Mobile 3D graphics to help solve building dilemmas
Three-dimensional design problems on building sites will be a thing of the past, thanks to new technology being researched at Queensland University of Technology.
Funded by Microsoft Research Asia, a PhD information technology researcher at QUT, Andrew Tan, is working on innovative techniques that will allow larger-screen mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to share and manipulate complex 3D images.
"Say you were a structural engineer on the building site of a new shopping centre and you find a problem with a beam which can be easily amended," Mr Tan said.
"Currently you would have to go back to the office to alter the design, but with the technology I'm working on, the structural engineer could touch up designs on site and then send the modifications to the architect and building owner for approval, no matter where they are in the world."
Mr Tan said he was working with existing mobile phones and PDAs to create a prototype application that could be used by most current mobile users.
"The main goal is to reduce the amount of information that needs to be sent between devices, reducing the required amount of memory and processing capacity," he said.
"This is done with the help of annotations. Changes made to the 3D objects are sent from the device as annotated text commands, which are a lot smaller in size to send than a whole new 3D object.
"When the 3D object is uploaded onto another mobile device, a simple image appears first and then gradually builds in detail, so you get a course view of the 3D object to inspect while waiting for more details to be downloaded."
Mr Tan said there were other possibilities for the technology. "Someone renovating their home could send their 3D design ideas to an architect or draftsman by mobile phone," he said.
