Linking construction information through VR using an object oriented environment

The fields of virtual reality and object orientation are evolving rapidly. In the last few years, many firms in the construction sector, in the UK and world-wide, started to link their databases into VR environments in order to offer superior marketing and processing capabilities. The use of an integrated object oriented database is, however, still of limited use. The industry is willing to invest in this technology provided that better information interfaces are provided. This paper responds to this need by developing a VRML (Virtual reality modelling language interface) based interface to an integrated object oriented database which can support the design, planning and estimating of buildings. The database is implemented in Object Store where the information is stored and retrieved from. The user does not need to understand the structure of information within the database. Instead, he/she interacts with a VR model that is generated from the database. Queries that are used to interact with the model are performed within the VR interface. The user can click on a wall and retrieve information about it in terms of texture, cost and time. Such information is stored in the Object Store database. As VRML is a web-based standard, information can then be retrieved remotely from the database over the Internet. This provides a new dimension to construction firms that tend to work in various geographical locations. This paper describes the VRML-based interface and discusses the potential benefits of linking VR and object oriented databases. Case examples generated from the implemented prototype application will be used to illustrate the developed approach. In particular, cases related to visual cost estimation and planning will be included in order to demonstrate the benefits VR can offer to the construction management domain. The prototype demonstrator presented in this paper has been developed through a series of workshops attended by the industrial collaborators of the research project who specified the requirements of such a prototype.