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Geodesign Summit 2013 Summary

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

Geodesign is a set of techniques and enabling technologies for planning built and natural environments in an integrated process, including project conceptualization, analysis, design specification, stakeholder participation and collaboration, design creation, simulation, and evaluation (among other stages). “Geodesign is a design and planning method which tightly couples the creation of design proposals with impact simulations informed by geographic contexts.”^{[1] –}Wikipedia

Geodesign is yet in its infancy and as the conference made clear, many are just on the dawn of using it while others might be exploring its inner workings. The focus on the first day did seem very geo-centric, as of course the event was hosted by a GIS company. Ideally, Geodesign will pull datasets from geographic information systems as well as computer aided design and BIM software and other datasets to tackle big world problems such as sustainability, ecology and building tomorrow’s cities.

Bran Ferren, co-founder of Applied Minds LLC and keynote speaker for the opening session at the Geodesign Summit held at Esri’s Redlands, Calif. Campus, set the tone for the Summit that commenced Thursday, January 24^th, 2013.

The Geodesign Summit, introduced by Esri in 2009, explores the concept of merging geography and design, and being able to access various datasets through the “CloudGIS,” Esri’s version of the Cloud. According to Ferren, it is a way to begin to build the cities of the future, using technologies such as geographic information, planning, building information modeling and much more.

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Tags: 3D cities, AEC, ArcGIS, AutoCAD, CityEngine, climate change, Cloud, CloudGIS, Esri, Geodesign, OpenData, SketchUp, urban renewal
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REVIZTO communicates design intent

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

Arman Gukasyan, CEO of VIZERRA,spoke with AECCafe Voice about their new REVIZTO virtual reality product designed for the AEC market.

AECCafe Voice: How do you think virtual reality is game-changing at this point?

Arman Gukasyan: Thanks to virtual-reality technology such as Google Earth, people are able to explore settings that mirror our existing world of natural and built environments. People have become accustomed to exploring virtual environments, which is driving the demand for new applications of virtual reality technology. It is now possible not only to view a virtual world, but also to interact with the intricate details of buildings and cities – making it a game-changer for architects and urban planners.

How does REVIZTO fit into that picture?

REVIZTO allows design professionals to convert detailed 3-D building models into interactive, data-rich 3-D virtual environments that can be shared with others to visually explore and collaborate. This is a great way for project owners and other stakeholders to visualize their projects, and to provide feedback to designers and contractors before construction has begun.

What are the areas architects are most often using virtual reality for?

Architects have used 3-D modeling tools to develop highly detailed virtual building models for construction, and to study the way their buildings will impact the surrounding environment. REVIZTO takes this one step further by allowing anyone to easily visualize and collaborate in an interactive 3-D virtual environment everyone can understand – without having to learn how to use complex 3-D modeling software.

Do you see REVIZTO being used in the development of 3D cities and other larger planning efforts in the future, and how do you think it can contribute?

Yes. In fact, REVIZTO’s development was a direct result of the visualization services we provided for large-scale construction projects, such as city planning for a new train station in Barcelona, and the master plan for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. While working on these projects, we saw a clear need for an easy-to-use visualization platform that enabled anyone to communicate and collaborate. REVIZTO helps architects and planners easily communicate the design intent of their projects with non-professionals. 3-D visualization allows everyone to have a clear understanding of the project and to foresee problems before construction starts. REVIZTO is a powerful tool to build projects more efficiently and therefore more sustainably.

Tags: AEC, architecture, building, design, Google Earth, REVIZTO, virtual realtiy, visualization
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2013 Construction Industry Predictions from Autodesk

Thursday, January 17th, 2013

Amar Hanspal, senior vice president of information modeling and platform products group (IPG) at Autodesk, outlined his predictions for the construction industry this year. Specifically, Amar believes the following trends will drive critical change in how construction firms compete for business and deliver completed projects:

1. National Infrastructure Discussions Evolve Into Global Discussions

Discussions on national infrastructure will evolve into global conversations on interconnected transportation and financial systems. For example, completion of the Panama Canal will force the U.S. East Coast to upgrade their ports to accommodate a massive increase in traffic and ship size.

2. Infrastructure Priorities: Developing vs. Developed Regions

Today, there is a marked divide between the infrastructure priorities of developed and developing countries. Developing countries are creating, funding and building brand new infrastructure systems while developed countries are trying to fix their crumbling systems in order to address the needs of tomorrow.

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Tags: 2013, Autodesk, construction, National Infrastructure, predictions
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Pictometry/AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 integration

Monday, January 14th, 2013

Pictometry International Corp., inventor of measurable, aerial oblique imagery and analytics tools, launched Pictometry Integration for Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 and 2012 products at Autodesk University the last week of November 2012. Now users’ high resolution geo-referenced aerial imagery can be accessed from directly within the AutoCAD Civil 3D workspace, enabling users to visualize and take measurements of real-world field environments, helping reduce the need for field visits. AutoCAD Civil 3D use has grown phenomenally over the past two-three years, and continues to climb, according to experts in the field. It will also certainly benefit Pictometry to gain access to Autodesk’s millions of users.

According to Pictometry’s David Petterson, product manager, solutions integration, the integration with AutoCAD Civil 3D follows last year’s integration with AutoCAD Map 3D. Both of these integrations utilize the new Pictometry Connect platform that allows users to instantly access Pictometry’s 2.1 petabyte library of olique and orthogonal imagery, as well as accurate geospatial content.

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Tags: AEC, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Map 3D, Autodesk, Autodesk University, Civil 3D 2012, Civil 3D 2013, integration, Pictometry, Pictometry Connect
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Top AEC Predictions for 2013 — AECCafe Voice

Monday, January 14th, 2013

At the beginning of each year, AECCafe looks at what the current trends are and predictions for the coming year. 2012 has been an exciting year, with the acceptance of the Cloud in many facets of business, and some new areas of interest spawned from the possibilities the cloud opens up. The Cloud is still on our bucket list for 2013 because there are many uses for it that have not yet been realized. Other areas are coming forward, fueled by the urgency of the failing infrastructure and climate change that threatens existing infrastructure as well as food sources.