The automotive and aeronautics sectors, for example, have already integrated these new technologies.  So why not architecture? BIM already makes it possible to “build before building”, using 3D collaborative modelling. But virtual reality goes even further. Not only can you consult the model, but you can enter the digital simulation with a hard hat and move about in an immersive environment.

For example, using virtual reality, healthcare staff at Poissy-Saint-Germain hospital were able to immerse themselves in their future premises, interact with the models, and approve the technical layout. They were able to familiarise themselves with the volume and functionality of the spaces and explore the ergonomics of their positions at work. This was possible using the BIM model with FUZOR. This saved valuable time downstream: changes requested by users were applied before work began. 

There are many advantages. Clients can visualise a more realistic and precise version of the final result of their project than traditional 3D models prepared on a computer. It’s easier to clearly identify our clients’ needs and quicker to reach project approval, which in turn means better client relations and higher client satisfaction. 

“Apart from client approval, virtual reality also improves services to our clients’ clients - the end users!” explains Emilie Constant. “For example, end users can immerse themselves in their future home, which encourages them to make quicker decisions about architectural details and product choices. More importantly, they are reassured by the visualisation of the future building, which helps them make decisions.”  

This type of solution does not provide total immersion in a digital mock-up, but it can be very effective depending on the circumstances. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, VSL International was looking for ways to carry on with site visits and maintain contact with their teams. This solution provided them with virtual site visits in real time via Teams! ! 

It has also been used for communicating about events such as the partnership with skipper Stéphane Lediraison and his Time for Oceans yacht, virtual visits of the group’s archives for Heritage Day, and the Inno’Cup 2018 competition.

BIM and virtual reality are benefiting other projects in the pre-construction phase at Bouygues Travaux Publics, particularly tunnel projects. Eric Tournez, Deputy Director of IS and BIM for this business area, tells us: “Various virtual reality experiments have been conducted for tunnel projects, such as the Eole GC-TUN tunnel in Paris. Using the Cintoo platform with 3D scans and 360° photos, virtual immersion in the tunnel is possible wearing a virtual reality headset connected to data on the cloud. In-house development of linear referencing means it’s easy for operators to locate and move to a specific point. On another project users were able to safely visualise, observe and record equipment on a 1:1 scale at heights that would usually have required nacelles wearing a simple headset! With Cintoo, it’s possible to navigate around a dense cloud of points from a web browser, even with a smartphone.”  

Interested in the Cintoo platform? Contact Sébastien Chheng to set it up for your project. 

“Inspecting finished works is useful but it is even more useful to be able to check for any possible nonconformities before concrete is poured,” says Benjamin Nguyen. “We’re working on that next.”  
The aim is to use mixed or augmented reality to superimpose the virtual on the real for correcting details in advance, such as the positioning of formwork before pouring concrete, or to facilitate preparatory work for the installation of equipment for power networks and other services. “We are no longer condemned to inspections post works, when it’s too late to make corrections. We can now carry out inspections before getting to the building phase when there is no going back,” explains Benjamin Nguyen, who is currently testing the process on the LFB Group project in Arras.  
 
Finally, virtual reality will also lead to great advances in the maintenance phase. Just like for the construction phase, technical preparations can be modelled in 3D, providing for enhanced anticipation and operations.  Bouygues Energies & Services teams are already using BIM to ensure more efficient maintenance of the buildings they manage. This new expertise has been recognised with the first French certification “BIM Model in Use” for the Francis Bouygues building at Centrale Supelec.  
More recently, the NextBIM solution using Hololens glasses has been chosen to continue BIM in Use for the building.

Virtual reality also has high potential for training. Since 2018, Bouygues Construction’s R&D has been focusing on the subject, including a thesis in partnership with Université  Versailles–Saint Quentin en Yvelines, aiming to improve working conditions on construction sites. The idea? A system combining robotics and virtual reality that trains workers in the correct gestures using a process that is both visual and tactile. Advantages? Virtual reality makes it possible to simulate gestures that would be dangerous when executed incorrectly in safe conditions. Workers can learn in a safe environment.  

At Losinger Marazzi (Bouygues Bâtiment France Europe), the Occupational Health and Safety Prevention team also identified many possibilities for the use of virtual reality for training. Guided by their partner Cap Image, the team has developed 35 virtual sites to offer training situations to workers, supervisors, subcontractors and site visitors. They have tested methods for identifying risks, for jobs ranging from earthmoving to finishes, under the watchful eye of a trainer who tracks the participants’ virtual gestures on a screen.  

Maude Demenois, from the Ergonomics division of the Safety and Prevention department, explains the many uses of new technologies for health and safety at Bouygues Construction. They include a partnership with the manufacturer Fein to develop a safe grinder, experimenting with cutting-edge devices such as exoskeletons like the Zero G arm, deployment of a new generation of shuttered concrete, ergonomic studies into formwork using sensors, the BYCUT knife, discovered by the Inno’Cup contest, the use of quadruple robots to ensure safety on sites, the USAFe connected buoy for river and maritime works, the Safety App made available by Bouygues Bâtiment International, the Safety Room at Bouygues Bâtiment France Europe, and last but not least, Cority, the protocol and tool for reporting accidents and incidents which complements the system used to manage our prevention policy. 

“We recently delivered important theoretical and practical training using virtual reality with workers from the CEA d’Aulnay, for operating construction machines,” continues Maude Demenois. Placed in simulators at Acréos, the teams were able to experience machinery operations to raise awareness about the risks of collisions with pedestrians - such as blind spots - reducing risky behaviour and accidents. 
“As mentioned by Benjamin Nguyen earlier, we also believe that virtual reality is an opportunity to anticipate constraints for workers, with equipment design upstream.” 

Initially, virtual and augmented reality technologies were for geeks, but great advances have been made recently. The experience is becoming realistic and accessible to all. Today, all these technologies are capable of immersing the user in an alternative reality. In some cases, they will replace the real world: build before building, project reviews, virtual rather than physical inspections, comparing finished work with plans, and so on. It is now possible because the technology has become more powerful, more efficient and less expensive. Facebook’s recent change in strategic direction, now called Meta, is a sign of great prospects for the future.  

Most building and public works projects, particularly in regeneration for which augmented reality can be used to previsualise existing constructions, can benefit from these technologies. They are much more effective for detecting design inconsistencies and obstacles before building than 2D alternatives. The challenge for this, like any R&D, is rationalising - comparing the costs and benefits.  
 
Interested in testing use cases for your projects using augmented reality or virtual reality? Want more information on the advantages of these technologies? Or you’d like to visit the Design Lab? Get in touch with Benjamin Nguyen.