Component based engineering of a mobile BIM-based Augmented Reality system

Building information models (BIM) are an increasingly common form of building design representation and are extensively used in the design and planning phases of the construction process. To a lesser extent the information from building information models is directly used at the construction site. The digital becomes real at the construction site and a design is constructed there. Therefore, the authors believe that this could be improved with the right interface.\ud A technology that can bridge the gap between the digital and the real world is augmented reality (AR). It is increasingly available to the public; currently on mobile hand-held devices and in the future on affordable wearable computing devices.\ud This paper presents a research on how the component based software engineering method can be used to implement a BIM based AR system, i.e. a system in which building information models are used to augment the reality in which the user is located. More specifically, a gap analysis of the systems that can be built in this way was performed. Components needed for developing BIM-based augmented reality system are presented and reviewed. Based on theoretical background of augmented reality and review of components, architecture of a related software system is proposed. A prototype system, which is based on this architecture, has been developed. Structure, operation and preliminary tests of the prototype are presented as well.\ud It was established that many components for building working BIM-based AR systems exist; however, serious technological gaps have been found which represent a barrier for making use of the richness of building information models. We also established that AR raises the requirements for the richness of building information models, particularly its 4th dimension.\ud The developed system was tested on a construction site of a real construction project. Preliminary tests indicate that although there exist limitations with both hardware and software performance, it is already possible to provide suitable augmented reality access to remote building information models and substantially improve the usefulness of building information model design data on the construction site.\u