Building's digital twin model shown as first-person and third-person views

Abstract

Construction industry is currently facing challenges such as a high number of occupational injuries and a somewhat weak connection between design and construction phases. One way to amend the situation is to increase data availability to construction professionals. Information about the structure and features of the building to be built should be shared so that various professionals can use the so-called digital twin model of the building for his/her purposes. We have created a concept for delivering the building information model (BIM) that can be viewed in various ways from various devices. We tested the viewing and using of BIM in augmented reality (AR), with high-end eXtented Reality (XR) technology (Microsoft HoloLens 2) and a tablet. Briefly, according to our test results, AR seems to be good when user needs to be perceived him/herself as if inside the building model, and tablet suits for viewing the digital model from the outside of it. Novice users of the AR technology need much more support in using the technology than the experienced ones. All test participants found the concept good and the technology with which to use it as promising.