BIM Security Visualization with 3D Event Timeline
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing security systems face difficulties in effectively recording and presenting security events in a readable and interpretable manner, making it challenging to determine intruder entry points and identities during investigations.
Innovation Solution
A security system that utilizes a building information model (BIM) with a user interface to display events in a three-dimensional view, including a timeline slider and popup details for each sensor activation, allowing users to playback and review video footage from cameras, and providing a digest view of all events within a specified timeframe.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If security events are saved into traditional event files with sensor identifiers and activation times, then the events can be recorded, but the events become difficult to read and interpret
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms traditional two-dimensional event files (sensor ID and time) into a three-dimensional visualization using BIM models. Events are displayed spatially within the building structure, adding the dimension of physical location. This allows investigators to see not just when and what sensors were triggered, but exactly where in the building the events occurred, dramatically improving interpretability without adding complex presentation layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The BIM model serves as an intermediary between the raw event data and the investigator. Instead of directly presenting event files or requiring investigators to interpret sensor data, the system uses the BIM model to translate event data into visual representations within the building's spatial context. This intermediary layer automatically maps sensor activations to their corresponding physical locations in the BIM, making events intuitive to understand.
2Loss of information
If detailed event information is provided for each sensor activation, then investigators can determine intruder entry points and identities, but the information becomes overwhelming and difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing detailed event information only at the specific locations where sensors were activated within the BIM model. Instead of presenting all event data uniformly, the system highlights only the relevant areas in the building model where events occurred. Users can click on or hover over specific activated sensors in the BIM to view detailed event information, while other areas remain uncluttered. This localized presentation maintains information completeness while dramatically improving navigability.
3Device complexity
If traditional event files are used to track security events, then the system remains simple, but the ability to determine how an intruder entered and identify the intruder is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy or representation of the physical building space using the BIM model. This digital twin of the building allows investigators to virtually traverse and examine the scene without physically being present. The BIM model copies the spatial relationships, sensor locations, and event sequences, enabling precise reconstruction of the intruder's path through the building while maintaining the simplicity of the underlying event recording system.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method and apparatus including the steps of a building information model (BIM) of a security system providing a three-dimensional view of a secured area of the security system including the physical location of any sensors of the security system, an input device of the security system receiving from a user a starting time and ending time of a time interval of interest and a processor of the security system displaying the three-dimensional view of the secured area including a time scale showing the starting time on one end of the time scale and the ending time at an opposing end of the time scale and a respective popup of details for each corresponding sensor of at least some sensors of the security system activated during the time interval of interest, each respective popup graphically connected to the physical location of the corresponding sensor within the three dimensional view.