Welcome to the CONVR 2005 Programme!
This year we are pleased to organise the 5th Conference on Construction
Applications of Virtual Reality 2005 at CCIR (Centre for Construction Innovation
and Research) based in the School of Science & Technology at the University of
Teesside, Middlesbrough, U.K., where the first CONVR2000 was held. Subsequent
conferences were held in 2001 in Chalmers (Sweden), in 2003 in Blacksburg
(Virginia, USA) and, in 2004, in Lisbon (Portugal). Exciting and wide-ranging
technical and industrial VR application papers were presented at these
conferences with the participation of researchers and industry delegates from
many countries.
CCIR has taken the opportunity to host the fifth CONVR conference, a rich
international forum for research and debate on the current initiatives and
future challenges of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in
Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). Durham is one of the
historical cities in the North East of England. Its historic city centre and the
magnificent Cathedral and Castle which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage
List lie on a rocky peninsula formed by a loop of the river Wear.
Virtual Reality (VR) is an exciting new technology that offers considerable
potential benefits for all stages of Architecture, Engineering and Construction
processes, from initial planning and conceptual design to facility management
and operations. Augmented Reality (AR) is a natural evolution of the VR
technology; it allows the user to see the real world, with virtual objects
superimposed upon or registered with the real world. Therefore AR supplements
reality, rather than completely replacing it. VR and AR can be applied as a
vehicle for the whole life cycle design and operation of AEC projects.
Sustainable research efforts throughout the world are pushing the frontier of
knowledge in terms of utilizing and implementing VR and AR.
The mission of the conference is to bring together scientists, researchers,
practitioners and industrialists in all areas of Architecture, Engineering and
Construction and promote efficient exchange of ideas and develop mutual
understanding of the needs and potential applications of VR and AR technologies.
The objective of the conference is to report and disseminate
outputs/progress/ideas of innovative international research activities in this
field and formulate strategies for future research directions.
In response to the issued call for papers the programme committee has received
21 communications from which 6 full papers and 11 short papers were selected,
after being peer reviewed by at least 3 reviewers each. Submissions have been
originated from all over the world.
The CONVR2005 meeting promoted Scientific, Industrial and Social Programmes. The
Scientific Programme included an Industrial day (12th September) with 8 invited
key-note presentations (40 minutes), and two panels (“Technology Uptake by
Industry” and “The role of academia to facilitate Technology Transfer to the
Industry”).
The invited key-notes were as follows:
- Prof. Ghassan Aouad and Angela Lee, University of Salford, “Advances in
application of VR technologies: the nD initiative.”
- Mr. Tony Brown, Virtalis, “Empowering end-users of building facilities using
the power of VR”
- Prof. Tom van Vuren, Mott MacDonald, UK, “Microsimulation in transport
modelling - advances in 4D visualisation”
- Engº Serafim Castro, MotaEngil, Portugal, “Automatic road construction
planning: the ROADSIM project”
- Prof. N Dawood, University of Teesside, “Application of 4D in the heavy civil
engineering industry: the white-city experience.”
- Prof. Ammar Kak and Prof. Emanuele Trucco, HW University, “Computer vision and
its application to manage site construction activities.”
- Prof. Miguel Dias, ADETTI/ISCTE, Portugal, “Augmented reality and its
application to the construction industry”
The following two programme days included paper presentations, 2 key-note
presentations and short papers. The invited key-notes were as follows:
-
Prof. Terrence Fernando, Univ. of Salford, UK, “Future Spaces”
- Chris Allen and Peter Moyes, A3D, UK, “Commercial use of 4D planning and 3D
for asset management”)
The programme included also a banquet and a belly dance show.
The proceedings of the Conference were published in electronic format, in a
special edition of the VIRtual journal (http://virtual.inesc.pt/convr2005),
as well as CD.
This programme is the result of much hard work and sincere devotion of a large
number of volunteers and support of several institutions. The presidency of the
organising committee and programme committee would like to express a word of
thanks, to all that have contributed to the organisation of this event: to the
members of the organising committee and, in particular, Claire Leonard and Rita
Pannen (Univ of Teesside) and Ana Rita Leitão (Adetti), for the enthusiastic and
professional commitment to the numerous tasks of the production of such an
event; to the members of the programme committee and external reviewers for the
motivation and attention dedicated to the evaluation and selection of the works
submitted; to the invited speakers, Prof. Ghassan Aouad, Ms Angela Lee, Mr. Tony
Brown, Prof. Tom van Vuren, Mr. Mott MacDonald, Engº Serafim Castro, Prof. N
Dawood, Prof. Ammar Kak, Prof. Emanuele Trucco, Prof. Miguel Dias, Prof.
Terrence Fernando, Mr. Chris Allen and Mr. Peter Moyes, for making the time to
share their knowledge and experience with the participants; to the authors of
all submitted works, for their motivation, commitment and effort put into the
writing of their works.
We would finally like to thank all the people and institutions that supported
the 5th Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality:
CCIR, UK
University. of Teesside, UK
Virginia Tech, USA
VR-NET, UK
ADETTI - Associação para o Desenvolvimento das Telecomunicações e Técnicas de
Informática , Portugal
ISCTE, Portugal
GPCG - Grupo Português da Computação Gráfica, Eurographics Portuguese Chapter
Construction Excellence in the NorthEast, UK
Construction Productivity Network, UK
Cyberchair
Virtalis, UK
Mota Engil, Portugal
Durham, September 2005
Nash Dawood, Chair
Walid Thabet, Scientific Co-Chair
José Miguel Salles Dias, Scientific Co-Chair