Imagine you are standing in the lobby of your new civic center. To the left, you see the reception area and foyer meeting space. With a movement of the mouse your view switches to what you would see if you were looking outside the south window. Switch off the structural view to see all the electrical and piping systems tracing their outlines above and around you as you walk toward the elevator. No, this is not a movie and no you are not on the holodeck of Star Trek’s Enterprise. You are experiencing a building information model where design visualization crosses the line into design virtualization.

Real 3D design is now pervasive; driven by the vast improvement in understanding that designers and clients gain. Today, anyone can walk down the street to Home Depot to obtain 3D drawings of a new custom kitchen renovation project from multiple angles. They aren’t in color and don’t show the details of materials and lighting effects, but they are a vast improvement over that of a 2D plan, which most people cannot picture. Large building projects are taking the pervasiveness of 3D, combined with the power of building information models a step or two further down the visualization line – adding color, materials and lighting effects at the basic end, and comprehensive, animated, virtual walking tours at the higher end.
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