PhD student Yury Zgoda: “Information modeling is constantly evolving”

Yury Zgoda, a PhD student at the SPbGASU department of computer science, deals with the use of virtual reality (VR) in architecture and construction. This topic has been a priority of the young scientist since 2016, and in the context of information modeling of buildings and structures (BIM modeling) since 2018. To date, Yury has nine publications on the use of virtual reality in BIM tasks. Two of them were published in journals indexed by Scopus, and two in journals included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission. The results of his research, the SPbGASU PhD student has reported at at the All-Russian and international conferences.

In 2022, Yury Zgoda received a certificate of state registration of the computer program No. 2022663248 "Program for automated building of interactive VR visualizations of BIM models". The development of the program was carried out within the SPbGASU innovative educational project "Innovative methods for forming digital professional competencies of students and specialists in the construction industry." We asked Yury to talk about the need for visualization of buildings in virtual reality.

– The use of virtual reality in the construction industry is a relevant and popular topic. Its development was facilitated by the emergence of BIM modeling. If earlier it was necessary to build a three-dimensional building model according to drawings in order to see it in a virtual environment, now this process can be automated, since the BIM model includes information about the geometry of the object. In addition to geometry, the BIM model contains a detailed specification about each element of a building or structure, which can also be used in VR visualization. So, having information fr om the section "Construction planning design" (CPD), you can create an animation of a step-by-step construction of a building in virtual reality.

There are many scenarios for using this technology, which can significantly increase the productivity of construction professionals. Having seen the projected 3D model, the architect can make appropriate adjustments and immediately "walk" through the "rebuilt" building. Virtual reality can be used to visually demonstrate building designs to those who do not have much experience in reading technical documentation. In particular, this will help junior students, who will be able to walk around the building they have just designed and see all those errors that were not so noticeable on a flat screen monitor.

The pool of information that is stored in the BIM model can be used to populate interactive visualization with new functionality. For example, when rendering model elements related to heating, they can be seen through walls, floors, and other elements. In the real world, it would take considerable effort to see the piping system passing through building elements. In virtual reality, such a problem is solved by programming, and after a single solution, any communications in any BIM model will be visualized equally clearly.

– Please, tell us about your invention. 

– I have developed a software package that allows you to automatically perform interactive visualization of a BIM model in virtual reality. In terms of functionality, the developed solution provides almost all the functions available in existing software, as well as a number of unique features. The program allows you to move around the model in a virtual environment, view the metadata of model elements, change the interior and exterior of buildings using the built-in library of materials, control the time of day and outdoor lighting, and choose between various pre-installed virtual environments. In addition, the user can hide elements of certain categories (for example, hide all floors or all furniture), which gives him additional control over the fullness of the virtual environment.

A unique functionality is end-to-end visualization of engineering networks in the building. If the BIM model includes elements of the HV section (heating and ventilation), then there are special rendering scenarios for these elements. The user can visualize them through walls, ceilings and other elements of the model. This allows you to visualize all the communications that take place in the building, and to study their organization.

Another feature of the developed solution is its high performance. Computer 3D models most often consist of many triangles, and the complexity of rendering a model is largely determined by their number. For the stand-alone VR helmet used in testing, in accordance with the documentation, it is recommended to use models containing no more than 100,000 triangles. The developed solution allows rendering at a comfortable frame rate for models up to 20 million triangles. In addition, the software package is compatible with domestic Renga BIM modeling software. At the moment, this is the only solution for standalone virtual reality helmets that officially supports Renga models.

– Do you have predecessors whose work you rely on? Who helps you at work? 

– At the beginning of my research, there were only a few solutions on the market for visualizing BIM models using VR technologies, in most cases such visualizations were prepared manually. Scientific articles describing the problems of transferring an information model to virtual reality were also rare.

The main ideas underlying the developed program were formed as part of the bachelor's final qualifying work under the supervision of visiting professor at the department of computer science Boris Georgievich Vager, who, unfortunately, recently passed away. In the magistracy, I continued to study this topic under the supervision of associate professor at the department of computer science Konstantin Avgustovich Shumilov.

– How did your work go? 

– First, I analyzed the functionality of existing solutions in this area. After that, I compiled a list of the most requested functionalities and determined which of them were not presented on the market, but would be in demand.

In the course of development, not only the correctness of the program or performance was regularly tested, but also the convenience of its use for solving various practical problems. Many ideas that seemed convenient at the design stage turned out to be insufficiently ergonomic or functional in practice and required significant modification before being implemented in the final version of the program. This is largely due to the fact that the development of VR applications is a relatively new direction, for which such a large number of methods and practices have not yet been formed, as for computer or mobile applications.

– What is the future of the program?

– At the moment, the implemented functionality covers a fairly wide range of tasks. The program can be effectively used for demonstrating models to customers, in organizing the educational process, as well as for a detailed analysis of models by specialists in the HV section.

At the same time, information modeling as a direction is constantly evolving. BIM modeling software provides more and more functionality that should be reflected in the visualization of these models. In order for the developed solution to remain relevant, it must be developed and supplemented with the required functionality.

Text: Tatiana Petrova
Photo: presented by Yury Zgoda

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