This article captures the semi-annual update of the main developments from AEC technology vendors in the last six to seven months, following the AEC Tech Updates articles that were published in the beginning of the year. The updates covered in this article run across the spectrum of AEC applications and include the 2016 release of the Vectorworks product family that has just been released; a number of mid-year product releases from Autodesk and its new Stingray product for design visualization; several Revit plug-ins including those from Vabi Software, VisionRez, and the new FenestraPro Premium for energy analysis of façade design; additional analysis applications include Sefaira for energy and daylight and Oasys’ MassMotion Flow for pedestrian simulation; the interactive 3D presentation and visualization tool, CLEVER; and finally, a BIM plug-in for SketchUp—at last!

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/newsletter/2015/issue_76.html

While the concept of virtual reality is now very familiar to most technology professionals and its use commonplace in many industries including AEC, there is another concept that is slowly emerging and gaining ground in technology—that of augmented reality (AR) which “augments” physical reality with additional relevant content instead of replacing it altogether. This article describes the basic workings of the technology and captures the highlights of the “AR in Real Estate, Urban Design, and Construction” track at the recent Augmented World Expo (AWE), which provides some insights into the potential application of AR in AEC.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/buildingthefuture/2015/ARinAEC.html

This insightful article by John Tobin, VP for Operations at EYP, discusses the segmentation of disciplines in AEC, the need to create a more expansive and fluid definition of the design profession, and how concepts like BIM and IPD are more indicative of segmentation than of the specialization they are commonly perceived to reflect.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/buildingthefuture/2015/OneDesign.html

This article captures the highlights of Autodesk’s recently released 2016 AEC product family as well as some information Autodesk shared about upcoming products at a dedicated AEC media event that it hosted in Boston, the new location of its AEC headquarters. These include a dramatic expansion of its BIM 360 cloud-based construction platform, a new tool for building operations in the still nascent post-construction phase, a space planning tool that can provide spatial alternatives for early stage design based on program requirements, a “SimCity”-style urban planning tool, and several other developments.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2015/Autodesk_AEC_Summit.html

This article takes a closer look at the BIM applications, extensions, and conceptual design tools that were exhibited at the recent AIA convention held in Atlanta. These include the upcoming releases of Vectorworks and ArchiCAD, a new “SEPS to BIM” plug-in for importing intelligent health objects into SketchUp or a BIM application, Revit add-ons from AGACAD, updates on FormIt and Dynamo from Autodesk as well as the launch of a new pared-down and less-expensive Revit Collaboration Suite, and developments on mobile viewing and 3D printing in SketchUp. In addition, there were several analysis and visualization applications that were exhibited, which will be described in the upcoming Q2 2015 issue of AECbytes magazine. This year’s AIA convention also provided attendees the opportunity to hear former US President, Bill Clinton, deliver the opening keynote address in person.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/newsletter/2015/issue_75.html

This article captures an overview of the sessions, classes, and exhibits at the recently concluded Midwest University, an AEC-focused technology conference organized by CTC, an Autodesk reseller and partner, to provide learning and networking opportunities for those located in the Midwestern region of the US. Highlights include identification of key technology future trends by CTC and Autodesk, an exploration of gaming technologies for design coordination and review in construction, and the use of drones for aerial capture and the subsequent process to take that data to a design and modeling application. The conference also provided the opportunity to learn about new and updated AEC technology products and services including the suite of Civil Information Modeling tools from CTC, mobile workstations from MSI, how the cloud storage solution Panzura works, and the automated wood and steel framing capabilities of MWF from StrucSoft Solutions.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2015/MidwestUniversity.html

This article explores the potential use of BIM on high-speed rail (HSR) projects, in the wake of the formal launch of California’s planned High Speed Rail initiative, and explores whether we can expect the use of BIM to significantly lower the cost of new HSR projects than those implemented in the pre-BIM era. It looks at the current status of HSR projects around the globe, at the software available for rail design and construction in general, and finally, at the implementation of BIM in more recent HSR projects.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/buildingthefuture/2015/HSRandBIM.html

This article is the second of the two-part article series capturing the key AEC technology updates in the last six to seven months. While the first article, published last week, looked at the updates related to construction and facilities management applications, the updates related to building design and analysis applications are explored in this article, including Graphisoft’s BIMx Pro, Nemetschek’s Allplan, 4M’s IntelliCAD-based BIM suite, the new MEPdesigner for SketchUp from Trimble, ArchiCAD add-ons from the Cadimage Group, Revit Express tools from CTC, Trelligence Affinity, Sefaira Systems, IESVE, and BIMcollab for the new field of issue management in BIM.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/newsletter/2015/issue_74.html

This article captures the key semi-annual updates of the main developments related to construction and facilities management applications in the AEC technology industry, including new releases such as Trimble ProjectSight, a cloud-based solution for construction field management; AllTrak Cloud and Rapid Positioning System, also from Trimble, for cloud-based material asset management and site positioning and layout respectively; and Aconex Dynamic Manuals, a mobile solution for the operation and maintenance of built assets for owners and facility managers. It also looks at SmartUse, a touch-friendly mobile platform for construction project collaboration that was recently acquired by Newforma; and Conworld, a construction simulation game that can be used for training as well as actually simulating the progress on a construction site with realistic machines, realistic products, and realistic processes.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/newsletter/2015/issue_73.html

This article takes a look at the some of the key projects in HOK’s 5th Annual BIM Awards competition, an internal program that HOK runs every year to draw out and highlight projects from its offices all over the world that exhibit exemplary and innovative use of BIM and integrated design. This year’s line-up included a diverse array of projects including a science and technology campus in Korea, a tourism resort in China, a residential development in India, a healthcare campus in St Louis, and a roof terrace in an office building in Washington DC. I had the privilege of serving on the jury for the competition this year, which gave me the opportunity to review all the finalist’s presentations and get an understanding of their projects. It also provides an excellent insight into the current state of the art of BIM implementation at HOK, and by extension, in the architectural profession as a whole, and raises some interesting questions about the future of BIM technology.

URL: http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2015/HOK_BIM_Awards.html