Educational Application of Virtual Reality in Graphical Simulation of the Construction Process of Chinese Dougong

Abstract

Fabian Hadipriono Tan has worked in the areas of construction of infrastructures and buildings, failure assessment of buildings and bridges, construction accident investigations, forensic engineering, ancient buildings, ancient bridges, and the ancient history of science and engineering for over 40 years. The tools he uses include fault tree analysis, fuzzy logic, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Dr. Michael Parke, Ohio State UniversityDr. Parke has over twenty years experience in satellite based earth science research. He has been teaching first year engineering for the past seventeen years, with emphasis on computer aided design, computer programming, and project design and documentation.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2017 EDUCATIONAL APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN GRAPHICAL SIMULATION OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS OF CHINESE DOUGONGAbstract -The research described in this paper uses a state-of-the-art technique, known as virtual reality (VR), to recreate the complex structure and construction processes of dougong, a unique characteristic of ancient Chinese architecture, in an environment where users can interact with objects with a high degree of realism. Virtual reality has become a powerful tool in the field of education, as it enables students to examine digital assets in a virtual environment without relying on expensive props or compromising the safety of the students in an on-site demonstration. This gives students a more in-depth picture of dougong than in previous studies, multimedia system which connects 3-D models made in Autodesk 3DS Max with the Oculus Rift VR glass hardware system has been conducted as an example of the application of VR in engineering education to facilitate the learning of complex architecture and engineering. The authors believe that systems like this can be applied to both additional types of dougong and other, similarly sophisticated construction systems, which can help engineering students understand the structure and construction of these complex buildings and infrastructures.

Development of a Virtual Reality Flight Simulator to Assist in the Design of Original Aircraft

“…Multiple presentation methods of dougong construction were then conducted with Autodesk 3DS MAX and virtual simulations using the Oculus Rift. 2 In another paper from last year, virtual reality was used to illuminate ancient engineering and construction methods used in the Jinshanling region of the Great Wall of China. A VR simulation using the Oculus Rift and an Xbox controller, allows students to examine the construction process in a virtual environment.…”

A Multimedia User-experience System with 3-D Simulation for the Construction Process of Nanwang Water Diversion Pivotal Project on China's Grand Canal

“…These explorations have indicated the feasibility of the graphical simulation application in education domain. Knowledgebased systems have been applied for educational purposes as well, such as Intelligent Dougong System with Virtual Reality (IDSVR), which is developed to introduce a structural component Dougong [11], and Multi-media Graphical System to teach students about St. George's Church [12].…”

Work in Progress: Educational Uses of an Intelligent System to Teach Construction Processes – A Case Study of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

“…Besides the supportive components, there are also auxiliary structure components such as the roof covering, horizontal decorations on the eaves, connections, and wind bells, all of which were structurally elaborated in the authors' previous research [3] and [6]. Among all the auxiliary structure components, the dougong (capand-block bracket connections of timber components) as one of the most important support members of the structure, has been comprehensively simulated in an earlier study [7].…”