Interactive BIM-based VR: A case study of doors
Sou-Han Chen [0000-0003-0511-7518] and Fan Xue [0000-0003-2217-3693]
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
souhan@hku.hk
This is the peer-reviewed authors’ version of:
Chen, S.H. & Xue, F. (2022). Interactive BIM-based VR: A case study of
doors. The 19th International Conference on Computing in Civil and
Building Engineering (ICCCBE) 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, 26-28
October 2022. Proceedings in press.
The official version of this paper is [e-proceedings link at SpringerLink]
The use of this document other than personal use must follow Springer’s Guidelines.

5

10

15

Abstract. The adoption of virtual reality (VR) in the construction industry
provides an immersive experience for users to view and interact with Building
information modeling (BIM). However, in the current practice, the VR experience is created manually, which is time-consuming and does not refer to
other validated data. This study proposes an automatic BIM to interactive VR
method based on Revit and Unreal Engine in three steps. First, a bounding
box-based segmentation is conducted in Revit through Dynamo for classifying the motion-bearing components. Then the BIM along with the segmentation results are imported to Unreal Engine for components mapping and interactive behavior selection. Finally, Oculus Quest presents an interactive
BIM-based VR experience to users. A case study of BIM doors was conducted to validate the proposed method. In the output VR models, users can
control and interact with swing doors through the touch controller of the VR
headset. Four interactive behaviors of the door were realized for interactive
and experiencing user interactions. The findings confirmed the feasibility as
well as automation of the proposed method, for faster BIM-to-VR content
creation.
Keywords: Building information modeling, virtual reality, interactive, motion-bearing components, Revit, Unreal Engine

20

2

1

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

Introduction

The architecture, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) sector is seeking an
efficient visualization approach to enhance the interpretation of construction projects. The
rapid growth of urbanization has fastened and increased the construction complexity in
architectural features, construction methods, and smart facilities management [1]. With
such a high complexity, the traditional design approach gradually cannot meet the users’
expectations of visualization and interaction. While all the information and 3D geometry
are presented on the 2D screen, users sometimes have difficulties visualizing the special
environment of the project, especially for complex projects [2]. As a result, design faults
and inappropriate space utilization [3] still occur and lead to a low reputation in the sector.
To reduce and alleviate the problems caused by visualization, virtual reality (VR) technology was introduced and adopted throughout the project lifecycle. Academic research
and industrial applications have been conducted and validate the VR implementation. For
example, facilitating the design process [4-6]; providing immersive visualization [7-10],
safety training [11], and providing a virtual environment for users to interact with the
building elements [12,13]. However, the VR content creation process is resource-intensive and requires designers to have both AECO and VR knowledge. Without sufficient
domain knowledge, the VR content might be unrealistic and cannot provide a good experience and lead to failure of the VR applications. Therefore, an efficient approach to generating VR content is vital.
Building information modeling (BIM) has been increasingly adopted in the AECO sector due to its integrational capability. BIM is a comprehensive digital representation of
physical and functional characteristics of a facility [14]. The benefits and impacts of BIM
have been widely agreed upon by researchers and industries [15-17] and have become
mandatory in many regions [18]. BIM provides a systematic information hub for all the
involved parties to collaborate at the same project pace. With the capability of storing
accurate, semantic, and detailed data, BIM can represent a digital twin of reality, where
architects, engineers, contractors, and end-users can simulate and manipulate the design
and construction details. Although BIM can be considered to be a solid foundation of VR
content, users cannot have any interaction with the objects as there is no mechanism and
physic engine inside BIM software. Therefore, there is still a gap between BIM and digital
twin applications.
In addition, gaming technology has demonstrated its ability to produce high-end visualization of architectural features and to provide various interactive scenes for users to
experience the virtual built assets [19-22]. Moreover, many gaming companies provide
great tools for users in the AECO sector to import and link their BIM projects to the game
engines. For example, Epic Games provides an add-on, Datasmith, for automatically
transferring and synchronizing BIM with Unreal Engine (UE) projects [23]; Unity provides Unity Reflect for real-time collaboration across platforms and applications [24].
Although such tools can minizine the information lost during data transformation, the
transferred information is not automatically utilized for further applications. After importing BIM to the game engine, designers still need to spend effort on setting the interaction of the objects and configuring the parameters. This process is time-consuming and
not suitable for large-scale projects. As a result, an automatic workflow for the interaction
settings is desired.
This research aims to present a preliminary method to exploit the potential of using
BIM and gaming technologies in automatically facilitating VR content and experience.

3

70

75

The proposed approach is designed to (1) facilitate the VR content creation process, (2)
explore the interactive ability of BIM, and (3) provide a realistic and diverse VR experience to the users through the game engine.
2

Methodology

2.1

Overview

The proposed method is described below (Fig. 1) and includes three major steps: (1) object segmentation in BIM software, (2) interaction setting in the game engine, and (3) VR
configuration and deployment.

Fig. 1. Method of the proposed three-step automatic BIM to interactive VR process
2.2
80

85

90

95

Step 1. BIM object segmentation

The first step of the method is to classify the motion-bearing components which will be
used as the physic constraints, also known as hinges, in the game engine. Since BIM can
be considered a well-structured information hub [25], the object data and parameters can
be retrieved and analyzed in a systematic approach. For example, Dynamo, a Revit plugin for managing and extracting data, can be used to identify the elements that contain
certain text, tags, or under specific categories. Therefore, users can easily classify the
motion-bearing components and stored the information in a CSV file. However, since the
properties of the BIM objects might not be comprehensive, a bounding box-based segmentation approach can be used to identify the motion-bearing components.
The bounding box Is an invisible cube that contains all model elements, annotation
elements, and datum elements [26]. The motion-bearing component can be identified by
checking if its bounding box is intersecting with two or more connected components.
Using the door as an example, hinges can be identified correctly as their bounding boxes
intersect with the panel’s bounding box and the fram’'s bounding box, while the frame
will not be classified as motion-bearing components as its bounding box contains the
panel’s bounding box. This essential approach is favorable for segmenting the BIM objects into different parts as objects in the AECO sector are generally uncomplicated and
more typical.

4

2.3

100

105

110

115

120

Step 2. Interaction setting in the game engine

The target of this step is to transfer BIM objects to interactive objects with the option that
designers can select the interactive behaviors of the objects (Fig. 2). Unlike the traditional
mesh models in OBJ or FBX files, which mainly focus on the geometry of the model,
BIM contains more metadata, such as category names, custom labels, and unique BIM
IDs. Through mapping metadata with the segmentation results generated in Step 1, key
motion-bearing components and other parts of the BIM objects can be recognized by the
game engine and the interactive behaviors can be applied to the corresponding components. There are two advantages of adopting this pre-defined interactive behavior, applicable to large-scale transformation and can provide users with a diverse interactive experience.

Fig. 2. General framework of transferring BIM objects to interactive objects
Firstly, the interactive behaviors can be custom-built and applied to all the same object
types. For example, once the designers define an interactive behavior of a push/pull window, all the push/pull windows can be applied to the same settings and designers don’t
need to configure them one by one. Even though the shape or the size of each push/pull
window might be different, the game engine can still use the segmentation results to recognize the motion-bearing components along with other parts of the objects and perform
the correct behaviors of the objects.
Secondly, through applying different interactive behaviors, the same BIM objects can
perform differently. For example, a BIM furniture can be lifted either by one touch controller or two touch controllers; a BIM swing door can be open either by simple push or
need a key to open it. With the ability to quickly change the behavior of the objects,
designers can effortlessly try out different settings for providing the most realistic experience to the users.

125

2.4

130

To successfully develop and deploy the VR content inside the game engine, proper VR
configuration should be set. Generally, there are three essential settings needed to be configurated sequentially before packing all the content into an Android Package (APK) file:
(1) VR operating system configuration; (2) touch controller settings; (3) interactive game
object settings.
First of all, since different VR companies have their own VR operating system, designers need to determine which VR headset will they use to provide the interactive experience. Based on different systems, some plug-ins, packages, or software development kits
needed to be installed in advance. Secondly, based on the VR operation system, designers

Step 3. VR environment settings and deployment

5

135

140

145

150

need to define the action of each bottom on each touch controller. The actions can be
classified into two categories: locomotion system and hand interaction system. Typically,
the locomotion system can be set to either be continuously moving or teleporting, while
the hand interaction system contains various actions. For example, holding/releasing
game objects, controlling game objects to perform specific behavior, and pausing the
game. Finally, the priorities of the interactive game objects should be modified to match
the touch controller settings so that the objects can behave correctly based on the users’
input.
3

Results

3.1

Case study of BIM door

Doors are one of the most important object types for fire safety checking during the preliminary design of building works. Besides the appearance of the door, deciding its opening direction and planning the exit route are crucial works for the designer. Although the
adoption of VR technology can provide an immersive experience for the user to interact
with doors, the interactive behavior is still manually designed. As a result, this research
used a BIM door from the UK National Building Specification (NBS) BIM Library [27]
as a case study for validating the proposed method in Fig. 1. Table. 1 lists the software
used in this case study.
Table 1. Software list

155

160

3.2

Software

Version

Revit

2022

Dynamo

2.12

Unreal Engine
(UE)

4.27.2

SideQuest

0.10.32

Description
Loading BIM door in Revit family
document (.rfa) and the supporting
the environment for Dynamo
Performing the bounding box-based
segmentation and exporting the results in CSV file
Creating interactive behavior of the
BIM objects; setting VR environment; Packing the VR model into
APK file
Installing the APK file into Oculus
VR

Bounding box-based segmentation results

Fig. 3 shows the Dynamo scripts for door segmentation. Based on the general structure
of the door, all the components can be segmented into one of the following categories,
Door_Panel, Door_Hinge, or Door_Frame. To correctly segment the decorations and handle on the panel to Door_Panel, the bounding box of the panel was extended on the yaxis. Then, by comparing each bounding box of all the components with the bounding
box of the panel, their relationships with the panel can be known. Fig. 4 shows the segmentation results of the test BIM door. The first three rows show the segmentation results

6

165

and list out the unique ID of each component, while the rest rows show the locational data
of all the hinges, including the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis. The unit is in centimeters.

Fig. 3. Dynamo script of bounding box-based segmentation

170

175

Fig. 4. Segmentation results. (a) Test BIM door; (b) Illustration of the segmentation results; (c) segmentation results in CSV file
Besides the segmentation results, the BIM object was exported as a Datasmith file,
which is a file type created by Epic Games and used for importing BIM into Unreal Engine (UE).
3.3

180

185

Interactive behaviors

Unreal Engine provides a visual system, called Dataprep, for designers to pre-process the
Datasmith file before the actual BIM object is imported to the scene. Fig. 5 shows the
Dataprep system used in this case study. The core of this Dataprep system is shown in
Fig. 5d. These blocks enable designers to select and modify the components. For example,
designers can select all the components with native BIM material, Glass_-_Avanti__Laminated_Glass, and change their material to native UE material, which is more realistic and detailed. In this case study, the Dataprep system is formed by four main steps:
(1) substituting materials; (2) merging components based on the segmentation results; (3)
adding the interactive behavior to the door; (4) deleting unwanted data. With such a predefined Dataprep system, designers can effortlessly filter unwanted data and reorganize
the data structure.

7

190

195

200

Fig. 5. Dataprep system for transferring a BIM door to an interactive game object. (a)
original BIM door data hierarchy in Datasnith file; (b) interactive BIM door preview; (c)
interactive BIM door data hierarchy preview; (d) data processing blocks for transferring
BIM door to interactive BIM door
By changing the interactive behavior setting, users can experience different interactions
with the door. These interactive behavior settings were pre-defined in Blueprint, a visual
gameplay scripting system in UE. Designers can make use of the Blueprint system to
custom-build users' interactive experiences. In this case study, four interactive behaviors
were created in advance (Table 2). The Blueprint of each interactive behavior is provided
in Fig. 6.
Table 2. Interactive behaviors description
Name

Trigger

Physic door

Physic

Automatic door
Timer
(1)
Automatic door
Collision
(2)
VR locking
door

VR settings

Description
The door contains physic priorities.
Once there is any external force applied to the door, the physic engine
will stimulate its movements and
behaviors automatically.
The door will follow the pre-set
movements and behaviors based on
the internal timer.
The door will open automatically
once there is any object with the
collision priorities enter the specific
area and will close once the object
leave.
The door will behave based on the
pre-defined conductions. The door

8

can only be opened once the key is
in a specific location.
205

210

215

220

Fig. 6. Blueprint for different interactive behavior settings. (a) Physic-based interaction;
(b) Time-based interaction; (c) Collision-based interaction; (d) VR-based with locking
function interaction [28].
Once all the VR models are properly placed in the scene and the VR configurations are
done, UE can pack the contents into an APK file, which can be used for installing VR
models into Oculus VR. In this case study, SideQuest is used for the APK installation.
The final interactive BIM-based VR is presented to the users through Oculus Quest 2.
Fig. 7 shows two screenshots of the interactive BIM-based VR. Fig. 7a shows the initial
status of the VR model, while Fig. 7b shows the scene after 7 seconds with some doors
already performing different interactive behaviors. This clearly reveals the great potential
of the interactive ability of BIM.

Fig. 7. Screenshots of the interactive BIM-based VR. (a) The initial scene; (b) Scene after
7 seconds.

9

4
225

230

235

240

In contrast to the manual VR creation approaches, the case study has validated the feasibility of the proposed automatic method. However, there are three limitations in the proposed method that shall be overcome in future studies.
First, this method only works for Revit family documents. Due to the Revit system data
hierarchy, the bounding box-based segmentation approach cannot perform correctly as
detailed components inside family documents will not be passed to the project document.
For example, door hinges might be invisible inside the Revit project.
Secondly, the bounding box-based segmentation relies heavily on the accuracy of the
model. If the geometric and the location of objects and components are not accurate, the
segmentation results would be affected, and the final VR experience might not be realistic.
Last but not least, in the current practice, the major panel of the door must be selected
manually. Since the appearance of the door might be diverse, the door panel can not be
accurately identified by its geometry. Some small experiments were conducted in Dynamo to automatically identify the panel. For example, based on the largest volume; based
on the largest surface area; based on the components with nearby components. However,
all the segmentation results are still not ideal and not general.
5

245

250

255

Limitations

Conclusion

Virtual reality technologies have provided the AECO sector with an immersive experience of visualizing and interacting with the construction project. However, the process of
VR content creation is time-consuming and requires great domain knowledge in both VR
and ARCO knowledge. This study presents an automatic BIM to interactive VR method
with the adoption of BIM and gaming technology. A case study of BIM door was implemented and validated the proposed method. The results showed the proposed method can
facilitate and fasten the VR content creation process and provide a more interactive VR
experience.
To improve the process of BIM to interactive VR, several research directions can be
explored. First, the adoption of the Revit project document can improve the scalability of
the VR experience. Furthermore, a more efficient method of segmentation and auto-BIMdetailing can be developed and investigated. Also, a standardization of the interactive
behaviors can be explored and shared across both academia and industry.
6

Acknowledgment

The work present in this paper was financially supported by Hong Kong Research Grants
Council (RGC) (No. 27200520).
References
260

1. Luo L, He Q, Jaselskis EJ, Xie J. Construction project complexity: research trends
and implications. Journal of construction engineering and management. 2017 Jul
1;143(7):04017019.

10

265

270

275

280

285

290

295

300

305

2. Potseluyko L, Rahimian FP, Dawood N, Elghaish F, Hajirasouli A. Game-like interactive environment using BIM-based virtual reality for the timber frame self-build
housing sector. Automation in Construction. 2022 Oct 1;142:104496.
3. Özmen C, Ünay Aİ. Commonly encountered seismic design faults due to the architectural design of residential buildings in Turkey. Building and Environment. 2007
Mar 1;42(3):1406-16.
4. Gan VJ, Liu T, Li K. Integrated BIM and VR for Interactive Aerodynamic Design and
Wind Comfort Analysis of Modular Buildings. Buildings. 2022 Mar 10;12(3):333.
5. Davila Delgado JM, Oyedele L, Beach T, Demian P. Augmented and virtual reality
in construction: drivers and limitations for industry adoption. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management. 2020 Jul 1;146(7):04020079.
6. Kim M, Wang X, Love P, Li H, Kang SC. Virtual reality for the built environment: a
critical review of recent advances. Journal of Information Technology in Construction. 2013;18(2013):279-305.
7. Roach DM, Demirkiran I. Computer aided drafting virtual reality interface. In2017
IEEE/AIAA 36th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) 2017 Sep 17 (pp. 113). IEEE.
8. Wolfartsberger J. Analyzing the potential of Virtual Reality for engineering design
review. Automation in Construction. 2019 Aug 1;104:27-37.
9. Pratama LA, Dossick CS. Workflow in virtual reality tool development for AEC industry. InAdvances in Informatics and Computing in Civil and Construction Engineering 2019 (pp. 297-306). Springer, Cham.
10. Elgewely MH, Nadim W, ElKassed A, Yehiah M, Talaat MA, Abdennadher S. Immersive construction detailing education: building information modeling (BIM)–
based virtual reality (VR). Open House International. 2021 Jul 20.
11. Sacks R, Perlman A, Barak R. Construction safety training using immersive virtual
reality. Construction Management and Economics. 2013 Sep 1;31(9):1005-17.
12. Wong MO, Du J, Zhang ZQ, Liu YQ, Chen SM, Lee SH. An experience-based interactive lighting design approach using BIM and VR: a case study. InIOP Conference
Series: Earth and Environmental Science 2019 Feb 1 (Vol. 238, No. 1, p. 012006).
IOP Publishing.
13. Alizadehsalehi S, Hadavi A, Huang JC. Assessment of AEC students’ performance
using BIM-into-VR. Applied Sciences. 2021 Apr 3;11(7):3225.
14. National Institute of Building Sciences. National Building Information Modeling
Standard. Version 3. https://www.nationalbimstandard.org
15. Chan DW, Olawumi TO, Ho AM. Perceived benefits of and barriers to Building Information Modelling (BIM) implementation in construction: The case of Hong Kong.
Journal of Building Engineering. 2019 Sep 1;25:100764.
16. Ghaffarianhoseini A, Tookey J, Ghaffarianhoseini A, Naismith N, Azhar S, Efimova
O, Raahemifar K. Building Information Modelling (BIM) uptake: Clear benefits, understanding its implementation, risks and challenges. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2017 Aug 1;75:1046-53.
17. Xue F, Wu L, Lu W. Semantic enrichment of building and city information models:
A ten-year review. Advanced Engineering Informatics. 2021 Jan 1;47:101245.
18. Lee G, Borrmann A. BIM policy and management. Construction Management and
Economics. 2020 May 3;38(5):413-9.

11

310

315

320

325

330

19. Sepasgozar SM. Digital twin and web-based virtual gaming technologies for online
education: A case of construction management and engineering. Applied Sciences.
2020 Jul 7;10(13):4678.
20. Ma YP. Improved Interaction of BIM Models for Historic Buildings with a Game
Engine Platform. Applied Sciences. 2022 Jan 18;12(3):945.
21. Duan H, Li J, Fan S, Lin Z, Wu X, Cai W. Metaverse for social good: A university
campus prototype. InProceedings of the 29th ACM International Conference on Multimedia 2021 Oct 17 (pp. 153-161).
22. Ma YP. Extending 3D-GIS district models and BIM-based building models into computer gaming environment for better workflow of cultural heritage conservation. Applied Sciences. 2021 Feb 27;11(5):2101.
23. Boost your pipeline with Datasmith, https://www.unrealengine.com/enUS/datasmith, last accessed 2022/09/28
24. Unity Reflect, https://unity.com/products/unity-reflect, last accessed 2022/09/28
25. Heaton J, Parlikad AK, Schooling J. Design and development of BIM models to support operations and maintenance. Computers in industry. 2019 Oct 1;111:172-86.
26. Autodesk
about
Bounding
Boxes,
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2021/ENU/RevitStructEng/files/GUID-C88AAF36-7F89-4599-8C57-CD9B02390C27-htm.html, last
accessed 2022/09/29
27. NBS National BIM Library, https://www.nationalbimlibrary.com/en/, last accessed
2022/09/22
28. Locked Door in Virtual Reality - Unreal Engine VR Tutorial,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqRnOC8rylc, last accessed 2022/08/29