The Future Of Virtual Reality In Simulating Construction Operations

Simulating construction operations is one of the most challenging tasks that many construction and design firms within the US are undergoing today. Two main simulation methodologies are being used, the network-based simulation, and the graphical simulation technique. While the network-based simulation technique, which was originally developed for manufacturing processes, is very tedious, complex, and time consuming, the graphical simulation technique is taking many forms and is gaining more support within the construction industry. It is a fact that the network-based simulation technique has failed to describe three main factors that influence most construction operations, these factors being the construction site itsel~ the building geometry, and the dynamics involved in operating construction equipment. 1 On the other hand, the graphical simulation technique, which was originally derived from what is called the Visual Interactive Simulation (VIS), has taken a new dimension involving the Virtual Reality (VR) technology to model, design, and simulate construction operations, and there are some attempts in that direction.2 However, these attempts have either been or are being done within research institutes and large construction companies where expensive computer hardware was purchased and sophisticated software developed. There has been no indication that these attempts were done on non-expensive computer workstations or on the PC platform. Therefore, this paper describes some state-of-theart techniques by which construction operations (such as earth removing operations, material handling, manipulating building components, etc.) can be modeled, visualized, and graphically simulated in real-time 3-D environments and on the PC. This paper shall benefit the construction industry since it introduces new software and hardware technologies that are capable of delivering comparable workstation petiormance on PCs and with a fraction of the cost.