Use of Gaming and Virtual World technology in Architecture, Engineering and Construction
GUEST EDITOR(S):
Dr Raju Pathmeswaran, University of Salford, UK
Dr Vian Ahmed, University of Salford, UK
Prof Chimay Anumba, Pennsylvania State University, USA
SUMMARY:
The rapid development of World Wide Web and the dominance of networked computers for information transfer and communication have enabled the rise of online computer games and recently the virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life). Gaming technology is getting matured with more user-friendly interfaces and various hardware platforms including handhelds devices that enabled the gaming applications to broaden its scope in various sectors including architecture, engineering and construction. Virtual worlds, which are similar to the computer games with which they share technology, take their participants called residents to new places beyond the physical and geographic limitations of the real world. As a result, residents become engines of creation themselves, working as the producers of content in the world, designing and reshaping the space around their own ideas and interests. Gaming and virtual world technologies offer significant benefits in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction disciplines from 3D walkthroughs, interactive visualisation, through virtual collaboration, design and planning to education, training and simulation. The research papers are invited from the authors on the topics focused on the innovative use of gaming and virtual world technology in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC).
Scope
The following set of topics, although not exhaustive, provides some indication of the range of topics that the special issue seeks papers in:
- Game based building design and construction
- Virtual worlds for architectural visualisation
- Rapid design prototyping in virtual worlds
- Games and virtual worlds in AEC education
- Collaborative planning and design in virtual worlds
- Spatial planning in virtual worlds
- Virtual worlds for regeneration and community participation
- Behavioural studies of building occupants in the virtual worlds
- Crowd, wayfinding and evacuation simulations in virtual buildings and cities
- Geographic Information System (GIS) in virtual worlds
- Virtual Health and Safety training and simulation
- Construction information delivery in virtual worlds
Important Dates
- Expression of interests: 30 October 2009
- Full paper submission due: 26 March 2010
- Reviewers’ feedback: 25 June 2010
- Final Paper due: 30 July 2010
- Publication of special issue: 24 September 2010
Submission Requirement
Each paper will be sent for rigorous peer assessment by relevant academics and researchers. The paper formatting instructions and layout can be found on the ITCon website at http://www.itcon.org/.
Due to the online delivery of ITCon articles, any corresponding multimedia appendix files (in video or other interactive formats) can also be submitted along with your paper. These multimedia files will be placed together with the papers when they are published on the ITCon website. This can be particularly valuable to this special issue on gaming and virtual world technology in order to communicate your research more interactively.
Authors are requested to submit papers in MS Word or PDF by email to Dr Raju Pathmeswaran, p.raju@salford.ac.uk.
(Note: We would be grateful if you could include "ITCON (IT):" in your email subject line when submitting your abstract or communicating on the special issue.)
Slovenian Research Agency
>Editor-in-chief:
Bo-Christer Björk
ISSN 1874-4753
