RC108 SeptOct2023 - Magazine - Page 34
TECHNOLOGY
VR RELATIONS
Using BIM to help citizens
explore design innovation and
development virtually
by Jaclyn Squizzato
HEN YOU’RE SPENDING MILLIONS of dollars of taxpayer
money to provide or upgrade a service, it’s
important to help people understand how
their dollars are being used. Traditionally,
municipalities could set up at local events or in
the lobby of city hall with staff members and
volunteers available to explain how a project will be built
and the amenities that will come with it.
However, the emergence of new technology is making
it easier for people to see, first-hand, how a project will
be laid out, how it will function, and how it will create
benefits for those who interact with it. It’s a technology
that, while originally intended to improve the design
process, can also serve as an excellent demonstration tool
for the public.
A rendering of a platform at Toronto’s Union Station,
where ONTrack Alliance is delivering the Union Station
Enhancement Project.
Jaclyn Squizzato
is the BIM Lead for the
ONTrack Alliance, the
consortium delivering
the Union Station
Enhancement Project.
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RENEW CANADA – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
Virtual reality, but practical
We’ve been seeing the use of virtual reality for years
demonstrated on movies and through video game systems. You put on a headset and can see a different world
around you. As you turn, the view of the surrounding
environment changes too, just like it would without the
headset over your eyes.
A similar form of this technology is what is now fueling the design community. BIM (Building Information
Modeling) offers significant advantages to traditional
project delivery, allowing for all elements of the design
to exist within a virtual design. Mechanical, electrical,
plumbing, infrastructure, architecture, and other elements
are layered together to create a full representation of the
building and the infrastructure around buildings.
This integration has also made BIM a powerful for use
in community relations activities. As transit organizations
work to engage the public on their infrastructure projects,
helping them understand how they will look and the service they will provide, BIM designs in a virtual reality setting allow people to look around the interior and exterior
of the facility, seeing how different elements will come
together in the final project. This takes engagement to a
whole new level, graduating from schematic drawings
and designs to virtual tours.
This is exactly what the ONTrack Alliance team did for
the Union Station Enhancement Project in Toronto, Ont.
The ONTrack Alliance were able to turn our design stage
BIMs into a virtual tour of the parts of the transit terminal
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