Greetings all of you cutting-edge construction folks! We wanted to give everyone a brief update on the work we’ve been doing over the past few weeks for FieldAR. During alpha-testing, there have been hundreds of feature improvements, new feature additions, and tons of optimizations. We’re very excited to announce a few partnerships and collaborations while we work towards the first public beta-release of FieldAR. For the time being, and to keep this post short, below are a few key objectives we’ve been working on.
Update on the FieldAR Beta release:
The FieldAR mobile app, plugins for Navisworks and Revit, and the web dashboard will be released for public beta within the next few weeks! We will keep you informed on our social channels, and here on the blog as we get closer to announcing an official release date.
New features added to the FieldAR mobile app
AR Model Viewer
Mesh Scanner
For LiDAR-enabled devices such as newer iPhones, we’ve added a new feature that will enable your project team to capture quick 3D scans of spaces and objects at the jobsite. The captured 3D scans will be available to view in both the FieldAR mobile app, as well as in the FieldAR plugins for Navisworks and Revit. The 3D scans captured by the jobsite staff can also be easily linked to Markups to help further explain an issue at the jobsite. This new 3D scan feature will further enhance the link between BIM and the jobsite, allowing BIM staff to quickly view 3D scans overlaid onto the model and easily compare the two.
Wireframe rendering mode:
In addition to the default AR model rendering mode (shows materials, colors, textures, shadows, etc.), we’ve added a unique wireframe rendering mode, which will enable anyone on your team who scans a QR code on site to view the AR model wireframe. The wireframe lines are colored according to your 3D model materials, which makes for a very precise and easy-to-read visualization. The new wireframe mode can be viewed concurrently with the default rendering mode, or the default rendering mode can be adjusted or disabled with the opacity slider leaving only the wireframe mode visible. Lots of dynamic ways to view the model while in AR!
Section-cut tool
While viewing the 3D model overlaid onto the real world in AR, sometimes you’ll only want to see the overhead systems or maybe just the floor for stub-ups. With the new section cut tool, you’ll be able to easily slice the model with a simple slider, and get rid of any unnecessary model geometry in your way. We’ve also added a tool which enables you to place the section plane on any surface, so you can cut the model vertically, horizontally, or at any other angle you need.
Experimental Occlusion Mode
You may be wondering, what the hell is occlusion? In non-techy terms, it’s rendering real-world objects “above” the AR model overlay, so the AR model appears to be cut around real-world objects. If We’ve confused you even further, we will be sharing some demo’s of this feature soon! So why might this be useful? Since your AR model will be perfectly aligned to the real world, you can enable the occlusion mode to help easily identify any discrepancies between what is installed in the real-world and how it should have been installed according to the model. For example, a duct installed too low will “peak” through the AR overlay, since it’s occluded. Still a few kinks to work out with this feature, but we think it will definitely come in handy, especially since we’re still improving it.
Measurement tool enhancements
We’ve added a quick-tools panel to the QR code scanner screen (which is the first screen you’ll see after logging into the mobile app). This new quick-features toolkit has a measurement feature which enables anyone to capture quick dimensions of the real world. We’ve also added a camera tool to quickly take photos, videos, and 3D scans of the real world. It’s a pretty handy feature for your superintendent to send some quick dimensions to your BIM guy/gal.
After scanning a QR code to start an AR model-viewing session, we’ve added a few enhancements to the measurement tool. You’ll still be able to snap dimensions to the real-world, same as the quick-tools measurement feature, but you’ll also be able to snap dimensions to AR model objects as well. You can even snap a dimension from an AR model object to a real-world object! For example, from a pipe in the model to the same pipe in the real world in order to measure the delta. We believe this feature will be crucial for verifying installation accuracy.
We’ve added an axis-lock toggle, which will align your dimension lines to the AR model, which will make it easier to dimension the model with viewing in AR.
Markup Improvements
Markups can now be assigned to both internal and external team members in the project. If you are assigned a role as Project Manager for a specific project, you can invite your coworkers or external team members to join your project team, and assign them specific roles. When creating a new markup, you can now assign the markup to a specific team member, and they will receive a “Task” alert prompting them to complete the task associated with the markup.
Markup due-dates have been added, so project team members with the role of Project Manager can specify a due-date for the markup task to be completed by.
Model alignment improvements
During the model setup process, BIM Managers can set cloud anchors that are responsible for automatically aligning the model when other team members scan the QR targets. Previously, at least 3 cloud anchors were required to triangulate the position of the model, but we’ve reduced the required number of cloud anchors to just 1. This allows for quick refinement of aligning the model to the real world with less cloud anchors, and streamlines the process of creating anchors. However, for very large spaces, more cloud anchors are recommended, as the AR model is incrementally repositioned as the viewer walks around the space and new cloud anchors are detected by the FieldAR mobile app during an AR session
FieldAR mobile app features that are currently in development:
Really big BIM in AR
Hosting huge BIM’s in AR is a significant technical challenge. Our team has developed a custom 3D model compression algorithm based on the popular GLTF format, which compresses really big BIM into a lightweight file for fast loading. For really big BIM, we still recommend to slice the model up by floor or by area, which will save on loading time especially for team members who have lower-end devices or poor-quality wifi connectivity.
Our development team is also working on a spatial partitioning feature that, in the future, your BIM managers will be able to enable when uploading a big BIM. This spatial partitioning feature will chop the model into chunks server-side, and load the smaller chunks progressively as your team members walk around the space in an AR session. More news to come on this feature!
Automatic scan-to-BIM for existing conditions
Creating an accurate BIM of real-world existing conditions, especially for renovation or core/shell fit-out projects currently requires several steps. Typically, the physical space will be laser-scanned to produce a dense point cloud, which involves very expensive laser-scanning equipment and a skilled operator. Then once the point cloud has been processed, a skilled BIM detailer will have to trace the scan to produce an accurate existing-conditions model. We’re experimenting with some bleeding-edge tech to streamline this entire process one day soon. The FieldAR team is currently researching and training a vision-based machine learning model to identify certain building systems from a viewer’s live camera feed, and generate parametric 3D BIM in real-time. We will be sharing more on this topic as our research progresses.
Our development team is chomping at the bit to release the FieldAR beta, and we’re glad you’ve joined us to see it come to life! Our mission to get AR in the hands of everyone on jobsites is becoming a reality, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
If you’re interested in joining our early-access beta test group, shoot us a message here!
Thanks for reading, and stay safe and tech-savvy out there!
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