PCIS - a visual decision tool for construction and design management

Demonstrates the potential of PCIS (Piece-based Construction Information System) as a visualization tool for technical cooperation, collaboration and communication by literally aligning the points of view of architectural, engineering and construction methodologies. There is always complexity during an actual construction or assembly, wherein the sequence is mostly always confused, and this leads to wastage of time, materials and manpower. The pictorial database PCIS, as a decision-aid tool, provides information in a sequence that is often forgotten or missed in construction. PCIS has three components. The first is an anatomical model, functionally organized according to ASTM UNIFORMAT II. This programmatic standard means the model can be sequentially constructed and deconstructed according to a standard work breakdown structure that is tailored to the requirements of almost any building. The second component of PCIS is the dataTheater that surrounds the anatomical model. The theater sets up a combination of 2D data planes that can be hypergraphically accessed to view layout dimensions, details and specifications. The third part of PCIS is the dataWorld, with cameras fixed to the intersections of its latitudes and longitudes. The cameras attached to the dataTheater and dataWorld control the visual display of the pictorial information. A software engine polls the cameras and publishes the images in a set of directories as files that are accessed by the hypergraphic interface. The information visible to these cameras can be changed through a standard survey matrix