BIM: the last level of video games?
Many young people from the 1990s will fondly remember SimCity , the virtual simulator that allowed players to plan entire cities while trying to maintain public order, balance budgets, or deal with adverse weather conditions. Although it was harshly criticized at the time of its release for lacking a clear objective, its level of detail, ease of learning, constant feedback from players, and the ability to “be God” turned the game into a worldwide phenomenon.
Will Wright, its creator, never imagined the success of the project, which began as a game designed for profiles in the construction sector, such as architects or planners. The idea was to create a virtual world with such a level of detail that players could interact with it as if it were real . “If a hurricane swept through the city, I wanted the players to be so involved that they would empathize with its citizens,” Wright said. Now, there’s a new generation of architects and urban planners who grew up with these types of games and are already applying many of their features to today’s smart cities through what they call gamification (applying game elements to any object).
“There’s definitely a lot of gamification in new cities, especially if we’re looking to simulate events that might happen before they’re built,” said Matthias Haeusler of the Australian School of Architecture and Design at the University of New South Wales. Haeusler says computer simulation is becoming a truly powerful tool, as urban designers and architects need to understand the user experience before treating objects in isolation. It’s similar to what Wright said 24 years ago.
The effectiveness of gamification is demonstrated, for example, in Australia, where it has already changed people’s habits to achieve a more sustainable city. Brisbane-based agency CitySmart and the Queensland University of Technology have developed a mobile game that allows low-income citizens to reduce their energy consumption. So far, the project, which is in the pilot phase, has achieved notable results, with savings of more than $2,000 per user.
SimCity has also generated new products such as Tygron , a Dutch software program designed to enable architects, urban planners, and engineers to work with real-life projects. The game takes the same starting point as the popular Maxis game, generating a highly realistic 3D environment with key indicators that we might find in real life, such as habitability, the influence of temperature, and population density. Tygron has already been used in real-life projects such as the lower Manhattan neighborhood in New York, and workshops have been organized to develop livability strategies for the East River section of the city and Battery Park. In Los Angeles, we find Block’hood , which places special emphasis on the concept of inputs and outputs to determine the well-being of optimal urban development. According to its creator, the program focuses more on sustainability and the ecological aspect than its rivals and advocates a type of learning based on prudence and foresight.
Pokemon GO , the ultimate integration of virtual reality into the city
The recent boom in Nintendo’s Pokémon GO game is another example of how virtual reality is booming, not only in the AECO sector but also in everyday life. This venture by the Japanese company represents a revolution never seen before, as users can hunt the mythical Kanto creatures in the real world using their smartphones. It is estimated that more than 65 million people worldwide already spend an average of more than 30 minutes a day (even more than on Twitter and Facebook), and there is already talk of the many applications that products like this could have in other areas. CIOB already uses Minecraft to bring new generations closer to the construction sector, although there are still certain sectors reluctant to change and label the Japanese game as “stupid.”
Augmented reality is here to stay
There is a global lack of awareness about what augmented reality really is. In fact, the vast majority of people confuse this term with virtual reality. Iván Gómez of Visual Technology Lab clarifies this in the article “The Relationship Between BIM and Virtual and Augmented Reality .” In the wake of Pokémon GO, many users have become familiar with this technology, albeit an extremely basic one, something that some construction companies could use to implement in their products. In fact, in the AECO sector, many architects and contractors are already experimenting with these new technologies to offer their clients previews or collision detection.
Technology and connectivity do not always go hand in hand
Despite all this, Pokémon GO’s servers have experienced constant outages, leaving many users unable to access the game. This is understandable considering the large number of downloads that occurred in the game’s first few days of existence, but it doesn’t bode well for future updates. Added to this is the fact that the game often doesn’t work with 4G, a real problem if the main focus is GPS and geolocation. One might wonder if this experiment can be used as a testing ground for all those portable devices, such as FM Systems , which allows you to manage an asset from a smartphone.
Security, just like in BIM, is essential.
Last Thursday, the BBC published an article analyzing the danger of Pokemon GO to the public, considering the number of accidents that have occurred since the game’s release: phone thefts, disappearances, trespassing, and injuries and falls, to name a few. This demonstrates that the built environment is a dangerous place, so extreme caution is crucial , something where BIM can be vital.