Loosely coupled visualization of industrial construction simulation using a gaming engine

The use of simulation in construction project management is not widely adopted. Effective and intuitive tools and techniques to communicate simulation models with industry practitioners are needed. Visualization of simulation behaviors using three dimensional virtual worlds of the simulated construction operations is an effective medium of communication. However, developing visual behaviors to reflect hidden simulation behaviors is time consuming. The relatively small time window available for developing and using simulation models on real construction operations requires a time and cost effective approach for developing simulation driven visualization. This paper describes an approach that utilizes an open source gaming engine to develop parallel and loosely coupled simulation-driven visualizations of industrial construction operations in a distributed simulation environment. The paper focuses mainly on the development pipeline in a step-by-step approach to document and facilitate application of the same approach in similar simulations.