Representing construction-related geometry in a semantic web context: A review of approaches

Abstract

The exchange of construction-related data over the Web via Semantic Web Technologies is gaining interest in current research. However, most research focuses on non-geometric data, neglecting the description of geometry. While several methods to include geometry descriptions into a Semantic Web context exist, no uniform approach or general recommendation exists for the endeavour of describing building components in their entirety – including geometric descriptions –, leading to an increased suspension in applying Semantic Web Technologies in the construction domain. To therefore ease the description of geometric data in a Semantic Web context, we conduct an extensive literature review and analyse the identified, oftentimes isolated implementations for geometry descriptions in that context, with focus on requirements set by domain-specific use cases. Based on this analysis, we group the currently available implementations into approaches and compare them to offer means for deciding on which approach or implementation suits individual use cases.The identified approaches vary in their depth of the geometry description's integration into the Semantic Web and are subsequently studied regarding their overall aptness and characteristics in consideration of their application for future industry and research projects. In respect of the ongoing research in the field of the application of Semantic Web Technologies, not only in the construction domain, this article poses as an important foundation by giving a clear overview of existing implementations and relevant open research questions. Having this overview, the suspense for adapting to Semantic Web methods for describing geometries can be overcome by users more easily, while software developers can start to connect their clients' use cases to suitable approaches and related implementations to represent geometry in a Semantic Web context.