Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PrismArch (Virtual reality aided design blending cross-disciplinary aspects of architecture in a multi-simulation environment)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-11-01 do 2023-01-31
The design process in architectural projects is characterized by high complexity which also stems from the problem of “parallel worlds” (a term used to describe the fact that several disciplines -architects and a variety of engineers- coexist in an architectural project with distinct requirements and role). However, it is only the “intersection”, by means of close collaboration, of these “parallel worlds” that can bring an architectural project to fruition. This “parallel world” aspect creates the necessity for an interdisciplinary tool capable to address the unique requirements of each discipline both individually and simultaneously, where all authors will be able to work on the same architectural project and perceive it in their own, different way that best suits their needs. In addition, current solutions for architecture and engineering enable complex and creative designs to be easily and accurately modelled. Unfortunately, these solutions focus on aesthetics, ignoring functionality. Architects and engineers cannot take full advantage of VR solutions when attempting complex constructions.
AEC industry need to embrace digital transformation as this will help to break down internal data silos and leverage the skills of cross-functional teams, encouraging collaboration to really achieve agility at scale. PrismArch allows complex and creative designs to be modelled accurately with ease while enabling collaboration in an inter-disciplinary process that passes through the close collaboration of Architects, Structural and MEP engineers. This will further enhance data-driven decision-making and cost-efficiency through the effective collaboration of all relevant contributors to each AEC project and integrate sustainability throughout lifecycle of projects.
The main objective of PrismArch has been to achieve a synergy between multiple authoring and reviewing parties for the AEC industry by locating the collaboration within a singular immersive and experiential collaboration space, and to look at the design development holistically throughout the entire life cycle of the architectural project, from pre-concept to archiving. The desired outcome is a unique platform to connect all architectural project stakeholders who are presently siloed in their respective disciplines (including clients, architects, structural engineers, MEP engineers, project managers, contactors, etc.) and to synthesize the disconnected digital information. The PrismArch platform achieves a “prismatic blend” between aesthetics, simulation models and meta-information that can be presented in a contextualized and comprehensive manner in VR space, in order to allow collaborative manipulation of the design and accurate assessment of new design decisions.
AEC industry need to embrace digital transformation as this will help to break down internal data silos and leverage the skills of cross-functional teams, encouraging collaboration to really achieve agility at scale. PrismArch allows complex and creative designs to be modelled accurately with ease while enabling collaboration in an inter-disciplinary process that passes through the close collaboration of Architects, Structural and MEP engineers. This will further enhance data-driven decision-making and cost-efficiency through the effective collaboration of all relevant contributors to each AEC project and integrate sustainability throughout lifecycle of projects.
The main objective of PrismArch has been to achieve a synergy between multiple authoring and reviewing parties for the AEC industry by locating the collaboration within a singular immersive and experiential collaboration space, and to look at the design development holistically throughout the entire life cycle of the architectural project, from pre-concept to archiving. The desired outcome is a unique platform to connect all architectural project stakeholders who are presently siloed in their respective disciplines (including clients, architects, structural engineers, MEP engineers, project managers, contactors, etc.) and to synthesize the disconnected digital information. The PrismArch platform achieves a “prismatic blend” between aesthetics, simulation models and meta-information that can be presented in a contextualized and comprehensive manner in VR space, in order to allow collaborative manipulation of the design and accurate assessment of new design decisions.
PrismArch has been build based on the following design choices: a) to use the Unreal Engine as the ecosystem that will develop the singular design space, allowing all users of PrismArch to work and collaborate while immersed in photorealistic environments; b) to establish the theory of Sphering Levels for regulating user roles, managing access control, and ensuring privacy jurisdiction; c) to adopt and extent the open source version of Speckle Systems as the most mature solution for interconnecting different software applications (Rhino, Revit, SAP2000, etc) with the PrismArch application lying within Unreal.
At the same time, we have made significant progress in the development of: a) an AI-assisted content generation system, where the user can cooperate with the AI to generate design solutions during the conceptual stages of design, and b) the generation of machine-learned designer models that discover patterns in the designers’ behaviour, allowing for personalised enhancements to the aforementioned design suggestions system, or other parts of the PrismArch platform. The services developed as part of the AI-related activities have been integrated inside the prototype implementation of PrismArch.
In the domain of cognition aspects and the development of usability guidelines in VR-aided design environments two studies have been undertaken. In the first study that was conducted online, participants learned a multilevel, multiroom virtual building by navigating through the rooms, and were later tested on their spatial knowledge acquisition using sketch maps. In the second study, architects had to perform design review/evaluation tasks and were monitored through an eye-tracking device, with respect to their view/navigation patterns (e.g. frequent changes of different viewports, zooming, panelling, etc). These studies have resulted in eighty-three (83) guidelines covering various aspects relevant for design, user experience, user-interactivity, collaboration and other topics.
Moreover, a number of evaluation sessions were conducted where testers were invited to join hands-on sessions of using the PrismArch prototype and experiment with a number of user scenarios that were pre-specified for them. Following, the testers were asked to fill in a relevant questionnaire as well as participate in interviews with the consortium partner leading the evaluation process.
Finally, our total audience reach form our online promotional activities were more than 60K, also having a significant estimated reach in our main target groups from our networking activities.
At the same time, we have made significant progress in the development of: a) an AI-assisted content generation system, where the user can cooperate with the AI to generate design solutions during the conceptual stages of design, and b) the generation of machine-learned designer models that discover patterns in the designers’ behaviour, allowing for personalised enhancements to the aforementioned design suggestions system, or other parts of the PrismArch platform. The services developed as part of the AI-related activities have been integrated inside the prototype implementation of PrismArch.
In the domain of cognition aspects and the development of usability guidelines in VR-aided design environments two studies have been undertaken. In the first study that was conducted online, participants learned a multilevel, multiroom virtual building by navigating through the rooms, and were later tested on their spatial knowledge acquisition using sketch maps. In the second study, architects had to perform design review/evaluation tasks and were monitored through an eye-tracking device, with respect to their view/navigation patterns (e.g. frequent changes of different viewports, zooming, panelling, etc). These studies have resulted in eighty-three (83) guidelines covering various aspects relevant for design, user experience, user-interactivity, collaboration and other topics.
Moreover, a number of evaluation sessions were conducted where testers were invited to join hands-on sessions of using the PrismArch prototype and experiment with a number of user scenarios that were pre-specified for them. Following, the testers were asked to fill in a relevant questionnaire as well as participate in interviews with the consortium partner leading the evaluation process.
Finally, our total audience reach form our online promotional activities were more than 60K, also having a significant estimated reach in our main target groups from our networking activities.
There have been a number of critical decisions shaping the project’s ambition and scope. Following the analysis of existing practises the following three requirements stood out: a) the need for PrismArch to become a singular design space that could effectively host all different disciplines involved in the AEC industry, to collaborate when immersed in virtual reality; b) the need to make sure that PrismArch will interconnect with the software tools (i.e. Rhino, Revit, SAP) that are currently used in the AEC domain, allowing different disciplines to connect their outcomes with PrismArch in the way they consider most convenient; c) the need for PrismArch to log all actions that will be necessary to trace the origin and reasoning of the decisions taken during the project development process. These requirements has motivated the following: a) to use the Unreal Engine as the ecosystem that will develop the singular design space, allowing all users of PrismArch to work and collaborate while immersed in photorealistic environments; b) to establish the theory of Sphering Levels for regulating user roles, managing access control, and ensuring privacy jurisdiction; c) to adopt and extent the open source version of Speckle Systems as the most mature solution for interconnecting different software applications (Rhino, Revit, SAP, etc) with the PrismArch application lying within Unreal, as well as for using a properly extended version of Speckle’s central database as the logging mechanism for all actions taking place within PrismArch. Moreover, emphasis was placed on the use of AI as an instrument to model and assist the designer during the creation process, as well as on employing cognitive task analysis, relying on episodes of design activity, for conducting the envisaged behavioural experiments. In this respect, PrismArch is the first solution in the AEC domain where users from all disciplines can be fully immersed and collaborate in a singular design space.