A Systematic Review of Visualization in Building Information Modeling

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Architecture
• Engineering

Background:

• Building Information Modeling (BIM) utilizes complex, data-rich 3D CAD models for facility design, construction, and operation.
• These models integrate diverse information, from design specifications to real-time sensor data, crucial for architects and engineers.
• Current visualization research has largely overlooked the unique challenges and opportunities within the BIM domain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To encourage greater engagement from the visualization research community with Building Information Modeling (BIM).
• To systematically review and characterize current visualization practices within the BIM domain.
• To identify and highlight future research directions at the intersection of BIM and visualization.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a systematic review of visualization techniques applied in current Building Information Modeling (BIM) practices.
• Developed and utilized a novel taxonomy to categorize BIM application areas and common visualization techniques.
• Analyzed the unique features of BIM data to identify potential research gaps and opportunities.

Main Results:

• Identified key application areas and prevalent visualization techniques currently employed in BIM.
• Characterized the existing landscape of visualization within the BIM domain.
• Highlighted specific research opportunities, such as integrating spatial and non-spatial data through visualization.

Conclusions:

• The BIM domain presents significant, underexplored challenges and opportunities for the visualization research community.
• Further research is needed to leverage visualization techniques for enhanced analysis and simulation in BIM.
• Synergies between scientific and information visualization can unlock new potentials for BIM data integration and analysis.