Multimedia Technologies for Civil and Construction Engineering Professional Practice

Vanegas, Jorge A.; Smith, Gary; ,

Multimedia Technologies for Civil and Construction Engineering Professional Practice

by Jorge A. Vanegas, (A.M.ASCE), Georgia Inst of Technology, Atlanta, United States,
Gary Smith, (A.M.ASCE), Georgia Inst of Technology, Atlanta, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Computing in Civil Engineering

Abstract:

Multimedia can be classified as any experience or application that uses two or more media to convey a message or achieve a given purpose. Some of the main types of possible applications of multimedia technologies in civil and construction engineering professional practice include: presentation, consultation, documentation, and group and individual education/training. The types of media used in the development of these applications can come from a wide range of sources of data or information: text, numbers, graphics, sounds, photographic images, computer-generated animations, simulations, live-motion video, and any type of computer application. In addition, all these applications share the same basic integrated multimedia system. The main components of the system are: acquisition and processing hardware and software; massive storage media; and display options. Given the wide range of capabilities offered by multimedia technologies, civil and construction engineering offer a particularly rich environment for the development of multimedia applications to support marketing efforts of design and construction organizations, planning, design and construction processes for a given project, and documentation of construction operations, for example. Multimedia technologies are especially suited to assist planners, designers and constructors in the visualization of design and construction technical and management data, products, and processes. The objective of this paper is to provide: (1) a primer of multimedia technologies; (2) a description of potential engineering and construction professional practice applications of these technologies; and (3) a description of fundamental application design, development, and implementation issues.

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