1,720,967 research outputs found
Modelling and Simulating Use Processes in Buildings
No full textIn this paper, we propose a new approach to simulating users’ behavior in yet un-built buildings. For this purpose, we have developed a model that connects two different representations: a formal representation of the building use, by means of a method borrowed from Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) approach; and a game-engine based 3D virtual environment, where this process is effectively simulated and integrated with some autonomous behaviour of users/agents. The model has been applied to two test cases, where the activities of doctors, nurses, patients, and visitors in different hospitals were tracked, simulated, and reviewed by medical professionals for validation
Adding users' dimension to BIM
No full textIn the last few years, several researches have added new dimensions to the usual 3D BIM approach, progressively including information
about construction time (BIM 4D), costs estimation (BIM 5D) and life-cycle management (BIM 6D). Nevertheless, a key factor such as the building’s interaction with its intended use and users is still under-represented by current BIM and IFC models: many users-related decisions are based on a set of average users requirements and on the assumption that, in this way, the future building will fulfil the needs of the majority of users. In this paper, we propose to include use’ and users’ semantics in current BIM representation, and to
integrate it with the virtual simulation of the building use phenomenon. Its main objective is to provide a visualization of how the future building will actually be used and experienced, before stepping into its construction. This allows designers to test and evaluate the impact of their decisions on future users’ life
and activities in the proposed built environment during the design phases, when it is still possible to intervene and improve the quality of the final product by solving critical issues and reducing time and costs
Simulating human behavior in not-yet built environments by means of event-based narratives
No full textCurrent Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) systems fail to represent buildings in-use before their realization. This failure prevents testing the extent to which a proposed setting supports the activities of its intended users. We present a novel approach to human behavior simulation based on a thorough representation of end-user activities by means of events – computational constructs
that simulate users’ individual and group activities to achieve a specific goal. Human behavior narratives result from a combination of top-down (planned) and bottom-up (unplanned) sequences of events, as a reaction to timebased schedules and to social and environmental stimuli, respectively. A narrative management system orchestrates
the narrative developments and resolves conflicts that may arise among competing events
Beyond BIM. Next-generation building information modeling, to support form, function, and use of buildings
No full textThis paper argues that current building modeling tools, including popular BIM (Building Information Models) systems, provide a poor, inadequate representation of buildings: , because they represent only its physical and material characteristics. But buildings, unlike other products, cannot be understood independently of their intended use and of their intended users. Roughly speaking, a building cannot be understood without knowing how and by whom it will be used, but current building models are not able to represent such information.
This paper describes research aimed at developing a more comprehensive building modeling method, which includes form, function, and use(er) information. Such a model will allow
designers, and their clients, to make more informed decisions about the product they are designing, and its potential impacts on the people who will use it. The significance of this approach lies in the centrality of the ‘model’ as it applies to the design of buildings. A better building model will allow designers to visualize their product as it will be used, not only how it will look, much like designers of other consumer products can. This will eliminate function-related errors, potentially improving, even saving the lives of the buildings' inhabitants. In an era when the irrevocable impact of the built environment on the cost, quality, and perhaps even possibility of life on earth has been recognized, the need to make every effort to improve the tools used by building designers is self-evident
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
BIM and simulation of building use processes
No full textSince its advent, Building Information Modelling approach has been gradually extended from the sole representation of the Building and of its components (BIM 3D) to the management of knowledge related to construction time (BIM 4D), costs estimation (BIM 5D) and building life cycle (BIM 6D). Nevertheless, a relevant factor as the building functional response to the activities of its intended users is still underrepresented by current BIM and IFC models.
As result, designers are still forced to make decisions that will impact the building future use just relying on norms, regulations and manuals, or on their previous professional experience. The consequences are often clear in our world: after their construction, many buildings don’t work as expected, but it is usually too late or too costly to intervene.
The research described in this paper aims at: 1) extending the current BIM approach in order to include semantics related to the building use process; 2) integrate this model with a virtual simulation environment, where the designers can observe how the building will interact with its intended users. The proposed model is based on an ontology-based representation of the building use process, structured in terms of activities performed, users involved and building spaces where they are located. This static representation is associated to a simulation engine derived from the videogames industry, where the use process previously formalized is simulated and dynamically visualized. This system allows designers and clients to predict and evaluate how the building will be used and experienced before it will be actually realized and occupied, when it is still possible to in-crease the quality of the final product and solve errors and problems.To test and calibrate the model, some experiments have been developed in the hospital design field, simulating the functioning of some hospital wards both under routine and emergency scenarios
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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