Web-based Architecture.(Industry Trend or Event)

as an architect helping other architects align their practices with new technologies, I am often asked, "Is this, at last, the year of 3D CAD in architecture--especially since the Web makes 3D easier than ever?" To answer, I consider two factors: potential architecture-specific 3D Web standards and the emergence of a "killer app."

Regarding 3D Web standards, thus far they have been slow to emerge because of the limited penetration of the technology in architecture. According to CyberEdge Information Services, architecture barely makes it into the top five uses of visualization/simulation technology, garnering just 3.5 percent of the market. As a result, the Web 3D Consortium, successor to VRML standards groups, is now focusing on formats such as RM3D, a rich media open standard for 3D broadcast content. Also, while proprietary 3D Web formats exist--from Actify's Spinfire to Adobe's Atmosphere--these are geared for mechanical CAD or entertainment, rather than for CAD for architecture, engineering, and construction.

Meanwhile, the number of vendors offering 3D Web formats have dwindled. Vuent, with its envision navigable Web 3D that looked promising for architecture, was acquired by iEngineer, an ASP not directly serving the AEC market. Even Viewpoint, which numbers VRML pioneers Cosmo and Intervista among its corporate ancestors, now avoids the term VRML and the perceived limits of AEC CAD. This leaves RealityWave as one of the few surviving architectural CAD Web 3D vendors.

The good news is that a potential 3D Web standard for architecture is emerging from the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), a consortium of AEC vendors and users in the process of XML-enabling their Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs). Vendors are beginning the process of IFC-compliant certification for their products, including Microsoft (Visio) and Graphisoft (ArchiCAD). This effort may achieve the critical mass necessary to establish a de facto standard.

In terms of a killer 3D app for AEC CAD, while architects, clients, consultants, and contractors have readily ...