An innovative workflow for bridging the gap between design and environmental analysis

This paper describes the use of optical recognition technologies to augment the physical design space and its aesthetic drivers with a myriad of design performance variables available through advanced environmental analysis simulations to create an integrated and collaborative high-performance design platform. By utilizing various hardware and software systems, this design platform can capture critical physical information to be translated into a 3D digital environment where the digital model can be interpreted and various analysis information can be extracted.  Once the essential 3D visual information and measured analysis data is generated it can then be displayed back into the design platform in near real-time to be visualized, evaluated, negotiated, and acted upon. This has the greatest benefit to the design process because these decisions are occurring at the moment of design where they have the highest probability of affecting decisions that have the greatest impact on cost, energy use, and overall project design.