![]() ![]() When looking at BIM or scanned datasets, which are large, and with improvements to mobile bandwidth with LTE and 4G, vendors are now moving to streaming the content from the cloud to the mobile device, bypassing files and the issues that arise from that. ![]() There are generally two types of mobile apps for BIM: those that are designed as stand alone and offer capabilities to view / create and send, or those that are designed as extensions to company systems and provide mobile access to backend or cloud-centric infrastructure, such as Bentley ProjectWise. As BIM data can be so rich, it is also possible that a vendor may develop a number of applications to extract data views from a single model, such as quantities, plans / elevations, COBie spreadsheets or lightweight 3D models. Fortunately many of these applications are free or are available at small cost on Apple iOS or Google Android. The net result is that designers may have a ‘constellation of applications’ on their devices to access all their data, including File storage, Mail, Maps, Documents, Spreadsheets, Drawings, Renderings, Project portals, photographs etc. For example, there might be one application to view files, and another application to create drawings. The number and type of applications will depend on the task. ![]() With applications being limited in size and scope, multiple applications are often required to get a design job done. Mobile applications do not offer the same breadth of functionality as desktops, and vendors came out with lightweight file formats such as DWF to lower the bandwidth, memory and processor speed required. Data and application in the mobile world need to be substantially different and ‘thinner’. These applications need the resources that mobile computers and smartphones lack - huge amounts of expandable RAM, big hard drives and workstation class processors. Traditional software, such as the likes of AutoCAD, are large monolithic lumps of code that can do many things on the data that they create. The growth of tablets and smartphones on site is a growing trend and many developers have iOS or Android applications to further extend their drawing office systems to make design information ubiquitous. Like emails, drawings and models can be stored on servers and accessed via the cloud, connecting design teams to fabricators and construction workers. We already rely on a multitude of ‘clouds’ (hosted servers) using them knowingly, or unknowingly, to go about our normal lives. It gives us flexibility to be outside of the office, onsite or work from home, and provides wireless access to the historical, real-time or context aware information. We have smartphones, tablets, the cloud, sub-notebooks and now even watches, all providing portable online access. Over the last two decades, global connectivity has become big business. “Why would you ever want to do that?” replied my friend, who now, years later, will probably be the last die-hard Blackberry user on the planet. I distinctly remember showing my Blackberry phone to a friend, quite a few years ago, and demonstrating how I could now have access to the web and my email on the go. With the advent of CAD, the digitisation of design, the Internet and mobile computing, we really can get everything, everywhere and mobile apps for BIM are on the rise. Access to design data used to be limited to drawing offices and distributed in cardboard tubes. ![]()
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