Issues of Translating BIM for Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) Environments

Abstract

Together with the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operation (AECO) industry widely adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies, there has also been an increase in research activities to develop efficient solutions for bringing BIM into a Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) environment. MAR provides an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use method of accessing information by allowing users to retrieve information in an intuitive way by visually parsing the environment and relating information in the form of augmentations to specific objects in specific places. Bringing a BIM model to an MAR environment poses several challenges, technically and logistically. In this paper, an overview of a method that practitioners can use to consolidate, optimize, and visualize their data and models in an MAR environment will be explained and then the technical and logistical issues within that process are discussed in detail. Geometry translation, indoor localization, attribute assignment, and registration are some examples of brining BIM to an MAR environment. Understanding the challenges and issues through the BIM to MAR method will provide practitioners in the AECO industry as well as researchers in academia a framework for creating more efficient workflows for this translation.