Integrating BIM and panorama to create a semi-augmented-reality experience of a construction site

A panorama is a continuous wide view of a real or virtual environment that provides the viewer with a natural feeling of being in such an environment. Panoramas can provide the visual backdrops and contexts for any augmented information such as audio, text, video, or 3D objects. This augmented panoramic environment can create an interactive space to provide information and bring the panorama to life. Having a panorama of a construction jobsite, and superimposing the building information models on it, would provide construction personnel with a simple way to access their required information in a natural and interactive environment. In this research, a workflow was developed to access building information augmented over the panoramic view of the real-world physical environment of the construction jobsite. A prototype was developed based on the created process and a user participation case study was conducted to test this system on a building renovation project. The results show that, an augmented panorama can provide a location-independent virtual reality experience, which is not significantly different from a pure-augmented-reality setting.;  A panorama is a continuous wide view of a real or virtual environment that provides the viewer with a natural feeling of being in such an environment. Panoramas can provide the visual backdrops and contexts for any augmented information such as audio, text, video, or 3D objects. This augmented panoramic environment can create an interactive space to provide information and bring the panorama to life. Having a panorama of a construction jobsite, and superimposing the building information models on it, would provide construction personnel with a simple way to access their required information in a natural and interactive environment. In this research, a workflow was developed to access building information augmented over the panoramic view of the real-world physical environment of the construction jobsite. A prototype was developed based on the created process and a user participation case study was conducted to test this system on a building renovation project. The results show that, an augmented panorama can provide a location-independent virtual reality experience, which is not significantly different from a pure-augmented-reality setting.;