Learning building pathology using computers – a prototype application

Abstract

Building defects are notoriously difficult to identify, even by the most experienced surveyor. Traditional training methods of identifying defects in buildings involved the physical visiting of a property. This has become more difficult as insurance and organisational issues have made this practice unsafe and costly. Methods of training surveyors can be brought up to date with the introduction of desktop technology to provide learners with a rich set of learning resources in a much easier format. Defects generated from real life cases using digital cameras are stored in a format that can be transformed into QuickTime VR movies and then used to train inexperienced surveyors. This paper describes a prototype application using case‐based‐reasoning virtual reality and multimedia authoring technologies. The architecture of the system is described and some details of the methodology used are discussed. An iterative approach is used to develop the system and validate it.