investigated in this project. With a small number of gestures required for navigation an important design criteria is the recognition accuracy and fatigue for prolonged interaction with a model. The paper reports on the Kinect-based navigation system as well as a user trial which identifies the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.