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Welcome

Welcome and Index


Our index and what's on tap in this issue.

I am Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, LEED AP, editor-in-chief at Architosh.com. I assemble the monthly INSIDER Xpresso newsletter to help us understand emerging technologies (emTech) and their impacts on CAD industries like AEC and manufacturing.

THIS MONTH our coverage is a bit lighter than usual. Our emTech section is devoted entirely to Ricoh of Japan's new 360-degree camera and related cloud AEC tools that empower that camera. 

This month. issue No. 38
  • Starter Course: --  Five Engaging Reads
  • The Briefing: --  Top CAD Industry News Last Month
  • emTech: -- Emerging Technologies -- RICOH THETA X and Ricoh's new RICOH 360 Projects and Tours apps.
  • Special Feature: --  Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 — AI, Upskilling Users and Performance


A big thank you to all our subscribers. Please get the word out about our newsletter. -- AFR.

And we also want to thank this month's advertising sponsor -- Graebert of Germany

A Word About Our Sponsor

This month our issue is brought to you by Graebert of Germany, a global leader in DWG-based CAD technologies for desktop, mobile, and the web. Graebert's ARES Trinity of CAD technologies is offered to the global CAD market via both ARES branded solutions and via multiple OEM offerings. Please be sure to visit their website for more information about their innovative technologies and solutions. 

 
Our Sponsor
Starter Course

The Top Five Reads


Some of the more interesting reads on the Internet with scope applicability to the AEC and manufacturing worlds. I note social and emergent technological forces at play in the pale blue takeaway text. 
 


Meta is using AI to formulate sustainable concrete for use in its future data centers.. (Image: Meta)

1 - MIT engineers build load-bearing structures using tree forks instead of steel joints   (Dazeen) -- Takeaways:  Researchers in the Digital Structures research group at MIT have combined generative design and robotics in an innovative way in their utilization of Y-shaped tree forks in lieu of steel connections. Tree forks are natural and renewable products but also reclaimed waste products. An interesting aspect of the use of tree forks is that they must first be 3D scanned to catalog their size, shape, and orientation and therefore their appropriateness for a given joint location. 

2 - Foster's plans for Kharkiv rebuild are "100 percent ineffective" says Ukrainian architect
 (Dazeen) -- Takeaways:  It has been big news in the world of architecture when famed British architect Norman Foster announced plans to lead a reconstruction master plan effort for the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. However, Kyiv-based architect Slava Balbek of Balbek Bureau has been a quick critic of Foster's plan. "The bombing hasn't finished yet," he tells Dezeen. But that is not the central issue, rather the criticism centers on the equitable distribution, or lack thereof, of reconstruction efforts throughout Ukraine, not just in its second largest city. 

3 - Meta Is Using AI to Formulate a Sustainable Concrete  (AdWeek) -- Takeaways:  This is quite interesting to see a Silicon Valley tech company like Meta (aka Facebook) lead a research project with partners at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to develop a more sustainable concrete. With cement being a leading source of carbon emissions (around 8% globally), Meta is looking at ways to build its data centers around the world in a more sustainable way. (see image above). 

4 - Contractors turn to payment apps to speed billing  (ConstructionDive) -- Takeaways:  "We were doing everything in spreadsheets, Word documents and files on servers...we didn't realize how clunky it was."  This interesting article notes the relatively rapid rise of financial tools for the construction space. "The reality is that most fintech companies have ignored really difficult industries like construction." But clearly this is changing. Learn about over a dozen payment apps aimed at construction. 

5 - A U.K.-based design firm flaunts industrialized construction as it expands into the U.S.  (Building Design + Construction) -- Takeaways:  Design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) is a slow-moving transformation in global construction. This UK firm is now looking for growth in North America with a new Boston-based US headquarters. Bryden Wood's goal is aimed at establishing a value-oriented kit-of-parts and North American supply network for industrialized components. 

#futurematerials
#sustainability
#carbon
#renewable
#industrializedconstruction
#roboticconstuction
#contech
#AI
#ukraine
#DfMA
#factory
#fintech
#futureofwork

 
Our Sponsor
The Briefing

Biggest CAD Industry News Last Month


(the biggest news and features in April)

Feature:  Fireside Chat: Bricsys CEO Rahul Kejriwal Talks About BricsCAD to Architosh.  This feature with Bricsys' CEO delves into how the Belgium BIM/CAD company is endeavoring to differentiate itself in the market, by seeking to be as loved by its customers as Rhino 3D customers are of McNeel & Associates. Oh, and we also talk about BIM, HOK, Apple Silicon, and computational design.   [7-10 min. read]  (Architosh).  Recommended for Autocad and BIM users.

Feature:  GVK — Diversification and Adaptability with Vectorworks. This firm profile story focuses on the work of mid-size NYC firm Gerner, Kronick + Valcarcel Architects, a firm formed by former KPF principals that today is becoming an expert in many building types, including modular construction projects.    [7-10 min. read]  (Architosh).  Highly Recommended for those interested in BIM and modular construction. 


NVIDIA's Omniverse Ecosystem is getting vast. Digital Twins look like an especially promising area for Omniverse technology. The real interesting question is how the BIM authoring industry may integrate more fully with this technology?  (Image: NVIDIA)

Feature:  Omniverse In-Depth with Richard Kerris, VP NVIDIA.  This in-depth interview by senior associate editor, Akiko Ashley engages in an interesting discussion with noted Richard Kerris, VP, NVIDIA. Kerris clarifies questions about Omniverse.    [7-10 min. read]  (Architosh).  Omniverse interested? This is for you!

News: Varjo Launches Reality Cloud VR/X Software Platform.
Varjo's Reality Cloud has launched and it begins with Autodesk VRED support and will expand to other applications. This is one of the more promising technologies impacting the engineering software industry, yet its use in AEC has been far less than in automotive design and aerospace.    
 [3 -6 min read] (Architosh).  Recommended for VR/XR/MR users.

News: Enscape 3.3's New Features—Much Enhanced Workflows for ArchViz.

This news talks about the ten major areas of improvement in Enscape 3.3.    [3-6 min. read]  (Architosh). 

News: Nemetschek's FY21 Results Plus New Group CEO.   We cover Nemetschek's FY21 financial results and the news of their new CEO Yves Padrines. An interesting tidbit, the Design segment grew at nearly 12 percent YoY while the Build segment grew at nearly 15 percent YoY. Previously, these two segments were further apart with the Design segment lagging the Build segment in growth.
  [3-6-min read]  (Architosh). 

News: Archicad user wins architecture's highest honor.    Our last news item is about this year's Pritzker Prize winner, 
Diébédo Francis Kéré, of Kéré Architects. 
   [3-6 min. read]  (Architosh).  Recommended for Architects.

For all of Architosh's News—Go Here! 

 
emTech

Curated content: Emerging Technologies and their potential impact on CAD-based industries.

 

360-Degree Imagery for the AEC Jobsite

Architosh and RICOH of Japan hosted a recent webinar focused on RICOH THETA cameras and attendant cloud applications. Our webinar was well-attended and is still available on demand for viewing here. 

Ricoh Targets AEC Industry

Ricoh has developed their RICOH THETA 360-degree camera line since 2013 but has recently built out sophisticated cloud applications for use in AEC industries and related like real estate. 

Architosh organized a panel of five (5) AEC companies ranging from architecture, design, visualization, and construction. Each panelist had a few weeks to explore the use of the new RICOH THETA X camera shown below. This new camera is the first THETA unit that features a small high-quality LCD screen with a touch-based gesture interface. The user interface was simple and elegantly laid out for making quick work of 360-degree pano image taking. 


A view of the RICOH THETA X camera device used in construction. Accessories like this tripod stick are available directly from Ricoh, though in our testing we used a traditional tripod. 

The new THETA X features the ability to shoot images at 5.5k and 11k resolutions, offering AEC professionals seeking good detail in construction photos or finished environments. All the THETA cameras—and there are three spanning from 299 USD to 1049 USD—can be remotely controlled from a mobile app on your iOS iPhone, iPad, or Google Android device. This means you can remove yourself from being in the image and enable the creation of people-free, clear spherical 360-panos of your construction projects. 

Our experience (as well as the panelists) with the apps and their connection to the THETA cameras was excellent. The THETA X and its sibling cameras use both Bluetooth and WiFi to essentially project a WiFi network from the camera to which your smartphone or tablet connects. Fast WiFi connections mean files from 11 MB to 37 MB (depending on your image size settings) move quickly from camera to mobile app. 

RICOH 360 Projects and Tours

Ricoh has two cloud applications, one named RICOH 360 Projects for AEC professionals and RICOH 360 Tours aimed at the real estate market. As we learned from some of our panelists, AEC users may find good uses with RICOH 360 Tours due to its more sophisticated and polished user interface perfect for showcasing finished environments and possibly useful for numerous building virtual walk-thru experience use-cases. 

RICOH 360 Tours also taps the power of AI (machine learning) to automatically implant furniture into rooms that were shot without such things. This is called Virtual Staging and is currently in a public beta. AI is also deployed to improve image quality and create videos of the pano experiences. 

RICOH 360 Projects enables architects, interior designers, engineers, and contractors to upload plan documents and pin location markets where 360-degree pano images were taken. 


The RICOH THETA X features a touch-based gesture UI on a 2.25-inch wide screen as well as remote control via mobile apps. RICOH 360 Projects is shown on the far right image.

The solution features the ability to upload and organize 360 pano images by project, and then locate them on a drawing using pin locations. When you take successive update pano photos from the same location, you can also upload those to the same pin locations and then do side-by-side "comparisons." (see image below). 

These comparisons solve multiple matters facing AEC professionals. Firstly, they record construction progress in photograph 360-degree form. Secondly, they enable project trouble-shooting after areas have been closed up by allowing you to see "open framing" stages of the work. This is helpful to know where wiring chases and ductwork runs exist and relieves the general contractor or architect of making built conditions drawings. Thirdly, the comparison feature helps AEC teams communicate about issues and solve collaboration matters more easily. 


RICOH 360 Projects enables side-by-side comparison of images (360-panos) taken from the same location over time. As you rotate in one image the other image rotates in unison. Panelists noted that this feature can help younger architects educate themselves on how buildings are put together by revealing the built layers and systems that lie behind building finishes. 

When you rotate an image in collaboration mode, a matching image taken from another time is kept in sync. This is made possible with a direction orientation step during the image upload process. 

RICOH 360 Projects contains basic markup tools with color and line thickness options and annotation features. The future looks even brighter for RICOH THETA in AEC. The Japanese tech giant is working on measurement technologies and integration with Procore and other BIM solutions in AEC. We highly recommend readers interested in the THETA devices view our webinar on-demand by signing up here

 

#bim
#aec
#collaboration
#contech
#360imagery
#AI
#photography
#construction

 
Special Feature

Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 — AI, Upskilling Users and Performance

 

The CAD industry US leader is tapping into the powers of artificial intelligence to benefit uses while also keeping the most famous CAD system in the world truly modern and adaptive to emerging technology trends. 

 


 

SPRING IS ALWAYS AUTOCAD UPDATE TIME. This year, we had an interesting discussion with Dania El Hassan, Director of Product Management, Autodesk, about what's new in AutoCAD technology and the latest release. 

For readers who missed the news, AutoCAD 2023 was released in late March and contained updates across both desktops—including the Mac version—and web and mobile. You can read our two prior reports here and here. 

 

Machine Learning
 

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance at rapid rates. It was fascinating to learn that Autodesk is putting effort into using AI (specifically machine learning) to help its users streamline their repetitive work processes and gain higher competency levels in AutoCAD itself. 




"But This is really a powerful automation. It's the beginning of a story; you can imagine how far we can take it with various automation layers on top of each other."




"When we talk about automation, particularly when we talk about the AI space, one of the biggest things we have been working on is this Markup Import and Markup Assist technology," says El Hassan. These new features in 2023 build upon the Trace Layer technology added in the past release. 

"Last year we introduced the Trace Layer where customers can bring in this low-fidelity input—it's super useful on AutoCAD mobile because it is difficult to add precision input to a drawing directly with your finger. Now customers can import markups from PDF files, or capture photos of handwritten markups with their smartphones in the field"  "The ML [machine learning] now assists in recognizing and converting this data on the Trace Layer to AutoCAD objects," she adds. 


Autodesk AutoCAD 2023's new Markup Assist technology is powered by AI machine learning (ML) which recognizes data on Trace Layers and converts this data to AutoCAD objects.

"This is really a powerful automation," says El Hassan. "It's the beginning of a story; you can imagine how far we can take it with various automation layering on top of each other."


AI and Upskilling Users


Another fascinating area where Autodesk is working with AI is upskilling users. The new My Insights: Macro Advisor technology helps users streamline workers by teaching and setting up AutoCAD macros tailored for their specific workflows. 

"We can aggregate how AutoCAD users are using the drafting tool and find ways to provide tips to our customers to help them become more proficient as they work," adds El Hassan. "This is really a modern way of learning so that customers can improve their productivity." 


The My Insights Macro Advisor feature in AutoCAD 2023 provides customers with insights at the right time, in the right context.

This discussion turns my attention to the fact that the average skill level of CAD users (or nearly any software user for that matter) is relatively moderate. On a broad scale from A to Z, with six levels of competency starting at 'beginner' and moving to 'advanced expert,' most firms' staff levels are at intermediate or advanced intermediate averages. 

Dania El Hassan agrees. And this is why these new features are so important. "Education is really a passion for me," she adds. "I think what is key is meeting people where they are at in the learning process." 


"AutoCAD users are so diverse in where they are at with the software. And individuals might be more proficient at certain things," she adds. "Someone might be very good at reviewing and plotting while others may be really good at certain aspects of drafting."

 

"So the approach we have taken here is that personalized approach, and we have learned this helps." Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 surfaces insights at different skill levels of users. The software will generate insights that will help beginners gain new skills faster, and also guide advanced users to new ways of working.
 

Performance—Core Technology 


While Autodesk is pouring effort into using machine learning AI technology to help users speed up working with AutoCAD, they are also actively recoding core AutoCAD technology to leverage the latest silicon and graphics technologies. 

AutoCAD 2023 features a new graphics engine that Dania El Hassan confirmed was an important Autodesk core technology. Notably, as mentioned in our report on the Mac version of AutoCAD 2023, this new graphics engine is a cross-platform 3D graphics engine. El Hassan says that the new engine leverages Microsoft DirectX12 and Apple Metal so that Windows and Mac AutoCAD 2023 users gain new 3D performance benefits. 


With AutoCAD 2023, you can take advantage of the new Command Macro Palette to learn more, save a suggested macro, or tailor a macro to your needs. 

As for Apple Silicon support for AutoCAD 2023? While important to Autodesk, the company isn't yet ready to discuss Apple's M-series processors for the Mac version. "We have had a long partnership with Apple," says El Hassan, "and are committed to delivering AutoCAD across platforms and devices." That’s the most we are able to get from Autodesk on Apple’s hit M-series processors and new Mac. So it remains unknown when an M1-native version will come out.

Closing Comments


Whether it is AI doing boundary detection in the new Markup features or using AI to recognize repetitive work in a user's workflow and then advise them of a customized macro, Autodesk is tapping into the power of machine learning algorithms and deriving benefits for customers. 

 

With more challenging economic realities facing a global economy, deploying machine learning (ML) to lift users' productivity is smart and well-timed. 

 

End Note
Remember you can sign-up for architosh INSIDER Xpresso here -- a unique CAD industry newsletter with a special focus on emergent technologies (emTech) like AI, ML, robotics, 3D printing, AAD, computational design, and smart cities tech.

As we move forward, our format will evolve but will aim to focus on emTech in AEC and MCAD. We welcome your suggestions (xpresso@architosh.com).

To see Past Issues visit this link here.  (sign-up for the newsletter here)

Warmly,
Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP


This is a free newsletter and companion publication to Architosh.com. 
Disclosures
Architosh is subject to conflicts of interest when we write about CAD/AEC/MCAD/3D software/hardware and other related tech companies in the market. In the interest of disclosure, we encourage readers of this newsletter and the Architosh website to visit our Ethics page where we maintain a full list of relevant Held Securities and discuss Our Disclosures. 

This statement and the intent of this section are consistent with Architosh's Disclosure statement on our Ethics page here.  [This rewritten section deprecates all other instances of this section for past issues of the newsletter.]
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