Voyansi Voices Blog

Science fiction author Jeff Duntemann once said: “A good tool improves the way you work. A great tool improves the way you think”. There’s no doubt that the AEC industry has been revolutionized at every step of the technological revolution. New tools have been developed by great minds and changed completely the way professionals deliver projects, design, and even had a huge impact on the industry’s workflows.

Do you want to know what is the most popular BIM software? Revit is the correct answer. Its impact in the BIM ecosystems mirrors the one caused by the passage from black and white to color on tv. Sketching and 2D work were replaced by Revit’s 3D components, which are stored in Revit families. This led to a change in the mindset of AEC professionals all over the world.

The digital transformation rests in the implementation of cutting-edge technology. In the architecture, building, and engineering industries, digital twins are the representation of innovation and will to make the most out of the technology available.

We live in the information age. More than ever, the amount of data we handle in our daily operations is immense and only continues to grow. Think about it, while working “analogically” there’s so much information scattered all over different platforms that often lead to confusion and, consequently, to rescheduling and reworking.

So, what if all the information needed for the construction process could be stored in a single place? That’s what digital twins are all about, and they have a positive impact on the optimization of productivity and quality.

I believe that humans, like plants and other animals, need time to get used to new environments. Understanding them, familiarizing themselves with their characteristics and peculiarities, is the first step. Of course, this applies to any change you face in your life: From moving to another city, to becoming a new Revit user.

Think back to your college days. Remember that time you left an assignment or paper until the last minute? You “had enough time” but then something happened. For me, it was a laptop upgrade at the last minute when I had a quiz due that required MatLab. Long story short, the professor was not terribly happy but gave me an extension. If you read our post last week, you are thinking about implementing BIM, and are creating your roadmap for rollout to the entire company. My biggest piece of advice: pilot before your global rollout. 

So, where do you start with planning your pilot? Our recommendation: start by keeping the end in mind and setting goals. What are your aims in implementing BIM? You should have clearly defined goals in terms of productivity, quality, and delivery improvements. Goals can be translated into your plan and will help you pick a project to pilot your new tools on. The project you choose for a pilot must include all key project stages so that you can get a clear snapshot of what areas BIM has helped, and to allow you to measure against your goals. 

This month our team

We’ve arrived at Tulum and the landscape couldn’t be any different from NYC. Streets drastically shift from narrow to wide, and there are few tall buildings around them. Therefore, the sky occupies most part of our field of view.

Looking around you begin to appreciate the city’s palette. Brown colors mix with strident reds, yellows, and oranges. Of course, murals give life to almost every wall. They vary in size and are located almost in every corner.

You probably saw the news a year or so ago. Notre Dame going up in flames. When I got the notification on my phone, I felt it couldn’t be that bad: fires happen all the time, and in a large city with plenty of infrastructures, it would be easy for the fire department to put the blaze out. I guess there is a reason that I don’t play the lottery, I’m not very good at predicting the future. If you want to skip the wordplay of our blog today, feel free to check out our services page for our latest offering: HBIM Solutions.

Not so long ago, coordination between team members was a major issue. Not only everyone had to adjust their schedules, but also be fully aware of the project’s latest updates and modifications. This often led to confusion, lots of hours spent in old versions of a project, and the worst part: shuffling of deadlines.

Luckily, the scenario has changed. You know about BIM360 and other cloud collaboration platforms. We all know that cloud collaboration is here to make our life easier, especially in a post-pandemic world where many employees will work from home. But what if your organization is smaller, or does not have the budget to pay for high-cost licenses? 

Last year, many of our clients and our company changed the way we worked. For our larger clients already using Bim360, there was not much of a shift other than the space's employees were collaborating from. The software allows models to be collaborated on, simultaneously, by many team members, in real-time. Changes, suggestions, and improvements no longer take long periods of time. They can be discussed and implemented in minutes, and of course, this means quicker project delivery.

This year, our marketing team is spending time working in various office spaces across the world. We took a trip to Voyansi’s headquarters in NYC earlier this summer and spent the weekend exploring the architecture of The City that Never Sleeps. The colors, dynamic, and spirit of NY is unique and can’t be transmitted through pictures or videos.

However, daily life in a big city can be a little overwhelming. New York is full of surprises, and Roosevelt Island offers one great alternative to its flashy lights and loud sounds.

East River is the home of a small but special island with a rich history. 240m across at its widest section, Roosevelt Island has been called home by both the famous such as Kofi Anon and Sarah Jessica Parker as well as many infamous characters from NY such as Patrick McLaughlin and Boss Tweed. While still a part of Manhattan, Roosevelt Island is its opposite: quiet, homely, and mostly green-colored. It offers a drastic change from the city’s pace. There are almost no cars on the island and pedestrians take walks to get a new perspective of the city. The immense buildings are still close, but standing on Roosevelt Island feels like being lightyears away from them.

As my first piece of advice, the key to success in any training program is to balance and give importance to organization and methodology along with technical and practical training content. 

Ideally, your staff training should be thought of as a program rather than an isolated one-time event. Your program should contain specific objectives that your training program aims to achieve. 

For this reason, I’m dividing these ten tips into five generic ones (tips that apply to all training programs) and five specific to Revit.

Our visit to New Jersey included more than just steaks: Gabi has a long history in Voyansi, and her years of experience, in addition to working abroad, have transformed her into a highly skilled professional and a great person to interview.

I saw a post on a forum the other day of an architect who sent a marked-up drawing as part of a CAD to BIM project. It was a relatively small structure that was being modeled. Maybe 1500 square feet. This got me thinking, why did they not just bother to go out and scan the structure? Laser scanning 10 years ago may have seemed exotic. Today it’s commonplace enough that I have a small lidar scanner in my phone. I use it to measure things in my house or create simple 3d models. 

Maybe the architect in question was simply unfamiliar with reality capture technology, so I decided to write this post explaining the concept for those new to this way of working. Before you jump in, it’s essential to understand two key concepts: Point Clouds and Survey Points are central to working with BIM (no wonder why reality capture services are so important to us). If you are just getting familiar with reality capture technology this is an essential concept to understand. 

During the pandemic, many people had the opportunity to start working remotely. COVID-19 will be remembered for many things, and remote work is one of the biggest things people will remember for years.

Working from home has many advantages, but sometimes there are obstacles in the way. A bad internet connection, dogs barking or relatives coming in and out of a room can distract from the day’s work. As the world opens back up, many of us are choosing to shift

There are spaces designed for the people who find their own home to be uncomfortable at the time of working. They are often wide rooms equipped with desks, a few routers, and common spaces. Minimalism at the service of productivity.