CYPE has developed BIMserver.center, an open global cloud-based collaborative platform for AEC projects where all construction industry professionals can interact and share information using open standard formats, such as IFC. The BIMserver.center platform is funded by the SME Instrument 2018-2020 call of the European Commission's H2020 programme as it represents "a paradigm shift in the industry by developing a real social network in the construction industry", according to Pablo Gilabert, CYPE's Innovation Director.
The BIMserver.center platform is unique in the world thanks to the fact that it enables a collaborative and synchronised workflow between professionals in each speciality, allowing different software solutions to be used on the platform in the same project. In addition, BIMserver.center also favours the generation of employment and job opportunities thanks to its big data approach with which the platform promotes collaborations between different professionals from all over the world according to the needs of the owners of specific projects. To this end, BIMserver.center has its own algorithm that generates personalised alerts for collaboration on projects based on the specialities configured by users.
In Pablo Gilabert's opinion, BIMserver.center will help to overcome one of the most important shortcomings of the construction industry today: being the least digitised economic activity in the world, second only to agriculture. "Currently there is a wide range of software for architecture, engineering and construction, but its use is very restrictive because most of these tools have high-priced licenses that do not make them affordable to users," explains CYPE's Innovation Director.
With BIMserver.center, CYPE aims to provide a solution to this problem by consolidating an open collaboration environment where all the professionals involved in the construction industry can interoperate and share information using open formats. According to Pablo Gilabert, "technicians will be able to use this platform and use different software solutions to collaborate in the complete life cycle of the construction process".
Democratisation of augmented reality
BIMserver.center is also a pioneering platform and unique in the cloud thanks to which any construction professional and even an end user (owner of the building, dwelling, premises or office) can view the project in augmented reality (AR). To do this, users simply have to register on the platform for free, upload the project to it and download an app that CYPE has developed, which is also free, to be able to view their project in AR, even on their mobile phone.
This option offered by BIMserver.centre generates a series of benefits for professionals by improving their productivity since by visualising all the disciplines of the project (structures, installations, HVAC, etc.) in AR they can check how a job would look in the real world, at the appropriate scale, and interact with it.
"Specialists can visit any indoor or outdoor space, check if the calculations of the materials are correct, examine every detail of the structures and installations without having been built yet checking for collisions, and reduce the margin of error in their projects", emphasises CYPE's Innovation Director. And all this without the need to be a specialist in augmented reality or rely on the external services of a specialised company, as BIMserver.center generates AR viewing automatically and free of charge.
In short, BIMserver.center is:
- A Professional Social Network. BIMserver.center is a professional social network specialised in the construction industry that allows professionals and companies in the industry to contact each other. Here, professional contacts can be established and business opportunities can be generated.
- A global cloud platform for developing, storing and synchronising Open BIM projects. In addition to being a professional social network, BIMserver.center acts as a global cloud platform where professionals collaborate and carry out their projects, working with other collaborators in real time.
- The BIMserver.center Store. When it comes to displaying and implementing these projects, BIMserver.center acts in the same way as Google and its Google App for Works service, because while Google offers different tools for working in the cloud such as Gmail, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Docs or Google Slides, BIMserver.center offers highly specialised software so that construction industry specialists can share their projects in open formats.
- A BIMserver.center for developers. Any company or software developer can have the tools and the help of BIMserver.center specialists to incorporate their software into the technology proposed by BIMserver.center in a simple way and participate in the proposed open workflow. Currently, there is software available in the areas of structures, installations, architectural modelling, urban planning, energy efficiency, acoustic performance, cost estimates, infrastructures and health and safety.
- Augmented reality. The BIMserver.center platform uses Apple's augmented reality technology to make the work of technicians easier and more productive. Thanks to this technology, all the professionals involved in a project, from the technicians to the final homeowner, can see all the components of a construction project through a mobile device (computer, tablet, smartphone). Likewise, it is possible to get to the smallest detail of each of the jobs carried out in each project, viewing the layout of the structure, pipes, heating, drainage outlets, sockets, etc.
