Dragana Nikolic

Interactive visualization technologies in built environment practice – virtual and augmented reality          

Presenter

Dr. Dragana Nikolić

 

Your Current Institutional Affiliation

School of the Built Environment, University of Reading

 

Biography of Presenter

Dr. Dragana Nikolić is a Lecturer in Digital Architecture in the School of the Built Environment at University of Reading; the Program Director for the MSc Digital Design and Construction, and the member of the Human Data Interaction (HDI) Committee of the European Centre of Computing in Construction. She received a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and holds M.S. in Architecture (PSU) and Dipl.Eng. in Architecture from University of Belgrade. Her research interests center on digital technologies for design and construction in terms of how evolving digital practices transform the project delivery in the built environment from the technical, operational, procedural and human perspectives. In educational context, this raises questions about the strategies for using (inter)active and problem based learning to foster analytical and decision-making skills. Collaborations with Skanska, Crossrail and Mott MacDonald among other, informed the exploration of issues such as visualization in virtual reality for training and design reviews, project collaboration, simulation, building information modeling, and digital fabrication, straddling the use of digital technologies in practice and engineering education

 

Presentation Topic

Virtual and Augmented Reality

 

Description of Recorded Lecture Presentation

Virtual reality (VR) attracts much attention in construction for its engaging and interactive way of presenting building information. In this presentation, we look at how these technologies are used to create different user experiences and also examine practical considerations to understand what makes them (in)effective.

 

Learning Objectives

At the end of the presentation students will be able to:

  • Identify a range of interactive technologies for visualizing facility information;
  • Describe the characteristics of VR and explain benefits;
  • Evaluate the appropriateness and opportunities of VR technologies for select visualization, communication or decision making tasks;
  • Identify and discuss possible limitations and challenges associated with their use from the technological, collaborative or organizational perspectives.