Prototype for Virtual Reality as an Educational Resource 

 Converting BIM to a demonstrative tool using an online game engine 

 written by Gabor Palotas, EK Association 

co­ordinator of TRAWCOE Project  

contributors:  

Agnese Augstkalna, Riga School of Arts & Crafts  Alain Tambour, GIP FCIP David Saunders, Woodnet 

Kaspars Kiris, Riga School of Arts & Crafts Laura Lopez Ruiz, Doctum 

Matthew Clover, Sussex Downs College Nicolae Loghinas, Interactive Education Educational Team of TRAWCOE Project 

    

       

  

2015 All Rights Reserved 

    

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 Funded by the European Commission 'Traditional Wooden Constructions of Europe ­ TRAWCOE' (2013­2015) Leonardo                           Partnership project seeked for novel pedagogical and technical solutions to offer new pathways and approaches for vocational                                 education and training. The project that was initiated and coordinated byEK Association (Budapest, Hungary) invoked a broad                                   partnership made of trade representatives as architectural firms, timber industrial companies, vocational schools with carpentry                             and architectural classes and not­for­profit organisations active in the field of preservation of monuments and traditional                               technologies. The participants of the international partnership arrived from seven European countries: France, Hungary, Italy,                             Latvia, Romania, Spain and the UK.  The consortium targeted to assemble an online educational tool dealing with timber constructions of heritage importance                               selected from the countries of the partnership. The selection included private and public, dwelling, agricultural and industrial,                                 secular and ecclesiastic buildings, representatives of high level architecture and craftsmanship. The range of time periods                               covers nearly six centuries of building technologies, providing a comprehensive overview of the European carpentry heritage of                                 long traditions and professional values.  

 Manor Barn of Frindsbury, Kent, UK ­ one of the selected structures to show as part of the Tool  The idea of the programme was to build an online­accessible Virtual Museum of the selected structures modelled in 3D                                     narrating about the architectural and technical solutions applied in them and also about the associated cultural and historical                                   facts and references. Beyond this concept there laid two important antitypes. Firstly the latest trends and tendencies of the                                     construction sector's planning approach which can fully involve the client into the design phase through the explorable 3D                                   model of the actual state of the planned structures. Similarly to the presentation possibility of Graphisoft's BimX TRAWCOE                                   project also planned to provide a new medium but for educational purpose. This new and online­accessible channel can give                                     the ability for understanding complex problematics and systems through interactions with CAD modelled constructions in the                               virtual space. As the other essential reference the world of 3D games attended with its ready­made solutions for an effectively                                       working learning resource especially based on the active involvement of the pupils.  So the proposed virtual world concept included individual buildings which can be explored through an unmolested and deep                                   study and the partnership's challenge was to work out the exact pedagogical methodology while paralelly provide informal                                 technological solutions for the raised matters and so a working prototype for similar initiatives of the future. The parallel                                     processes meant that the educational and design work continuously affected each other vica verse: some concepts arrived                                 from the pre­planned educational principles incarnated in a feasible way in the designed environment, while the assets of this                                     world also offered useful methodologies, inducing the evolution of new basic principles the exact forms of which were to be                                       found as part of TRAWCOE's virtual world.    

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BIM­based Virtual Reality  3d models can be perfect demonstrating educational tools, especially for teaching about technical knowledge. The explorable                               environment concept however raised a lot of questions to answer first. Firstly, how this world should function and how the                                       representation would exactly look like when following the planned functionality. These decisions were made as part of the                                   design process by analysing a number of sample projects starting from products made for especially educational reasons to                                   simulation or even first person shooting games. These models were interesting from different point of views, adding reasonable                                   aspects to configure what characteristics should the Tool own. Let us encounter these problems:  Translation ­ In virtual reality concepts when trying to copy the functionalities of the real world, the interactional possibilities                                     are need to be shown on the screen and nearly all types of perceptions are to be transformed to visual ones. This is very much                                                 the same set of solutions that the game industry could develop in the last decades and basically comes from the possibilities                                         that a character can possess without a real human body or any other technical solutions as substitutes (glasses, touching                                     sensors etc.) that can be effective in the virtual environment. This way talks usually become similar to chat conversations, while                                       options for different decisions are usually communicated through text boxes. Therefore it was clear from the beginning that                                   TRAWCOE has to find effective set of tools with esthetic representation for the translation of the planned interactions between                                     the character and the environment (including other characters as well). The techniques used for gaining information do not                                   follow the possibilities and circumstances available in real environments, instead the methods follow the most demonstrative                               and illustrative way.  

 Belfry of Nemesborzova in Szentendre Open­Air Museum, Hungary ­ one of the selected structures to show as part of the Tool  Role of the character ­ The big majority of the virtual reality teaching resources provide training courses that take place in                                         virtual classrooms using the same assets and possibilities that real classrooms can offer. The students as individuals also                                   become virtual characters who can attend the courses while meeting and starting conversations with other participants.                               Technically the user has same possibilities as in reality, providing nothing more or different than it would be achievable in the                                         real environment. This means that available forms of virtual learning devices mainly handle the 3d models only as                                   environments for hosting the virtual interactions of the characters placed into this world, especially because these methods                                 want to be effective through the raised possibilities of an imaginary character. TRAWCOE however has had a very strong                                     BIM­based approach from the beginning and this thinking made the interactable 3d models of timber structures the main                                   'characters' of the complete environment. It was therefore a well­founded decision of the programme to keep the user's                                   possibility minimum for owning real attributes and characteristics. The user therefore can only interact with the structures                                 themselves and only with them. The purpose of these interferences is the observation itself and the understanding of complex                                     technical solutions, the logic of an assembly while collecting more and more historical and contextual information about the                                   originals of the models.   Viewing and Moving ­ Walking inside the virtual space gives the possibility to feel the proportions and sizes of the different                                         structures and rooms. Among this type of exploration TRAWCOE tool also offers different bird's eye views with controls that                                     allows navigation to all dimensions. The user can also turn and set the maquettes into custom positions so that every part of                                           

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the buildings can be investigated from different angles using the same point of view. To help this process and to show the                                           elements of the joints, they can be separately hided from the views.  Abstraction ­ These decisions made had real effect on the designed environment as it had real importance to keep it                                       completely coherent with the functionality. From this point of view the most important one was the level of abstraction however.                                       The placement of the models into the virtual one could have happened in several ways: as rebuilding the whole original context                                         or as creating an open­air museum where the models are collected together etc. The final solution was however a much less                                         contextual and more imaginary one: a maquette workshop with number of viewing possibilities and where the models can be                                     explored separately. The free walk method requires the imagination that we as users are also scaled to the level of the                                         maquette, making it possible to walk around as if we did it in reality. While the independent 'flying' method is much similar to                                             the way how we can investigate a scaled maquette that we could even hold in our hands. Picking the buildings out of the                                             context made it possible to focus much effectively on the timber structures, exclusive themes of the project and the product.  

 Caradas House in Rouen, France ­ placed in the workshop of the Tool as maquette  Non­formal Educational Tool  From start the educational resource provided by TRAWCOE programme has been planned as an informal auxiliary tool for                                   primarily vocational schools and as a special­type museum for the wide public being freely and easily accessible through the                                     world wide web. This fenceless feature also shows how low the connection is intended to be with any rigid institutional system,                                         standing completely outside of the classroom and any educational organisational structure, but being open for everyone who                                 has interest in the covered themes. This self­service and flexible educational tool while popularising the acknowledgement of                                 the shown structures acts more as a platform than a real programme, providing completely freely chosen pathways for the user                                       with autonomously selected speed and chosen destinations. 

The above described characteristics of the learning device was gradually changed by mixing the initial informal learning                                 approach with more and more features associatable with the formal techniques of institutional education and with the                                 BIM­derived solutions. This endeavour suggested to achieve a similar set of complex technical solutions that BIM generally                                 offers for architects and for other actors of building industry, but through a simple browser window and without using any                                       additional software or application. This approach proposed the collection of all kinds of information relevant to the structure                                   condensing them into one single virtual environment, where the different pieces of information ­ starting from the exact                                   expressions of the different parts to the historic and structural descriptions of the buildings ­ are all connected to the single                                         elements of the construction. These facts and definitions were designed to be invoked through mouse­pointing interactions with                                 the model or using a detailed and well­structured menu system. 

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 Further chosen way of development was the moderate utilisation of gamification theories. Similar expressions but partly                               different techniques are 'edutainment' (mixing the expression of education and entertainment) and 'serious game' category for                               the generally same approach. These methods are widely used nowadays in environments outside of the game world to raise                                     the efficiency of the original processes. Loyalty programmes are good examples for the commercial usage offering points and                                   discounts when reaching different levels after the amount of services used. In another example car producer companies adapt                                   similar techniques when awarding points for the eco­friendly driving routine giving immediate feedback on the road for the                                   driver. The number of enumerable examples is endless, especially as the marketing usage raises more and more. The keys of                                       the method are active involvement of the user and awarding the performance based on this participation. The exploitation of                                     gamifying techniques became even more obvious with the axiomatic usage of game producing software Unity3d to elaborate                                 the planned interactions and BIM­originated techniques.  

 Calvinist Church of Magyarvalkó ­ placed into the workshop of the Tool as maquette  Comparing our initial informal learning model with its aimless exploration to the final outcome we can summarise that the                                     utilisation of BIM concept generally leads to a relatively high­level structuralisation of the placed information, positioning the                                 model much closer to formal ways of education. Even game­like techniques like gaining points, inventory or ranking system                                   makes the user's pathway more coordinated compared to the unintentional free run. Still they lead to a less intentional                                     participation from the learner's side, even knowing that answering the offered challenges will lead to higher level of knowledge,                                     skills and competences in real world as well.  The final keyword is the active attendance and full­presence into which state the user can be more effectively involved by                                       offering motivating and reachable challenges. With the described mixture of formal and informal techniques, so by the so­called                                   'non­formal' methodology we have the chance to form education to a less pushing but more pulling endeavour and to precisely                                       optimise the real effectiveness of teaching.  Technical Realisation and Specification  The nine 3d models of the project were created using ArchiCAD 17 as preferred CAD software of the project and with the help                                             of a BIM Server to serve the multi­user teamwork. The maquette workshop environments were created using Unity3d engine,                                   which enables the embedding of the workshops into the browser window with the only requirement of the one­time installation                                     of Unity Webplayer plugin.  The Tool itself is accessible on the following address: play.trawcoe.com. It is generally a multilingual (7) homepage with a                                     responsive design that provide access to the separate workshops of the different models. The homepage also hosts a Europe                                     

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map, illustratively showing the original location of the structures. It also has a collection of joints from the parts of models and a                                             multilingual (7) vocabulary which collects the most important and structure specific expressions of carpentry. 

 View and detailed Structure Selection in the Belfry's workshop environment 

TRAWCOE models standing on the desktop of the workshops are surrounded by paravans showing the 2d documentation and                                   images of the original structures. The assets used at the different levels of the Tool and so the starting objectives (challenges)                                         are not the same. This way the detailness of gainable information is different, forming three levels of difficulty. The full tool set                                           contains the following possibilities for the users:  

● Challenges ­ A list of objectives to be achieved as part of the exploration in the  ● 3d Dictionary ­ Professional expression of elements appear when elements are pointed by user. The expression is                                 

written out in 7 languages (English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Romanian and Spanish) placed into a cycle.                                 Required language version of description can be quickly searched using the cycle method. 

● View Selection ­ Accessible from the Pause Menu of the Model, different viewpoints and moving methods can be                                   selected in order to be able to watch every part of the model. Moving methods involve walking and fly mode. 

● Structure Selection ­ Categorised elements can be switched off (and on) based on tags appearing from layered                                 structure in ArchiCAD. Structure Selection is accessible from the Pause Menu of the Model. 

● Info Points ­ Rotating 'i' (info) symbols placed into 3d environment which open Info Boxes when user clicks on them.                                       The Boxes contain text information ­ historical and structural descriptions ­ paired with images and animations. The                                 Info Boxes can be collected so that they are accessible anytime from the Pause Menu of the Model. 

● Quiz ­ A set of questions in connection with the learnt knowledge collected from the contents of the Info Boxes and the                                           acknowledgment of the model itself. User can collect points and gain ranks for his/her performance as part of the                                     usage of this self­assessment tool. The Quiz can be accessible from the Pause Menu and can be started anytime. 

● Controls ­ A list of commands with the operating buttons.  Among these there are some extra features used at special constructions:  

● Time Period Selection ­ Possibility for showing different states of the same model based on time phases. Accessible                                   from the Pause Menu. 

● Animated Joint Assemblies ­ As part of Info Boxes about a special joint type of the structure. ● Rotation of the model around its vertical axis. 

   

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 3D Dictionary in usage as part of Belfry maquette workshop 

Usage As Part of Institutional Education 

As one of the first challenges of the project the main pedagogical principles of the planned tool had to be clearly defined which                                             primarily involved an analysis how the whole would be able to be integrated into the European Qualification Framework. Clearly                                     the learning tool we produced did not target any qualifications as a priority. The content was determined by the data and                                         techniques used in the constructions instead, not the techniques to be learned because listed in the syllabi. As all of the                                         traditional constructions selected provide perfect examples and technical explanations to the learners about the traditional                             structures and are of very various typology, this approach may not cause any drawbacks in usability. The Tool can be                                       considered as a big a step towards common European curriculums and also a great tool that provides possibility for learning a                                         profession using a foreign language through the multilingual features built into the realisation.  As important step of the realisation the primary target group of the audience had to be selected and all the collected information                                           had to be built into the tool accordingly to the selected level of qualification. This did not mean any exclusion of users outside of                                               the scope but gave a helping hand for the development of both the educational and design concept plans. Therefore future or                                         current staff of the wood­work trade, mainly carpenters, wood constructors with level 3 and 4 of EQF were primarily targeted.                                       This level is equivalent with the knowledge, skills and competences of 14­18 year­old trainees in the system of secondary                                     schools covering almost all of their studies in this kind of institutions. Nevertheless, the resource provides useful knowledge for                                     carpenters, architects, art historians on any level of their scholastic system from vocational to university education and even                                   beyond these institutions, not to mention any casual visitors who might have great interest in the covered theme from historical,                                       technical, touristic or any other point of view.  

 Starting Screen of the Belfry model in the workshop of the Tool 

 TRAWCOE Tool can be used together in the classroom as easily accessible and perfect representation asset to show                                   examples of the learnt structures or joint types. Learners can also construct their own knowledge freely through the usage of                                       the 3D tools and exercise sets, either home or as part of the class and it can also be used in a reversed learning approach                                                 where the learners are asked to do a research study before the delivery of the course in which the teacher is a facilitator and                                               

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helper to organize the knowledge gained prior to the course. Meanwhile, working individually, each student attributes                               educational attainment to personal achievements and increases learning intensity in the environment which is designed in such                                 a way that educator’s intervention in the learning process is not compulsory. The focus of the process is on the learner and                                           immediate usefulness of knowledge gained makes the process very flexible. 

2015.07.31. Budapest, Hungary