Virtual Project Environment for Real-Time Design Conflict Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing project management software applications fail to prevent design conflicts such as overlaps and redundancies in large-scale capital projects, where engineers working on different design files for the same space are unaware of each other's work until the model is refreshed, leading to conflicts that are only discovered later.
Innovation Solution
A virtual environment system that generates a real-time representation of a large-scale capital project, associating user indicators with objects and allowing direct communication between engineers through interactive avatars, enabling immediate conflict resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple engineers work on different design files for different components in a large-scale capital project, then productivity increases due to parallel work, but design conflicts occur when engineers are unaware of each other's work in the same location
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides real-time feedback to engineers about who else is working on or near specific components in the virtual environment. User indicators are dynamically positioned based on object locations, and the system notifies engineers when another user is working on the same or proximate objects, enabling immediate awareness and conflict prevention while maintaining parallel productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual environment acts as an intermediary between multiple engineers working on different design files. It mediates their interactions by providing a shared visual space where user indicators represent each engineer's location and activity, allowing indirect awareness and coordination without direct communication
2Ease of operation
If engineers work independently on different components without real-time awareness, then ease of operation is improved, but design conflicts are only discovered during periodic model refreshes causing delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous monitoring and display of user indicators in the virtual environment, providing ongoing awareness of other engineers' activities rather than periodic updates. This continuous feedback loop allows engineers to maintain independent work while having real-time awareness of potential conflicts, eliminating delays associated with periodic model refreshes
3Reliability
If the system provides real-time visibility and communication among engineers, then design conflict prevention is improved, but device complexity increases due to virtual environment infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy or representation of the physical project environment, including virtual objects corresponding to design files and visual indicators representing engineers' locations. This virtual model mirrors the real-world workspace, enabling conflict detection without adding physical complexity to the actual engineering tools
Data Source
AI summary
A method generates a virtual environment representing a large-scale capital project with a plurality of objects. Each object corresponds to at least one of a plurality of files. The method further associates a user indicator with a given object of the plurality of objects after access to a given file. The given file is at least one of the plurality of files and associated with the given object. The method also positions a visual representation of the user indicator in the virtual environment as a function of the given object. The visual representation of the user indicator includes an interactive interface for user information. The method further receives a request via the interactive interface to contact a user corresponding to the user indicator.