Combining Building Information Modelling and Ambient Data in Interactive Virtual and Augmented Reality Environments

Smart Building is recent interdisciplinary research field that aims to improve the monitoring, management and maintenance of buildings. In this scenario, we present an innovative solution for combining BIM (Building Information Modelling) data with ambient information collected by heterogeneous devices deployed in the building. In order to collect environmental information, we exploit in this work a distributed software architecture. It enables the interoperability between heterogeneous data-sources, either physical devices like sensor nodes or third party software like Archibus, where building information resides. On top of this infrastructure, we developed an Android-based application that presents environmental building information integrated with BIM data in an Augmented and Virtual Reality environment. The proposed solution provides users awareness about building conditions and energy consumptions.