Meng-Han Tsai

On-Site Building Information Retrieval by Using Projection-Based Augmented Reality

AbstractThis research focuses on a long-standing problem at construction sites: on-site information retrieval. A wearable device, therefore, has been developed that can project the construction drawings and related information on the basis of the needs of the users. This device is envisaged to help engineers avoid carrying bulky construction drawings to the site, and to reduce the effort required in looking for the correct drawings to obtain the information they need. This device includes four modules: the information-integration module, the display module, the positioning module, and the manipulation module. The information-integration module is used to transfer information in the building information model (BIM) into images to enable the on-site retrieval from the device that was developed. The position module enables users to input their locations and automatically search for the images that the users might need. The manipulation module can analyze the gestures of the users from the touch screen and ac...

Developing critical success factors for the assessment of BIM technology adoption: part I. Methodology and survey

There is no clear holistic approach or methodology to assess the adoption of building information modeling (BIM) technology at corporate level. This paper proposes an approach for developing critical success factors (CSFs) that can be further developed for assessment of BIM adoption at organizational level in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. This first part of the paper presents an overview and literature review of important factors related to decision-making, technology implementation, or both aspects for an organization to adopt BIM technology. Then, discussions are given on the empirical approach proposed for developing CSFs through a questionnaire survey and a sequence of data analysis, a conceptual framework on BIM technology adoption developed to facilitate the questionnaire survey and BIM adoption assessment, and a questionnaire designed with 123 influencing factors (IFs) identified from the literature and domain experts. For the purpose of demonstration and validation of the proposed approach, this study conducted a survey in Taiwan’s AEC industry, and the data collected were examined by reliability and ranking analysis, including inferential statistical tests. Ranking analysis was employed to obtain 80 key factors (KFs) out of the 123 IFs. Among these KFs, three factors were found to be the most important: ‘support from top management’ and the ‘functionality’ and ‘design validation’ of BIM tools; two factors were found to be very important: ‘the definition of project goals before forming teams’ and ‘coordination and integration among the professions.’ Other findings are that owners perceive the ‘initial investment cost’ of BIM tools as more expensive than do the owners-cum-managers who manage projects themselves. Architects seem to find ‘LOD 300’ and ‘LOD 400’ more important than contractors. Further data analysis on the 80 KFs for developing CSFs for BIM adoption assessment will be presented in the second part of the paper, and finally, 58 CSFs are derived. Based on this study, the proposed approach is not only generally applicable for CSFs development in regions other than Taiwan, but also capable of handling the small number of questionnaire respondents commonly encountered in a society still at an early stage of BIM technology adoption.

Lessons learnt from customization of a BIM tool for a design-build company

This paper summarizes the five-year development project of Construction Director, a BIM (Building Information Modeling) tool. During the first year, the development team from National Taiwan University (NTU) completed the architectural design of the system after conducting intensive interviews and meetings with key CTCI Corporation (CTCI) stakeholders. The NTU team then implemented the BIM tool for 4D simulation in the second year. During the following year, the NTU team tested and modified the system to overcome any usability problems. In the fourth year, the NTU team worked closely with CTCI and created a process to integrate the BIM tool into the company workflow. The system was then officially deployed on a design-build project in the final year. This paper summarizes the Lessons Learnt during each year of the project, and concludes that a trusting environment was the key contributing factor to the success of the project. This paper is not expected to only be beneficial for large companies who are planning to develop their own customized solutions, but it is also meant to be useful for software developers who are involved in similar projects. The experiences may help reduce overall investment risks, simplify the development process and guarantee the eventual success of introducing a new solution to a company.

A three-stage framework for introducing a 4D tool in large consulting firms

The increase in the use of 4D management tools in recent years within the construction industry has been phenomenal, partly due to the increasing support available in commercial software packages, and partly in response to a greater demand for efficient construction management. However, successfully implementing a 4D management tool in an engineering firm for use in actual projects remains a challenging task. This paper presents the authors experiences of implementing an in-house 4D management tool at a large engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm with a long history of design-build projects. A three-stage consulting framework of system evaluation, usability study, and management plan (SUM) was proposed and implemented for a firm of this size, which included three parts: (1) System evaluation: requirement analysis and performance evaluation of both hardware and software components of the 4D tool; (2) Usability study: usability tests and improvement of the 4D tool; and (3) Management plan: workflow re-engineering for the firm to be able to successfully implement and apply the 4D management tool to actual projects. We found that the SUM framework was able to effectively identify major problems when introducing a 4D tool to a large design-build project and helped to minimize its own impact on the firms business processes.

Game-based education for disaster prevention

AbstractnTaiwan experiences typhoons on a yearly basis, and the accompanying heavy rain often causes flooding and damage. Local decision makers invest heavily in flood prevention measures and thus need to allocate resources wisely to minimize the destruction caused. To educate future decision makers, we developed a flood game to encourage players’ active learning by exploration. The game design is based on “Shikakeology” and “game-initiated learning” methods. Through the design of the game, a change in behavior is initiated by allowing players to face real-world flooding problems and discuss problems related to flood disaster management. Following gameplay, the instructors will introduce information useful in solving flood-related problems. From the feedback of review meetings, game-initiated learning was recognized as an educational method with great potential in teaching disaster management. Five public activities have been held, including three high school camps and two exhibitions. Among the students who participated in the high school camps, 92xa0% of the students thought the game was helpful in teaching disaster prevention strategies. Ninety-six percentage of those that attended the exhibitions said they would like to play the game again, and 98xa0% of the participants indicated that they would pay more attention to the issues surrounding disaster prevention. This indicates that game-initiated learning is able to stimulate learning for the participants.

Developing critical success factors for the assessment of BIM technology adoption: Part II. Analysis and results

Building information modeling (BIM) is the process of creating and managing parametric digital models of a building (or a piece of infrastructure) during the building’s life cycle and across business functions. For developing Critical Success Factors (CSF) for assessment of BIM technology adoption at an organizational level, this second part of the paper focuses on factor analysis, causal relationship analysis, and reliability tests analysis. The first part of the paper has proposed a five-step empirical approach to derive CSFs and has identified 80 key factors (KF) that are significant attributes for BIM adoption, which are subjected to further analysis in this second part. The results find 58 CSFs that are manageable and critical for BIM adoption within architecture, engineering, and construction organizations, which insure BIM-based business objectives if they are partially or fully accomplished satisfactorily. The applicability of the CSFs for BIM adoption is illustrated using a hypothesized framework for BIM adoption assessment. The framework consists of eight BIM performance criteria and two outcomes modeled as a BIM business value chain. Although only a small amount of survey data have been collected (but of good quality), the proposed approach is shown to be able to handle this small collection of data and derive useful CSFs for the current practices of BIM adoption in Taiwan, where BIM adoption is still at an early stage.

Workflow re-engineering of design-build projects using a BIM tool

The use of design-build delivery methods and building information modeling (BIM) tools in the construction industry has been growing rapidly in recent years due to the increasing demand for more efficient construction project management. The successful implementation of theseu2009tools by engineering firms on projects, however, is still not being achieved consistently. This paper shares the experiences of the implementation of an in-house BIM tool by a large engineering, procurement, and construction firm that has an extensive reputation for design-build projects. A new workflow was proposed that takes full advantage of the BIM tool to both enhance the construction management performance and to minimize the impact on the firm’s existing workflow. The development of a new workflow was conducted by interviewing key personnel in various departments of the firm and by carefully examining probable impacts of the BIM tool’s introduction into the firm’s business processes.

Using Augmented Reality in a Multiscreen Environment for Construction Discussion

AbstractDiscussion is critical in identifying, predicting, and resolving potential problems in the field of construction. This process relies heavily on oral communication with the assistance of construction drawings, schedules, and other related documents. Because most construction projects include multiple working phases and involve multiple parties, it is difficult for participants to clearly grasp the whole picture of a construction site and to make accurate predictions about future activities. In this research, the authors proposed a visualized environment to facilitate the discussion process. It includes a stationary display called BIM Table for displaying public information and for collaboration among disciplines, and multiple mobile devices for showing private information. The authors employed augmented reality technologies to connect the BIM Table and the mobile devices as well as the public and private information. The authors named this discussion environment augmented reality and multiscreen (...

Workflow Re-Engineering for Implementing a 4D Construction Management Tool in a Design-Build Project

The use of 4D management tool in construction industry has been growing rapidly in recent years in response to soaring demands on efficient construction management. Successful implementation of this tool in an engineering firm for use in real projects is still challenging. This paper shares the experience on implementing an in-house 4D management tool in a large EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) firm that has extended reputation on design-build projects. A new workflow was proposed that takes full advantage of the 4D tool to enhance construction management performance and minimizes impacts on the firms existing workflow. The workflow development for the firm to implement 4D management tool in real project was done by interviewing key personnel in multiple departments of the firm and by carefully examining probable impacts of the 4D tools introduction into the firms business processes.