BIM Design Review in Virtual Reality (VR)
10 tips to get the most out of it!
How do you involve all stakeholders in your building design, minimize failure costs, and increase customer satisfaction?
More and more construction companies and property owners are discovering the benefits of VR when assessing BIM models. BIM has already become indispensable, especially in more complex construction projects. But what are the actual advantages of VR, and how can you get the most out of it within your workflow? In this article, we describe the benefits of VR and how to best implement it in your existing work process.
Connec2 is a VR collaboration platform that is used by the construction industry to reduce failure costs and greatly improve communication with customers and construction team members. BIM models are converted into a VR world, where you can experience the building design from any location with multiple users, and gain better insight into all facets of the design.
1. Involve End Users
VR is ideally suited to allow the eventual end users to experience the new building before it is built. Reading technical drawings is not for everyone, while a lot of valuable feedback can be obtained from end users. How do they experience the new spaces, placement of different elements, entrances, stairs, furniture, etc.?
Even for technicians, experiencing the 3D model at full scale helps to uncover problems that didn’t appear to be an issue on the technical drawing. For example, a curve that a hospital bed cannot take due to a misplaced door, or an element in a technical room that is difficult for the maintenance team to access. Walking through the future building at full scale provides much deeper insight, where clashes and feedback can be directly fed back to the BIM team using the Connec2 BCF tool.
2. The Power of Together
Make sure several people can walk through the VR design at the same time. This sparks the discussion. It quickly becomes a challenge to spot design flaws that colleagues haven’t noticed yet. In practice, group members also inspire each other with new ideas. Once the conversation gets going and people feel at ease, the flow of improvement points often starts pouring in.
3. Organize Sessions by Specific Themes
Because there is a lot to discuss in a VR review session, it is wise to choose different themes in advance. Think of maintenance or cleaning, flow and logistics, or the servicing of technical rooms. Organizing sessions by theme ensures focus on the right topics and makes it logical to invite specific people. This way, you make optimal use of the knowledge and experience of different end users or stakeholders.
4. Not Everything at Once
Because VR sessions are easy to organize, it is better to hold shorter sessions more often instead of trying to address everything in one go. After about an hour, attention tends to fade, and not all issues may have been discussed. Reviewing changes in subsequent sessions ensures that new improvement points are addressed. End users highly appreciate being intensively involved in this way. It takes time, but it pays off—with lower failure costs and significantly higher customer satisfaction.
5. From Different Locations
Another major advantage of VR sessions is that they can be attended remotely from different locations. Users only need a VR headset, or if necessary, they can participate from their computer screen. The strength of Connec2 is that multiple remote participants can join live in one VR environment. With distance no longer a barrier, time and costs are saved, and it becomes very easy to schedule sessions regularly.
6. Make the 3D Model Interactive
Provide an interactive experience by offering, for example, buyer options. Future residents can walk through their future home with the whole family and move furniture around. No more flat drawings, but a live experience of what the space will look like. How will an extension affect the space? What does a dormer window look like from the inside?
It also applies to technical spaces: components can be repositioned to improve accessibility, like moving a meter to make it easier to read or placing sockets in logical locations.
7. Optimize Your Models In-House
Walking live through a 3D space requires computing power, especially when multiple people are involved. To work effectively in VR, BIM models must be optimized. This might include simplifying the model or reducing details. In Revit, for instance, you can disable groups of elements to lighten models.
Connec2 also optimizes BIM models for VR use. It allows you to independently place your 3D models into a VR world without third-party intervention. This gives you full control over your models and makes working in VR faster and easier.
8. Who Is the VR Officer?
To make optimal use of VR within your organization, it is recommended to appoint a VR officer. This person ensures all headsets are in place, charged, and provides technical support. Connec2 has developed a special VR flight case in which multiple VR headsets can be stored, charged, and disinfected with a cleanbox. This gives the VR officer a convenient tool to prepare each session and help participants get started.
9. Involve the Entire Chain
In addition to involving customers, VR is ideal for getting the entire construction team to collaborate better. All parts must come together in one BIM model, which the different parties can then jointly review to assess whether everything fits and is feasible in practice. A VR session again stimulates the conversation: what can be done more efficiently, or in what sequence should the work be carried out?
10. Increase Customer Satisfaction
VR is a promising new way of experiencing and communicating. It makes managing customer expectations much easier. They can already see in detail what they will receive. Changes can also be reviewed live together with the customer. This makes customers much more involved and a true part of the project team. This greater involvement not only reduces failure costs but also increases customer satisfaction—because the customer gets exactly what they expect.
Ready to Get Started?
Perhaps VR is still unfamiliar in your organization and sounds futuristic. Yet, more and more clients and construction companies are already using VR as a standard tool for design reviews. Make sure you don’t fall behind—start small and let your team experience the benefits of VR in BIM projects. Keep in mind that customers will increasingly expect to experience their project in VR before it is built.