New digital technologies require new conceptual approaches to help potential users understand exi... more New digital technologies require new conceptual approaches to help potential users understand existing and envision new use cases and applications. Moving from desktop computing to spatial computing (virtual, augmented, mixed and extended reality environments) also requires the introduction of new metaphors. New interaction and visualisation possibilities afforded by current devices are causing virtual and real worlds to merge into an inseparable unity of reality and imagination. There are many similarities between theatre and AEC workflows. However, the theatre process is scaled down in terms of space, time, and budget, and is therefore better suited to explore innovative and experimental methods. In order to conceptualise the role of a novel spatial computing drawing tool (MR.Sketch) in existing AEC processes, we propose the theatre metaphor, which embeds the conceptual foundations of the tool in a collaborative design workflow based on the cooperation of different domain experts. The metaphor proposal includes the analysis of the following theatre concepts: integrative collaboration with specialists, stage infrastructure, workshops for different tools and manufacturing methods, stocks and the immersive experience of space and time in different scales. We illustrate the capabilities of the theatre metaphor to cover the entire creation and performance process of architectural design in an experimental mixed reality sketching application. The implementation of an early prototype of the sketching application was used to evaluate the applicability of the theatre metaphor to spatial computing.
1 ABSTRACT Urban agglomerations in the world metropolis demand new solutions to face the economic... more 1 ABSTRACT Urban agglomerations in the world metropolis demand new solutions to face the economical, social, ecological and physical problems. Many ideas concentrate mainly to above ground to either vertical and/or horizontal extension in the cities, with higher skyskrapers or even cities in the ocean. But what about using underground space? Fighting with the attributes of unpleasent surrounding, images of darkness, dampness and sickness, a lot of people don‘t feel sympathy for living underground. But the concept to live in depth, caves, catacombs or even cities below the surface is pretty old. Supported by literary and mystic traditions like travel to the underworld, a vision is initiated, to think more about these possibilities and a new direction of thinking for planners. The advantages of using the underground are obvious. In metropolitan cities in Netherlands, Israel or Japan, which have to face growing population, agricultural as well as open green spaces have to be protected....
Verwendung von maschinellem Lernen (ML) für die Bestimmung von Fassadenmaterialien Die Bauindustr... more Verwendung von maschinellem Lernen (ML) für die Bestimmung von Fassadenmaterialien Die Bauindustrie nutzt rund 40 % aller verfügbaren natürlichen Ressourcen und ist für große Mengen der CO2-Emissionen verantwortlich. Deswegen spielen Recycling und Wiederverwendung v on M aterialien e ine wichtige R olle in d er E ntwicklung nachhaltiger A rchitektur. D ie p raktische Umsetzung d er W iederverwendung von Material kann jedoch komplex sein. In diesem Fall muss die vorhandene Struktur selbst analysiert werden, um die Materialien zu identifizieren und zu klassifizieren. Dieser Prozess hängt stark von der Mustererkennung und der richtigen Beurteilung der Materialien in einem Gebäude ab. Eine solche Aufgabe ist langwierig, repetitiv und somit sehr gut geeignet für Automatisierung. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, zu zeigen, d ass e ine der H auptmethoden d er Künstlichen Intelligenz (KI), d as Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN), ein vielversprechendes Potenzial als Instrument zur Analyse von Gebäudefassaden besitzt. Die aktuelle Arbeit bietet eine detaillierte Übersicht und Geschichte der wichtigsten Methoden der KI und ihrer derzeitigen Anwendung in der Architektur. Im Folgenden wurde das CNN als Instrument zur Erkennung von Fassaden verwendet, getestet und bewertet. Das vorgeschlagene CNN funktioniert auf Basis einer semantischen Bildsegmentierung und markiert bestimmte Teile eines Bildes entsprechend dem Material, das auf einem solchen Bild gezeigt wird. Eine Datenbank mit Gebäudefassaden wurde erstellt und zur Schulung und Bewertung der G enauigkeit d es C NN's verwendet. Die E rgebnisse der C NN Leistung zur Materialerkennung, mögliche V erbesserungen, s owie I mplikationen und Einschränkungen der Fassade, werden in den letzten Kapiteln ausführlich beschrieben.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capture, edit, store, reorganize and present spatial data of... more Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capture, edit, store, reorganize and present spatial data of model buildings and are widely used at archaeological surveys and archaeological information processing, such as prediction modeling. The process of Building Information Modeling (BIM) additionally includes methods to create and analyze spatial structure and is therefore promising to study also historic buildings. To evaluate BIM analysis methods in the context of archaeology the funerary monuments of Harwa, Anch Hor, Karabasken and Irtieru were chosen as an experimental test bed. The Theban monuments date to the 25th and 26th Egyptian dynasty and were built by high officials. They represent the monuments of the type of Late Period private funerary complexes in Thebes. An essential question was, if the building or usage concept of a tomb can be defined from an architectural point of view by analysis methods. Starting with a survey of existing structures of the Egyptian funerary monument...
Interchanges of Influences and Cultural Identity - Construction, Damage and Repair of the Cathedral of Šibenik
The strong stone-cutting tradition, with continuity dating as far back as ancient times, together... more The strong stone-cutting tradition, with continuity dating as far back as ancient times, together with the innovative approach and the capacity to creatively combine different building traditions, resulted in high achievements in the mediaeval and Renaissance Croatian architecture. The fruitful outcome of interchanges of influences in the Croatian cultural space is a unique structural system of the early Renaissance cathedral in Sibenik. The highly sophisticated constructive system (thin vaults assembled of large stone elements with astonishingly precise details) does not require a covering, so that the vaults are visible from outside, making the identity of internal space and external form possible. The cathedral has been a symbol of the local cultural identity for centuries. The deliberate attempt of destruction in the recent war proved how resistant the apparently fragile structure is, and showed that not only experts, but also common military men understand the importance of arc...
Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History Madrid 20th 24th January 2003 Vol 3 2003 Isbn 84 9728 073 3 Pags 1855 1864, 2003
We explore the potential of game engines in the area of real-time light simulation as a feasibili... more We explore the potential of game engines in the area of real-time light simulation as a feasibility study. We especially consider needs of architects, light planners, and clients like enhanced workflow, tighter integration of software packages, and real-time rendering of scenes. Furthermore, we investigate the publishing possibilities for client side interactive exploration of lighting scenarios. As a proof of concepts we tested the workflow on a chosen scenario suitable for diverse lighting situations, the ProjectSpace Kunsthalle.
Emergency situations such as earthquakes or mass panics require thorough thought even in the earl... more Emergency situations such as earthquakes or mass panics require thorough thought even in the early phases of building design. What is needed most from the technical side are tools that integrate well with the architectural workflow and can produce rapid visualizations of such events. Such a visual emergency concept can act both as basis for discussion between architect and customer as well as evidence for the building authorities. It can also be used to train the later users of the building in evacuation exercises or fire drills, which is one of the key ...
Crowd simulation, die Simulation einer Masse von Akteuren, und speziell die Simulation von Fußgän... more Crowd simulation, die Simulation einer Masse von Akteuren, und speziell die Simulation von FußgängerInnen, wird in der Verkehrsplanung, der Architektur, der Gebäude- und Verkehrssicherheit sowie für Computeranimation in der Film- und Spieleindustrie eingesetzt. Die größten Herausforderungen liegen dabei (1) im realistischen Verhalten der Agenten, (2) im realistischen Aussehen und der Unterschiedlichkeit und (3) in einer benutzerfreundlichen Erstellung von Crowds. Die vorliegende Arbeit konzentriert sich auf das Verhalten der Agenten in Architektur-Kontexten. Zuerst wird der State-of-the-art auf dem Gebiet von Crowd Simulation in virtuellen Umgebungen zusammengefasst. Danach wird das Verhalten von FußgängerInnen durch Beobachtung im Westbahnhof, derzeit einem der beiden größten Bahnhöfe Wiens, analysiert. Ein agentenbasierter Ansatz wird verwendet, um mit Hilfe der Beobachtungen ein Verhaltensmodell zu erstellen, welches aus drei Ebenen (strategisch, taktisch und operationell) besteh...
Space utilization by humans is an important aspect in building design, especially for buildings w... more Space utilization by humans is an important aspect in building design, especially for buildings with a substantial flow of pedestrians like train stations. We aim at a simulation of pedestrian flows as a visual feedback in the planning phase of buildings. The simulation has to provide feedback for the layout and dimensions of floor space. This includes the general organization of space as well as capacities or congested and high collision areas. After observing pedestrians at the Westbahnhof, a major train station in the capital city of Austria, movements of pedestrians within a train station have been simulated and visualized. The real-time simulation is based on a multi-agent approach, where the individual agents are controlled by a behavioural model which employs three levels: strategic, tactical and operational. In our behavioural model, a strategy specifies the reason a person visits a place (e.g. to depart) and consists of several activities on the tactical level. While the st...
Major challenges in the simulation of pedestrians are the realistic behaviour of agents, realisti... more Major challenges in the simulation of pedestrians are the realistic behaviour of agents, realistic appearance and variety, and how to conveniently define larger crowds of pedestrians. In this paper, pedestrian behaviour in buildings is analysed and structured in order to develop a behavioural model for buildings with high pedestrian flows. Observing pedestrians at a larger train station is used as a basis for the creation of a three-level behavioural model. The model follows a multi-agent-based approach and consists of a strategic, tactical, and operational level. A strategy indicates why a person visits a building and is broken down into activities on the tactical level. In this model, the strategy remains constant for an agent during its lifetime, while activities and associated areas are chosen and prioritized dynamically. This results in a coarse route through the facility. The operational level consists of path planning and obstacle avoidance. The suggested behavioural model ha...
Traditional Balinese Architecture is known for its extensive rules at both, the microscopic and t... more Traditional Balinese Architecture is known for its extensive rules at both, the microscopic and the macroscopic level, ranging from the design of entire villages to single building elements. These rules are preserved in century old palm leaves, so-called lontars, and were put into practice by the Undagi (traditional “architect”) according to the needs of the owner of the building who provides the bodily proportions to parameterize the building rules. These traditional rules lend themselves to the transformation for procedural modelling with design grammars. In architecture design grammars have been used in several examples (e.g. variations of possible Palladian villas, Chinese traditional architecture, historic reconstruction of Rome). Procedural urban modelling appeared more recently with software tools like the CityEngine which have expanded the idea of design grammars and allow for rapid generation of architectural models and entire urban structures of a specific contemporary or ...
Abstract: Aside of architectural heritage that is readily visible to the public like well-known t... more Abstract: Aside of architectural heritage that is readily visible to the public like well-known tourist sites, there are many heritage objects which only exist in restricted excavation sites or in museums to where they have been moved. Some of them exist in literature only. Archaeologists put a lot of effort into the reconstruction of architectural heritage, even in digital form. Still, most of this work is hardly ever shown to the public in its original size. We advocate the public visibility of architectural heritage in its digital form. For a convincing display we suggest a nightly projection in situ, showing the virtual reconstructions in their original place. In order to achieve this form of projection, we address the challenge to project over existing architecture taking the uneven and textured projection surface of the existing architecture into account. This will be achieved through a projection mapping technique, correcting the geometric distortion as well as the texture va...
Reliving the medieval past is an important economic factor in Europe, physically as well as digit... more Reliving the medieval past is an important economic factor in Europe, physically as well as digitally. The broad public interest in the Middle Ages is still continuing, including all aspects of medieval life and culture, in media and as events on historical sites. Also the gaming community has a strong affinity towards medieval contents which is clearly visible in numerous popular titles and an ever-growing market. There is probably a substantial overlap between those two communities. Our approach envisions a serious game for both communities, to provide education on historical construction techniques and foster motivation for preservation of built heritage. Thereby we put a focus on the conceptual game design based on historical research and a reference to a heritage site. The implementation was done as a proof of concept. The idea has been realized with the listed heritage castle Waldenfels in Upper Austria. The context of the game is set by the medieval building phase of the castle which is only partially preserved. Its content focuses on medieval professions in construction, including their tools, materials and methods. The game's target audience are local people, tourists with an interest in castles, architecture students, as well as craftsmen and conservators. The benefit of using contemporary communication strategies like serious games for traditional construction techniques lies in the vitalisation of intangible heritage for an interested audience. Thus, the game aims to motivate and educate its audience to participate in preserving local tangible heritage as a community effort. We see our approach as a contribution to a sustainable living heritage that is supported by an involved community.
Understanding urban agglomerations as a collection of dynamic processes is discussed extensively ... more Understanding urban agglomerations as a collection of dynamic processes is discussed extensively in urban design theory. Although the importance of time in urban planning is recognized widely, most methodologies and available tools for the urban design process do not support the implementation and simulation of urban processes. Although, some elements of urban design, as for example the planning of transport systems, incorporate the dimension of time, there exists a big lack in understanding the dynamic behaviour of an urban environment in various scales of time. In the international design competition "Chronopolis", initiated in Japan, the primary design goal was to view urban development in several time spans. Several universities participated in this competition, forming four groups to design urban environments considering four different time spans, ranging from the one-minute city, the one-year city, the onehundred-year city to the one thousand year city. As our contribution was to focus on the one-year city, we developed several tasks that enabled the students to visualize the interrelationship of urban processes in time and space. Our primary aim/object was to develope specialized visualization techniques to be able to understand dynamic processes in the city of Vienna. As a conclusion, interdependencies of the parameters with processes in the city could be detected. Furthermore the question of how urban design can cope with dynamic changes was addressed by a first basic step, leading to more insight in the complex behaviour of urban environments.
Radiosity with Textures, Specular Reflection and Transmission
The radiosity algorithm introduced by Goral et al. [Goral84] was designed to simulate the transfe... more The radiosity algorithm introduced by Goral et al. [Goral84] was designed to simulate the transfer of light in purely diffuse environments. This limitation prevents the possibility to render objects with materials like glass or metal. To overcome this problem, extensions can be added to the basic algorithm. This paper describes extensions to the traditional radiosity algorithm that include texture mapping, specular reflection and specular transmission.
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Papers by Peter Ferschin