Aecom employees review the fabrication model of the Barkow Leibinger Summer House
Aecom is piloting use of virtual reality headsets on three construction projects, including this year’s Serpentine Pavilion in London.
The engineering giant has worked with positioning specialist Trimble to allow users to view and interact with holograms of 3D engineering models, through a lightweight headset, the Microsoft HoloLens.
Aecom is now deploying the HoloLens devices on real-world projects and claims this is the world’s first use of the technology in the engineering and construction industry.
The firm said that “the mixed-reality technology supplements conventional working practices and improves communication, collaboration and visualisation”.
“Exploring complex structures in a mixed-reality environment has huge potential to accelerate the engineering design process,” said Aecom president Stephen Kadenacy. “With this technology we can gain greater clarity earlier in the design review process than with 2D drawings or 3D models on screen, and team members in different locations, each wearing a headset, can simultaneously explore the same holographic projections.”
Aecom engineers review structural connection detail
This year’s Serpentine Pavilion includes four “Summer Houses”, each designed by a different architect: Kunlé Adeyemi, Asif Khan, Yona Friedman and Barkow Leibinger. Aecom has used the HoloLens technology to aid in visualisation and design review of the complex, unconventional structures (Barkow Leibinger design pictured).
Aecom’s designers and engineers were able to view the structures as if they were 3D models, and zoom in for a 1:1 view.
“This shared experience allows team members to physically point out potential difficulties or unforeseen conflicts in an evolving design, and Trimble’s solutions allow participants to log observations and create a group action plan during the session,” according to Aecom.
As well as at the Serpentine, Aecom is also trialling the technology in Hong Kong and Denver. Engineers and architects can share the same holographic models simultaneously across different continents, with their movements and interactions linked together via the internet.
“As an early adopter of Microsoft HoloLens, Aecom is demonstrating the value of mixed reality in the architecture, engineering and construction industry,” said Bryn Fosburgh, vice president at Trimble. “Aided by Trimble and the HoloLens in a business setting, the company is learning first-hand how the technology can improve efficiency and enable effective collaboration throughout the design process.”
Serpentine Summer House 2016 designed by Barkow Leibinger. Photo © Iwan Baan Serpentine
