Editorial
Keywords:
omputer aided design (CAD), virtual reality, visualization, simulation, architecture, engineering, construction.Abstract
This paper summarizes the pros and
cons, and also the potential use, in
general, of virtual reality and, particularly, of VRML in construction projects. The paper includes a short
summary of the computer assisted
design environment where virtual reality and VRML are included; an
analysis of the characteristics, historic evolution, techniques and tools of
virtual reality; an analysis of the main
characteristics, pros, cons and application fields of VRML; an example of
using VRML, and a summary of the
main specific difficulties experimented in building the example model;
and an analysis of the main characteristics of X3D, the successor of
VRML. Despite being a young technology, with its corresponding disadvantages here summarized, VRML /
X3D entail an unquestionable potential for the construction industry, probably at the medium-term, also explained in this paper
