Rapid technological change is introducing multiple options for creating visual modelling and collaboration environments. Virtual, Mixed and Augmented Reality tools are becoming more widespread, enabling designers, engineers, planners and architects to share a single virtual environment where the true geometry and space of designs can be viewed in an immersive “digital world.
Where does this leave geospatial technologies? Is GIS now simply a tool to prepare data for use in VR environments; or is there a niche that cannot be filled by these technologies. How can geospatial platforms compliment more detailed modelling and design environments such as BIM to give context to this specialized content?.
Perhaps the basic concepts that underpin spatial modelling – including real-time updates, advanced analysis, modelling, integration and data manipulation may offer some significant advantages when leveraged in a visualisation environment. More specifically, can we use geospatial technology to create visually accurate environments that abstract the complexity of their source systems and that are independent of specific user expertise?
At Aurecon, we have invested heavily in the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies to support our design and engineering functions. We have automated the integration between BIM, geospatial and visualization toolkits to provide a collaborative environment where our teams can iteratively review and contribute to our projects. On multiple major projects across our global company we have found that geospatial technologies can be used to unite multiple sources of information into a single, very powerful collaboration environment.
Most recently we have been pairing geospatial platforms with computational and parametric design toolkits including Autodesk Dynamo to automate the generation and combination of multiple source datasets. This is providing a newfound ability to rapidly re-generate visual scenes as changes to designs are made through collaboration and review. Most importantly, we have found that through the use of spatial technologies our project teams now have an appreciation of the value of being able to visually communicate design across multiple disciplines, and an understanding of the broader spatial context in which their designs sit.
