By Greg Demchak, Senior Director, Digital Innovation Lab at Bentley Systems
Collaborating on infrastructure design in the metaverse is not a concept based far in the future. In fact, thanks to game engine technology, it is happening right now and it is building momentum.
Design teams are working openly using a range of devices with technology from Unreal Engine, Omniverse, and Unity, among others. These game engines are not only boosting the computational power needed to take a 3D model to a seamless 4D spatial experience, they are working toward interoperability for real-time exchange of assets between products or platforms, without loss of fidelity or function. This open exchange leads to innovation, problem-solving, and an overall new sense of teamwork culture in construction design and delivery.
You could say that gaming tech is levelling up productivity, efficiency, and even profitability for the built environment.
Last April, Epic Games – maker of Unreal Engine – announced that it had raised $2 billion to invest in developing a kid-friendly metaverse. The partnership with Epic and Lego aims to create a safe space for children in the metaverse where physical and digital worlds connect for limitless creative possibilities. But Epic’s influence on creating in the real world doesn’t stop at plastic bricks. With its 2022 money equity valuation of $31.5 billion, Epic is investing millions in designing compatible solutions for architects, engineers, and construction managers to build real, life-sized infrastructure using the metaverse.
In a mixed reality experience, using digital twin technology, organisations take advantage of gaming engines to redesign cities, tour factories, or, in the case of the ITER project, build the largest fusion experiment of all time. All while operating on a variety of platforms, virtually, from locations around the world. This technology gives design teams the ability to overcome language barriers, facilitating collaboration among 35 nations so far.
It starts with having a digital twin plug-in that links construction design models to a metaverse experience.
A digital twin, in simple terms, is a digital representation of the real environment that is updated continuously with live data. An open platform like iTwin brings in all the engineering data of a 3D model, then adds 4D digital context with reality and spatial modelling. It is the game engine technology that turns that data and complex modelling into an immersive world with lighting, textures, and depth in the metaverse.
Compared to other uses of the metaverse, what makes the infrastructure industry so unique is there is already a 3D model behind every structure. With engineers building models every day, there is never a shortage of content for the metaverse.
Enterprises can reap significant benefits by incorporating digital construction simulation software in their infrastructure projects. One example is the case of Acciona, which utilised Bentley Systems SYNCHRO 4D collaborative modelling and construction simulation software. This software played a crucial role in a major project in Melbourne, involving the construction of railway stations and the removal of level crossings with a total value of $744 million. By leveraging Bentley Systems’ solutions, a virtual representation of the physical infrastructure and construction sequence was created through a digital twin. This integrated approach addressed the previous lack of connectedness in the data environment, enabling more effective communication and providing unparalleled insight into the construction process. By utilising digital simulation, Acciona was able to streamline workflows and reduce disruptions. Acciona experienced a 67% reduction in staging time and an 88% decrease in drafting requests. The iTwin technology significantly enhanced project efficiency and productivity in the construction industry.
Designing and building in the virtual environment is also proving to save time and money on large-scale projects. The Tuas Water Reclamation Project (TWRP), which involves constructing the world’s largest industrial water treatment facility and ensuring the supply of clean water for Singapore serves as a prime example of this with its wide-ranging scope, complexity and collaboration across disciplines. A mega-project of this scale poses significant challenges in coordinating and communicating with multiple contractors. However, by leveraging iTwin federated models and LumenRT from NVIDIA Omniverse, project stakeholders have effectively addressed safety, quality and design challenges throughout the project lifecycle through collaboration and comprehensive reviews.
When an engineer or construction manager steps onto the virtual job site, the experience is seamless, with data updating in real-time via strategically placed sensors at the physical job site. They can see what has changed, track progress, and can click on an object to retrieve specifications and other information much more quickly than scanning a standard spec sheet.
And people don’t need to be “technical” to use this technology. Gaming platforms make access to data so versatile, that a project engineer working out of a trailer, surrounded by 200-foot cranes and 50-ton bulldozers can go from using a tablet to run daily analysis at the physical job site to wearing a HoloLens gaining a 4D perspective into the future of the project lifecycle. By experiencing the potential long-term effects of design decisions, before they happen – perhaps seeing a concrete pillar begin to crack – lets builders make changes in the present to mitigate risk.
The open platform and collaborative environment of the infrastructure metaverse also addresses productivity challenges and the negative effects of isolation faced by remote workers. Conducting a walk-through of a power grid becomes a lot more interesting and effective when remote participants can see and hear each other in the metaverse.
Virtual and augmented reality experiences connect colleagues in a way that ignites creativity and knowledge-sharing and inspires them to bring a higher level of engagement to the project. In one recent study out of UCLA, scientists noted how virtual reality creates a stronger “theta rhythm” brain wave that may positively affect how the brain learns and retains sensory information. A higher level of engagement results in better engineering decisions that can lead to increased safety and efficiency on the physical build. The metaverse even lends itself to networking among peers to deepen relationships for future projects.
Avoiding Metaverse Pitfalls
Is there a downside to building infrastructure in the metaverse? Not really. Sure, not everyone is able to afford a TESLASUIT (nor will they need one). And, for everyday use, wearable devices have sometimes received low marks for comfort; clunky wired headsets and vision-induced motion sickness have been a problem. It is true that these pitfalls have challenged adoption.
But now headsets are wireless, more comfortable and affordable, and smaller, which also makes them more portable. As far as motion sickness is concerned, applications are now calling in the right frame rates – the number of frames per second that the human eye sees – to help create that realistic, but sensory-friendly experience.
Sometimes the effects of depth perception in an application are so realistic, it can be a bit jarring. Like when engineers and planners go about their day inside the 3D model of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Tokomak – considered one of the most ambitious scientific endeavours in size and scope – a walk around the top of the 60-metre-tall structure can make them feel like they should watch their step.
The key to adoption lies in making the technology easy to use and enabling it to seamlessly integrate into existing workflows. Bentley Systems is at the forefront of developing technology that will enable lead engineers to resolve issues in their native design applications with the full context of the problem.
In the last year, interest in the metaverse, its challenges and benefits, has grown exponentially. Gaming engine technology is paving the way to limitless opportunity, and we can count on the fact that organisations are opting into the metaverse to build the future of infrastructure, with tools that they can carry around in a backpack.
