Small mistakes and miscalculations made in the design stage of a construction project can develop into large and costly problems for the project. But with VR technology connected to building information modeling (BIM), you can find and fix any design errors already at the drawing stage—before they reach the construction site.

Mikael Johansson and Mattias Roupé of the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering have developed a user-friendly VR interface that can be connected to digital building information models, so-called BIM models. With a VR headset on, it allows the user to virtually step inside and walk around inside of the model of a construction project, alone or with fellow users. In this way, the various professions within the production staff, who hold the accumulated knowledge from the design stage, can review and refine their work themselves before moving on to the next step. The method has been tested by professionals, planners, and staff from the site management of six different organizations and projects where design and production have taken place in parallel.

“The evaluation have shown that the method is very effective when it comes to identifying opportunities for improvement and increasing quality and construction safety. The participants found pure design mistakes, and were also able to identify opportunities to streamline the rules of procedure between disciplines and find alternative solutions to benefit progress,” says Mikael Johansson, Research Engineer at the Division of Construction Management.

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