Date: September 18-20, 2013
Venue: Shinagawa Intercity Hall / Conference rooms (Day2&3) | (Up&Coming Fall Issue) |
Evolving VR-related Technologies and Their Applications Support Advanced CIM
A variety of Latest Cases in Geotechnical, Civil Engineering, Structures, and Architecture Fields
We FORUM8 held "FORUM8 Design Festival 2013-3Days" for three days from September 18-20, 2013.
Ahead
of this, we moved the Tokyo head office into Shinagawa Intercity,
Minato city on July 16. The head office and the satellite development
office that had been located separately within Meguro city were
integrated, with a seminar room and exhibition spaces extended.
Thus
the Design Festival of this year has set a subtitle of "in
Commemoration of the Head Office Relocation". It was mainly operated in
the seminar room at the new head office (21F, Building A, Shinagawa
Intercity) for Day1, and the Shinagawa Inter City Hall and the
conference rooms (B1) for Day2&3.
Originally multiple events
had been held separately. In 2009, they were reorganized into "FORUM8
Design Festival", which has been held in the autumn every year, for
three days. This time the Festival was organized based on three events:
"The 12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud Conference," "The 14th
UC-win/Road Conference," and "The 7th Design Conference," along with
related exhibitions and training seminars enhanced. |  |
New Approaches and Proposals Presented in Sessions on Diverse Topics
On
Day1 of the Design Festival were held the final judgment of "The 12th
3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud Conference" and the "UC-win/Road
expert training seminar".
In the former, 12 works had been
nominated in advance out of the entries. Using VR-CloudŽ, the nominated
works were then opened to public for general vote. On the Day1, prizes
were determined by totaling the results from judgment by the members of
a selection committee and the general vote. The latter was held in
parallel with the Design Festival as the final day of two-day seminars
starting from the previous day.
Sessions to compose the
Design Festival were held from the next day in the Hall and the
conference rooms on B1F of Shinagawa Intercity.
In the
morning of Day 2, announcement of prizes and prize-giving ceremony for
"The 12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud Conference" were held in the
Shinagawa Intercity Hall. In the afternoon, sessions were held in three
rooms. "VR Conference" was held in the hall, comprising the general
sessions and driving simulation sessions for the 14th UC-win/Road
Conference. <Geotechnical Sessions> of the 7th Design
Conference were held in No.1 and 2 conference rooms, and <Seismic
and disaster-preventing Sessions> in No.3 conference room
respectively.
After all the sessions were over in each venue,
the network party was held in commemoration of the head office
relocation and publications of "The new edition of "Introduction to
ground FEM analysis" at Foyer in front of the Hall.
In the
morning of the last day of the Design Festival (Day3), <Design
Analysis sessions> of the 7th Design Conference were held in the
Shinagawa Intercity Hall continued from the previous day. In the
afternoon, <Civil engineering & CIM Sessions> and <BIM
sessions> were held in the Hall and No.1& 2 conference rooms
respectively. In the No.3 conference room, Support Corner was set for
"Students BIM&VR Design Contest on Cloud (VDWC)" and
"Students Cloud Programming World Cup (CPWC)", entitled <VDWC/CPWC
Sessions>. Posters and the awarded works in the past were also
exhibited.
Furthermore, through Day2 and 3, our latest products
and services including simulators were arranged at the exhibition
corners at Foyer and FORUM8 office for many visitors to try.
Contents of each event and session are followed.
 |  |  | | Greetings by Yuji Ito, FORUM8 CEO | Exhibition in the Tokyo Head Office |
Day 1 The 12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud
A Variety of VR Applications Have Made Steady Evolutions
Day1
of the Design Festival on September 18 saw the final judgment of "The
12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud." This was established when
UC-win/Road was awarded with "Software Product Of The Year" prize in
2002. Since then, a variety of its applications have made steady
evolutions as the related technologies develop and spread.
In
the contest this year, 12 works were nominated out of the entries
through the preliminary selection (September 4). These works were
opened to public using VR-CloudŽ for general vote allowing users to
participate broadly (from September 7 to 17).
On the other hand,
just as the previous time, FORUM8 appointed three judges: Mr. Fumio
Seki (Nihon University), Mr. Hiroo Kasagi (NPO Workshop for
Sustainable Community), and Mr. Tatsuoki Inagaki (Pave & Road
How-to Way Technology Association). After the preliminary selection
mentioned before, the final judgment on Day1 determined awarded works
by totaling the ranking points weighted 70% of the general vote and 30%
of our selection committee. The announcement of the results and
award-giving ceremony was held on Day2 on September 19.
The award winners and works of "The 12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud" are as follows:
 |  | Preliminary selection for nomination
by judges | Announcement of nominated works
(From the left: Messrs Satoru Machida,
Hiroo Kasagi, Tatsuoki Inagaki,
and Fumio Seki) |
| The awarded works of the 12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud |
| | "VR Traffic Regulation Simulation for Night Construction Works"
The Planning and Research Department, Iwasaki Co., Ltd. | |
In
executing the bridge repair construction work at the Tokachi Ohashi
Bridge in Hokkaido, the traffic regulation plan around the intersection
was simulated based on the regulation drawings and field survey.
Visualizing the regulation plan with VR, it was made possible to
examine the visibility at night or in winter or work procedures, and to
grasp problems in verifying traffic flows etc. in advance. The outcome
was presented at "Lectures on CIM (Sapporo)" organized by Japan Society
of Civil Engineering as an example of using CIM during construction. | | 
The Planning and Research Department,
Iwasaki Co., Ltd. |
|
| | "Driver Training and Driving Diagnosis System of PCC (Pure Car Carrier) Simulator"
Qube Ports and Bulk | |
In
order to train drivers who unload vehicles from the Pure Car Carrier
and park them at a quay, VR data containing PCC and a quay was created.
While encountering risky events under different daylight and weather
conditions controlled by the trainer, the driver unloads vehicles from
the ship and parks them at the quay. After finishing driving, a
diagnosis for driving and parking skill is output. | | 
QUBE Ports and Bulk |
|
| | "VR Simulation Using the Result of Tsunami and Evacuation Analysis"
Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. | |
In
the consulting process of countermeasure against tsunami, integrated
results are derived from tsunami analysis results in consideration of
movement of dynamic wave motion and the evacuation analysis result of
simulating vehicle traffic in an emergency with a micro model. By
visualizing these results within the same VR space and evaluating them,
it allows users to get much larger effect than the conventional
consulting method. | | 
Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. |
|
| | "Intelligent Seat VR Simulator"
TS TECH Co., Ltd. | |
This
is a simulator for trying "Intelligent Seat", having "the side support
function" to hold the body movement when driving around the corner,
"the adjustable seatback seating face function" to support the shoulder
movement when operating the steering wheel, and "the pre-crash safety
function" to improve performance of holding occupants at the time of
crash. | | 
TS TECH Co., Ltd. |
|
| | "VR Data for Osaka Underground Streets"
Graduating School of Osaka University | |
This
is the data that models above and under ground about 300m in every
direction on the south side of JR Osaka Station. By representing
buildings and underground streets accurately and simulating behaviors
of vehicles and people, it is assumed to apply to studies on
optimization of the future society with ICT, such as vehicle signal
control and analysis of crowd behavior in an underground arcade,
verification of evacuation guidance in emergency or the effect of
guiding flow of people with signage. | | 
Graduating School of Osaka University |
|
 | Design Prize
Mr. Fumio Seki (Nihon University) |
| | "Utilization of VR Simulation in the New-Type Road Structure"
Seoul University | |
"2+1"
is a new form of road that is capable of cost saving compared with
construction of a 4-lane road by incorporating a common passing lane
between up and down lanes of a 2-lane road. Aiming at introducing it
into Korea, construction of a model road is now being planned. In order
to understand its safeness in advance, a road of about 13km was created
with VR. An experiment was conducted using a drive simulator. The
driver's conditions and behavior in the passing section are analyzed
and judged. | | 
Seoul University |
|
| Community Development Prize
Mr. Hiroo Kasagi (NPO Chiiki Zukuri Kobo) |
| | "City Planning Road VR Simulation"
Sozogijutsu Co., Ltd. | |
This
is a project to connect two city planning roads located in the east and
west. Since it will also serve as a school-commuting road, it is
planned to construct a sidewalk and cycling way aiming to secure
safety. In addition, 3D VR was created that reflects plans such as a
viaduct and sidewalk box in order to verify trafficability of the local
residents. It is also considered to use this in the community hearing. | | 
Sozogijutsu Co., Ltd. |
|
| Engineering prize
Mr. Tatsuoki Inagaki (Pave & Road How-To Way Technology Association) |
| | "Proposal of a Construction Method in the Railroad Beam Single Rail Section"
Noda Engineering Co., Ltd. | |
In
constructing a railroad beam, it often happens that the place for the
single rail section is very narrow. Construction using a crane etc. at
a station platform or in a mountainous area tends to be accompanied
with a problem of securing a proper site. In the recent years in
addition, there are some cases that a bridge is washed away due to
local severe rain etc. Therefore, construction methods that make it
possible to construct in such a location are expressed with VR. | | 
Noda Engineering Co., Ltd. |
|
| "Investigation of Actual Condition of Traffic Safety"
Korea Transportation Safety Authority（TS） | | |
| The
Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korean
Transportation Safety Authority investigates the actual road and
traffic condition on the nation's roads and highways every year to
evaluate their safety. Areas that fall below the country's Traffic
Safety Index and Traffic Safety Culture Index require improvement. To
propose the solution plan with new road alighment and road facilities
for these areas, the current condition and the proposed plan was
reproduced as VR environment using UC-win/Road, and included them
within documents to be submitted for approval. |  |
|
| "Improvement of Business Efficiency Using VR in Safety Measures for Narita Smart IC and Promotion of Its Use"
Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd. | | |
| VR
model of the Narita Smart Interchange, which was built to mitigate
traffic congestion, was created during off-hours as means of decreasing
traffic accidents in the interchange and encouraging more drivers to
take it, consequently streamlining all types of business related to the
interchange. In particular, this virtual environment was designed for
use with driving simulation scenarios to test different sign design and
the visibilty of signs for safety measures. The driving simulator was
showcased in a local festival in the city of Narita where it drew a big
crowd and encouraged more public activities and also contributed to
questionaries being filled out by more people. Further developments are
planned. |  |
|
| "3D VR Training Environment for Automobile Drivers"
Virtual Simulation and Training Inc.(VSAT) | | |
| VSAT's
3D VR Training Environment built using UC-win/Road is situated on a 16
square mile land comprised of highways with on/off ramps, city streets,
intersections, railway crossings, Driving Agility Cone Courses, etc.
and hosts various driving hazards and training scenarios designed to
enable students to experience common driving situations and hazards,
while guided by their instructor that control environmental conditions
and scenarios using the Simulator Control Station, developed using the
SDK, from a separate screen. Simulator Control Station also tracks the
scenario progress and the position of the driven vehicle using an
overhead view of the land area used. In a Driving Agility Cone Course
that also serves as training environment for Emergency Vehicle drivers,
the Control Station keeps track of how many cones were touched, and how
many were knocked down by the driver to evaluate their maneuvering
skills. VSAT's 3D VR Training Environment is indeed the most effective
driver training system, as students can use the driving simulator "full
screen" that provide peripherial vision while the instructor controls
weather, time of day, visibility (fog and haze), road conditions, and
viewing distance from the Simulator Control Station, without students
being able to predict the next driving environment and scenarios. The
instructor can also control traffic density in each of the major
training areas, the city, the highway, and the Interstate Freeway. |  |
|
| "VR Simulator for Evaluating Dangerous Scenes in the Field of In-vehicle ADAS"
Hagiwara Electric Co., Ltd. | | |
| VR
simulator, an excellent tool for reproducing various driving
environments, was used for dangerous scene assessment in the disicpline
of in-vehicle ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System). The ADAS device
was interfaced with the VR simulator to be used for the assessment,
which consequently helped build the kind of development environment
that allows all the advantages of VR technology to be exploit. |  |
|
| Press
Releases on the recap of the Awards Ceremony for The 12th 3D VR
Simulation Contest on Cloud have been released through the following
medias.- Visual Communications Newspaper: Iwasaki CO., LTD. wins the Grand Prix in the 3D VR Simulation Contest (Oct. 14, 2013 issue)
- Construction
IT World (Official website of Ryota Ieiri): Grand Prix goes to Iwasaki
CO., LTD.! FORUM8 releases the award winning works of the 3D VR Contest
(Sep. 26, 2013)
- Iwasaki CO., LTD.: Iwasaki CO., LTD. wins the Grand Prix in The 12th 3D VR Simulation Contest on Cloud (Oct. 10, 2013)
- Yahoo
News: Road construction has come this far! Construction site in a
snowstorm and trailer accidents can now be verified via Driving
Simulator (Sep. 28, 2013）
|
Day 2 (Sep. 19) The 12nd 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud Award Ceremony
Possibilities Expanding Through Evolution of ICT and Collaboration of 3D VR Technologies
New Uses of Driving Simulators
Day2
of the Design Festival started in the main hall out of all the three
venues at Shinagawa Intercity Hall and conference rooms (1&2 and
3). Following the opening lecture of the "VR Conference", the 12th 3DVR
Simulation Contest on Cloud Award Ceremony took place with announcement
of awards in the morning. In the afternoon, <General Sessions>
and <Driving Simulation Sessions> for the 14th UC-win/Road
Conference were held.
Seeing the 13th this year, "UC-win/Road
Conference" started in 2000, following the release of "UC-win/Road."
Since then, it has been taking place annually. In the mean time, it
came to serve also as "VR-Studio(R) conference" since the release of
"VR-Studio(R)" in 2009.
 |  | The nominated for the 12th 3DVR
Simulation Contest on Cloud | Shinagawa Intercity Hall |
Progress of CG-related Technologies, Future Uses of AR to Be Focused
VR Applications Move onto the Next Stage
The
first speaker of Day2 was Mr. Toshiro Kawamura, former vice president
of NEC, now Advisor of FORUM8 Co., Ltd., giving a special lecture "The
development and future expectation of computer graphics." Mentioning
hardware, software, and network of the dawn period of computer dating
back to early 1960's, he then focused on CAD. He followed the stream
from the evolvement of CAD itself, CAD/CAM/CAE to PDM (product data
management) and PLM (product lifecycle management), and to BIM and CIM.
Next, he mentioned CG in early 1970's, rapid spread of CG movies since
1980's, and development of environment for creating CG, which made such
evolution possible. He also mentioned visualization of diverse
simulation and support for medical fields and corporate management as
the actual circumstances of utilization of 3D CAD data, VR, and CG,
which are spread in a wide range today. It is AR (augmented reality)
that he pays attention to in particular. In addition to current unique
usages, he explained possibilities of its applications in the future
such as addition of information, image identification, object
identification, image sharing that allows eye-movement. On the other
hand, he pointed out challenges in its utilization or research and
development in consideration of the characteristics of CG. Finally, he
showed efforts of FORUM8 to work on VR in terms of BIM, CIM, image
processing, sensing, and information DB (database).
 | Mr. Toshiro Kawamura,
former vice president of NEC,
Advisor of FORUM8 |
After
the lecture, award winners of the 12th 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud
were announced with their works. The award ceremony was proceeded with
Mr. Satoru Machida as Presenter: Advisor of Projection Mapping
Association of Japan / CEO of AmbientMedia / Part-time advisor of
FORUM8 (see the above article for details of the contest and awards).
In making comments on the contest, Mr. Fumio Seki, College of
Engineering, Nihon University stated on behalf of the judges that it is
noticeable that VR applications have stepped onto a bit different stage
from visualization or simulation so far, extending to new uses such as
training and education.
Day 2 (Sep. 19) The 14th UC-win/Road Conference
General Sessions
Diverse 3D Representation Technologies, Future Evolution Expected
The
first special lecture for <General Sessions> of the 14th
UC-win/Road Conference held in the hall in the afternoon was "Instant
and Flexible 3D Reconstruction Using a Digital Camera" by Professor
Masatoshi Okutomi, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of
Technology. After summarizing 3D input devices and stereovision as the
related equipment, he described general idea of "3D restoration from
images" (obtaining the 3D positions uniquely from the theory of
triangulation using stereo vision) and challenges regarding this. Then
he mentioned the mechanism of restoration (from 2D to 3D images) by
freely moving a camera that he aimed at, as well as the overview of
Structure from Motion, their approach to it (Incremental Structure from
Motion) and its process flow. The approaches they adopted in
consideration of its problems are as follows: 1) Inputting new images,
2) Extraction of feature points and matching, 3) Estimation of the
camera position, 4) Estimation of three-dimensional points, 5) Loop
closing, 6) Total optimization, and 7) Generation of the surface.
At the same time, he presented some cases such as 3D point groups restored by the method and texture mapping on the surface.
 | Professor Masatoshi Okutomi,
Graduate School of Engineering,
Tokyo Institute of Technology |
Next
special lecture, "A New Development of 3D / VR / AR" was given by Mr.
Hiroyuki Hagura, President of 3D Image Forum and Special-appointment
Professor of Digital Hollywood Co., Ltd. First of all he talked about
his involvement with computer and various 3D images etc. Then he
explained ideas with examples about technological evolution like from
3D to S3D (stereoscopic vision), from S3D to VR, from VR to AR, from AR
to 3DPM (3D projection mapping) or 3D printer, and from 4K to 8K. He
also summarized advantages and problems of surgery using S3D,
mentioning laparoscope operation, laparoscope HMD (head mount display)
operation using VR, and da Vinci Surgical System, based on his own
experience. He then referred to high technologies in the medical care
field such as X-ray CT (computed tomography), functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI), PET, and cancer treatment apparatus utilizing
heavy corpuscular rays (HIMAC: Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba).
Then he stated how he came across the need to establish "State of the
Art Technologies in Expression Association" mentioned in detail later
as an organization for those who use diverse state-of-the art
technologies for representation.
 | Mr. Hiroyuki Hagura,
President of 3D Image Forum and Special-appointment
Professor of Digital Hollywood Co., Ltd |
The
last lecture in <General Sessions>, which formed the first half
of the Conference, was "The Latest Case Studies of 3D Projection
Mapping and Future Development" given by Mr. Mamoru Hanzawa, General
Manager of Japan office of Christie Digital Systems, Inc. First, he
presented the company profile and services including the display system
for simulator, projectors, and VR system integration. Then he explained
diverse and unique cases dealt by his company, such as 3D projection
mapping on the wall of a building, 2D projection mapping, indoors
projection mapping, and special video rendering. Taking for instance
the latest 3D projection mapping, NHK special program, and overseas
events, he mentioned the processes of realizing them and their original
devices. Furthermore, he talked about the movement of
future projector technologies, with expectation and challenges
regarding use of laser projectors. He showed his opinion that as the
needs for diverse projection mapping increase, unique inspiration,
technologies, and attractive contents will become more important.
 |  | Mr. Mamoru Hanzawa,
General Manager of Japan office of Christie Digital Systems, Inc. |
Driving Simulation Sessions
Use of Advanced DS, Needs Getting Sophisticated
<Driving
Simulation Sessions>, the second half of the 14th UC-win/Road
Conference was held in the hall in the afternoon starting with "Use of
Simulation in the Field of Information Processing for Accident
Prevention and Safety" by Professor Koji Oguri, School of Information
Science and Technology, Aichi Prefectural University. Originally
specializing in biological signal processing, he wondered if he could
use the expertise in the efforts of aiming at decreasing traffic
fatality to zero.
He described how he came to introduce UC-win/Road
after developing a driving simulator (DS) on his own. Using DS, he
obtained various biological data of drivers. He started a study to
estimate driving conditions of a driver such as sleepiness, by
combining them with road conditions and vehicle information. Currently,
with development of sensors etc. he is considering not only estimation
of drivers' conditions and prediction of their behavior but also
support for safe driving, amenity and social problems, through
visualization of the driver, development of smart devices, and analysis
of big data. Then he explained the overview of DS including three
simulators already held in the lab and the one under development based
on UC-win/Road, and experiments using them. He drew a picture of DS to
be expected in the future. Finally, he stated about the study topics
such as estimation of the driver's conditions, driver activate, driver
perception, smart device fusion, and support for the elderly people. He
also mentioned the latest study such as a technology to reduce
accidents attributed to drivers.
 |  | Professor Koji Oguri,
School of Information Science and Technology, Aichi Prefectural University |
Next,
Mr. Koji Masuno, Application Engineer of Moog Japan Ltd. gave a special
lecture "Simulator via high-performance motion and case studies of
testing device." First he introduced his company and main product
areas. He then explained simulators and testing devices with special
focus. He also expounded the features of the products that reflect
diverse needs, using screen images as an example of adopting a motion
base for DS offered by his company. In addition, mentioning potential
problems of a simulator with a translation device, he recounted the
flow of control for improvement measures on the side of the motion
base. He also mentioned the reduction of its influence. Furthermore, he
spoke of the configuration and functions of the control loading
equipment as well as its new application scenes.
 |  | | Mr. Koji Masuno, Application Engineer of Moog Japan Ltd |
The
third special lecture of the Sessions was "Development of ICT
Technology and Future Development in the Use of Simulation," given by
Lecturer Shuichi Matsumoto, at the science and engineering department,
Keio University. Use of simulation started in the University when the
nation requested them to examine transportation policies in response to
Kawasaki pollution suit. He also talked about his own use of
simulation. Regarding traffic simulation, he summarized its direction
to aim at, classification of types, comparison of development between
Japan and other nations, and the role of the clearinghouse. On the
other hand, though the university originally had DS for study use,
there were also restrictions because of its expensiveness. So he
focused on UC-win/Road. Last year he started to aim to develop a
platform for study based on UC-win/Road, to be available for every
faculty member of the transportation field. In considering the
characteristics capable of building an environment for experiments with
its open source, customizable and low cost system, they set the goal
"to obtain better results by wise use." After its adoption, they have
been utilizing it, e.g. for an experiments of studying provision of
information on picking up speed and slowing down and its influence on
mileage improvement. At the same time, they confirmed the advantages of
UC-win/Road. Reflecting these, they also started joint studies with
other universities by using UC-win/Road.
 |  | Mr. Shuichi Matsumoto,
Lecturer at the science and engineering department, Keio University |
They
are planning to develop a system that allows extraction of driving
intention data by improving environment for experiments with simple and
easy DS having high cost-effectiveness.
Subsequently, FORUM8
staff member gave a presentation "Simulation Function of UC-win/Road
Ver.9 and its Future Development." He talked about efforts on ADAS
(advanced driver assistance system) including multi driver and multi
walker functions, reinforcement of modeling by creating parametric
models such as stairs and escalators, improvement of productivity in
editing 3D spaces, additional functions to tsunami plug-ins,
free-of-charge output plug-ins, and UC-win/Road OHPASS plug-ins.
Regarding the future development plan of UC-win/Road, he recounted
extension of crowd simulation, extension of the traffic-artery creation
function, support for parallel rendering, and quality improvement
of CG rendering. Furthermore, he expounded the development policy of
UC-win/Road for the future, mentioning items such as parallelizing
simulation computing, native support for 64 bit, implementation of
Structure from Motion, and on-line systematization of 3D
data.
The final stage of the Sessions was
"Foundation of Association for Promoting the Use of Cutting Edge
Visualization Technology", chaired by Mr. Hiroyuki Hagura, Secretariat
at the Association. Yuji Ito, President of FORUM8 and the first
Chairman of the Association made explanation on foundation of the
Association. Then Mr. Satoru Machida, who acted as chairperson in the
award ceremony in the morning, introduced the concept of the
Association, the assumed related areas of visualization technology, the
overview of its activities, and its organization.
 |  | Foundation of Association for Promoting the Use
of Cutting Edge Visualization Technology |
Day2 (Sep. 19) The 7th Design Conference
The
latest case studies for design and analysis, civil engineering, and
architecture; and the support for the student competition
<Geotechnical
Session> and <Seismic and Disaster-Preventing Session>, which
are 2 of the 6 sessions in "The 7th Design Conference" of Design
Festival Day3, were held in Conference Room 1 and 2, and Conference
Room 3 respectively.
You may be interested to know that the
predecessor of the "Design Conference" is the "UC-win/FRAME(3D)
Conference", which was first held in October 2003 following the release
of "UC-win/FRAME(3D) " in 2002. The "UC-win/FRAME(3D) Conference" was
also held in the following 3 years. In 2007 the aforementioned
conference was co-held with the "UC-win/UC-1 User Conference" for the
first time and the two conferences were collectively named the "Design
Conference”. Since then the "Design Conference” are held every year and
this year we just held our 7th "Design Conference".
Geotechnical Sessions
Introduction with a focus on the advanced user case studies of geotechnical series products
Geotechnical
Session started off with a special lecture titled "Modeling Technology
for Ground FEM Analysis" given by Associate Prof. Fei Cai from the
Graduate School of Engineering, Gunma University who wrote the book
"Introduction of geotechnical FEM analysis" published by FORUM8
Publishing. He coherently explained about the neighboring construction,
design standard in which the geotechnical FEM analysis is introduced
and also the work flow of geotechnical FEM analysis and its fudge
factor. Moreover the 3 types of analysis (Pre-analysis, Post-analysis
and Dynamic analysis) were given, and with regards to one of the
examples of the dynamic analysis the method of modeling the actual
problem was concretely explained. The note of caution when running the
analysis and the techniques involved were also introduced with plenty
of information to take home hence it was a very valuable lecture.
 |  |  | Associate Prof. FeiCai
Graduate School of Engineering , Gunma University |
Next,
a special lecture titled "Practical Applications of UWLC2D and 3D" was
given by Mr. Yasuhiko Okochi, the president of NOM Co., Ltd. Mr. Okochi
introduced 2 examples of the development of liquefaction countermeasure
techniques that he used in a practical task. In the first example, he
explained the centrifuge model test and the analysis via UWLC2D and
UWLC3D. He also touched on the usability of the analysis result of UWLC
when compared to that obtained by ALID. In the second example, he
explained how to apply UWLC2D to design using the case studies of earth
fill and retaining wall design.
 |  | Mr. Yasuhiko Okochi
President of NOM Co., Ltd. |
The
following lecture titled "Example of "GeoFEAS" Application in Retaining
Wall Design" was given by Mr. Toshihiro Hanada, the president of Bulld
Geotechno Co., Ltd. Mr. Hanada uses GeoFEAS on a daily basis to analyze
the issues concerning the transformation, stress, and stability of the
ground and a model comprised of both the ground and structures. Based
on his experience, he explained an effective way of using GeoFEAS by
bringing up "The displacement issue of the L-type retaining wall" as an
example. He told his story of how he ran an FEM analysis on the
displacement of structure as well as displacement that may occur during
construction work to suggest an effective method in terms of stability
of constructing an inverted T shape retaining wall planned for the
development of residential sites: Construct an embankment prior to
constructing retaining wall, and then construct foundation pile and
retaining wall following the convergence of ground displacement.
The
last special lecture was presented by Associate Prof. Kana Nakatani in
the Agriculture Department of Kyoto University who developed "Kanako"
which is the user friendly debris flow simulator and also adopted as a
solver for UC-1 "Debris Flow Simulation". She explained from the
technical points of the debris flow analysis to the process of the
development, purpose, background and the characteristic of Kanako, on
top of that, the several case studies in which the disaster-prevention
method using the numerical simulation was implemented for the past
actual debris-flow was introduced.
 |  | Mr. Toshiro Hanada
President of Bulled Geotechno Co., Ltd. |
In
the presentation presented by a delegate of the FORUM8 Development
Group, the latest features of FORUM8's geotechnical analysis series
products and the prospects they have to offer were introduced with a
focus on the overview of UC-win/WCOMD. Moreover the case example of
debris flow simulation, the example of "Slope stability analysis via
Shear Strength Reduction Method taking pore-water pressure into
consideration" and the example of "Evaluation of seismic capacity of
large section box culvert via seismic coefficient method and dynamic
analysis" were also introduced.
 |  | Associate Prof. Kana Nakatani
Agriculture Department of Kyoto University |
Seismic and Disaster-preventing Sessions
The session's theme was very diverse, covering a wide range of urban disaster prevention measures
The
first presenter of the Seismic and Disaster-preventing Session was
Prof. Hiromichi Yoshikawa of Tokyo City University, an author and
editor of "Introduction to Earthquake Disaster Mitigation", a
book published by FORUM8 Publishing Group in spring 2013. He gave his
lecture titled "Introduction to "Earhquake Disaster
Mitigation-Earthquake Engineering, Seismic Engineering, Tsunami
Engineering and Disaster Prevention & Reduction"" in which the
contents of the book was explained in further detail. He mentioned
"Japan has the cutting-edge technologies for earthquake and seismic
engineering, and disaster prevention since our country, Japan has
experienced a lot of earthquakes. On the other hand, these technologies
needs significant specialized and segmentalized techniques and
knowledge, so there is very few publication which covers them all." and
introduced this book as an unparallel all-in-one introductory book.
Book is easily comprehensible and highly-reputed.
 |  | Prof. Hiromichi Yoshikawa
Tokyo City University |
Following
Prof. Yoshikawa, Mr. Seiichiro Fukushima who is a manager for disaster
prevention group of Tokyo Electric Power Service Co., Ltd. and also
co-author of "Introduction to Earthquake Disaster Mitigation" gave his
lecture titled "Why does an earthquake disaster occur and how we should
face it". He emphasized that we should take a complete measure that
combines both the disaster-prevention measures and disaster-mitigation
measures to prepare for earthquakes and to do that it is necessary for
the 3 types of recue; namely the Self-help, the Cooperative-help, and
the rescue by public organizations; to function in harmony. He
elaborated on his lecture by giving a comprehensive explanation on the
essence that summarizes the 4 discipline that we need to take into
consideration when dealing with earthquake disaster (Earthquake itself,
Seismic capacity, Tsunami, and Disaster prevention).
 |  | Mr. Seiichiro Fukushima
Manager for disaster prevention group
of Tokyo Electric Power Service Co., Ltd. |
After
the lectures by Prof. Yoshikawa and Fukushima who both contributed to
the writing of the book "Introduction to Earthquake Disaster
Mitigation", the presentation with the theme of "Seismic and
disaster-preventing solutions using 3DVR" was given by a FORUM8
delegate. He introduced the 4 matters to be considered in virtual
reality; "Tsunami prevention", "Evacuation measures", "Wave force of
tsunami inflicted on school building" and "ES seismic analysis"); under
the topic of "Disaster Prevention for Tsunami", the theme of the book,
and FORUM8's "Solution for Earthquake Disaster Prevention".
Mr.
Yoshinobu Adachi of Space Engineering Group of Secom Co., Ltd. gave his
lecture titled "Efforts for seeking safety via space information and
simulation technologies" as the theme of disaster and earthquake
prevention. He raised 2 frameworks of the built environment;
information of the architectural buildings and infrastructures obtained
from BIM, and GIS which covers the information of the surrounding
environment; and he emphasized that the strong linkage of the 2 allows
dynamic simulation. Moreover he also mentioned how important it is to
incorporate the disaster prevention mentality into the maintenance of
buildings and how the integrated simulation that combines the concept
of both civil engineering and architecture expands the possibilities.
 |  | Yoshinobu Adachi
Space Engineering Group of Secom Co., Ltd. |
The
following lecture was on the disaster prevention considered from the
BCP (Business Continuity Plan) perspective titled "The need for BCP and
its basic concepts" given by Mr. Takashi Koyama of CEO of Hillvet
Solutions, Ltd. He explained concretely that the damage scenario can be
categorized into Influenza type and Earthquake type and the latter
needs to be divided into the night version and daytime version. In
addition he mentioned about the basic concept of BCP and its important
points including the fact that it is necessary to understand exactly
what kind of assets owned by a company and to always consider the kind
of damage that will cause these assets to not function properly.
 |  | Mr. Takashi Koyama
CEO of Hilvet Solution, Ltd. |
After
the lecture by Mr. Koyama, FORUM8 delegate gave a presentation on the
FORUM8's BCMS activities that lead to the acquirement of ISO22301
(Business Continuity Management System) and the future activities. He
also introduced "BCP Assistance Tool" and "BCP Assistance and BCMS
Configuration Support Services", both of which are one of many FORUM8's
solutions for earthquake disaster prevention.
Day3 (Sep. 20) The 7th Design Conference
On
the Design Festival Day3 were held the remaining 4 groups of
Sessions (out of 6 in all) of the 7th Design Conference.
Shinagawa Intercity Hall was used for <Design Analysis Sessions>
in the morning and in the first half of the afternoon, and <Civil
engineering & CIM Sessions> in the second half of the afternoon.
Also in the afternoon, <Architecture & BIM Sessions> were
held in the conference room 1&2, while <VDWC & CPWC
Sessions> in the conference room 3 separately.
Design
Conference is originated in UC-win/FRAME(3D) Conference, which was
established in October 2003 in response to the release of
UC-win/FRAME(3D) in 2002. Since 2007, it has been combined with
"UC-win/UC-1Conference". It is the 7th Conference this year in this
present form.
Design Analysis Sessions
Diverse Analysis Cases In and Out of the Country
The
morning section opened up with "Concrete Engineering and Water
-Short/Long term Performance Evaluation-" by Professor Koichi Maekawa,
Graduate school of Engineering, Tokyo University. First of all he
recapped that the structure of concrete is subject to the influence of
behavior of water. Then he summarized the difference in the
influence that water has on concrete according to a broad scale. He
gave an overview of the multiscale analysis used their based on the
link between water and concrete structure. He said that "Evolution of
Thinking Machine" attracts attention in analyzing behavior of the micro
world, and mentioned points to note. Next, regarding the fatigue life
analysis of the existing reinforced concrete floor slab and its
maintenance, he explained the system for estimating the remaining life
of the concrete bridge deck slab based on the non-linear fatigue
response analysis. In addition, he stated in detail about long-term
excessive deflection of large-sized PC bridges and their design and
control, long-term excessive cracks or drying shrinkage in a shallow
underground RC culvert, and earthquake response analysis of a
medium-rise RC building, while showing various specific cases and
analysis data.
 | Professor Koichi Maekawa,
Graduate school of Engineering, Tokyo University |
Next
presentation was "The Latest Version of Engineer's Studio(R)"
given by a FORUM8 staff member. After reviewing the process of revising
for the first time since the release of its first edition in 2009, he
recapped the main features of the current Engineer's StudioŽ. Then he
stated not only about functions of generating the mass from the load,
functions about plate, cable, and attenuation elements, but also new
functions to support 2012 Specifications for Highway Bridges and the
limit state design. He also mentioned the planned development in the
future including items related with 2012 Specifications and
multipoint-input function.
The last presentation in the morning
was "The latest case studies of Analysis Support Service" by a FORUM8
staff member. Firstly he showed the overview of the analysis support
service and estimate examples according to business fields. He then
explained analysis examples of Engineer's StudioŽ and UC-win/FRAME(3D),
including an earthquake performance check of an existing bridge,
analyses of river structures such as water gates and sluices, and
analysis of a water supply facility (pond-like structure) in terms of
their problems and specific procedures, while showing their results and
the analyzing processes. He also mentioned the idea about the analysis
support service in the future.
The sessions started again in the
afternoon with "Numerical Simulation and Case Studies with Engineer's
Studio(R)" by Dr. Jesus Donaire Avila, Earthquake engineering group
from the University of Granada. First he introduced the studies made by
him and others regarding improvement of earthquake resistance for a
typical form of building structure in Spain (waffle flat-plate
structure (WFPS)) through advanced technologies such as the hysteresis
damper. He then expounded WFPS in terms of its components, evolution,
features, and aseismic behavior. At the same time, he mentioned the
influence from 2011 Lorca earthquake. Subsequently, he recounted a
numerical model of the internal column slab junction of WFPS and a
macro model of the internal and external column slab junction of WFPS,
which he had worked on using Engineer's StudioŽ, showing examples of
applications. What's more, he explained the vibration table experiment
conducted to verify numerical simulation using specimens of WFPS.
 |  | Mr. Jesus Donaire Avila,
Earthquake engineering group from the University of Granada |
The
final lecture of the Session was "Effectiveness of analysis of
structural aseismatic reliability for distribution reservoir using 3D
FEM models" by Mr. Hiroyasu Yabe, Pacific Consultants Co.,Ltd. and Mr.
Yushi Ishiai, Technology Analysis Center (T.A.C). Mr. Yabe started with
the overview of the trend of anti-quake reinforcement of waterworks as
well as earthquake damages in recent years. Then he
recapped performance-code-based design in the guideline on the
aseismatic construction method for water utilities, seismic performance
and design earthquake prescribed in the guideline, and the concept for
check standards etc. He had evaluated the distribution reservoir of
flat-slab structure using 2D FEM models and 3D FEM models. He described
the aseismatic performance evaluation dependant on different analysis
models. He also expounded economic comparison of reinforcement
work. Further, effectiveness of analysis was examined based on
the procedure of dynamic analysis and analysis cases. He gave its
overview and its result. Through these he concluded that
(1) For water utilities, 3D analysis is effective for economical design, and
(2)
Since water tightness is required for water utilities, it is necessary
to design water utilities that have proper strength by computing
leakage from the crack width or crack length using non-linear analysis.
 | Mr. Hiroyasu Yabe,
Pacific Consultants Co.,Ltd. |
Civil engineering & CIM Sessions
The Latest Cases of CIM, Possibilities of Diverse Solutions
<Civil
engineering & CIM Sessions> in the second half of the afternoon
in the hall opened up with "Current state of CIM and its ideal model"
by Mr. Shinya Sugiura, Obayashi Corporation. First of all, he stated
about the organization and activities of CIM technology Investigative
Committee that he belongs to, and its involvement with CIM Institution
Investigative Committee. He showed the activities outcome of the first
year (last fiscal year), effects to be expected from CIM (Construction
Information Modeling), concept of CIM, pilot tasks performed last
fiscal year and verification of the effects, points of the pilot
projects in and after this fiscal year, and key items for
consideration. He also illustrated the pilot projects he was involved
in with a slogan of "Simple & Easy" towards establishment of CIM,
such as a tunnel, bridge, and land creation projects. Showing the
images actually used, he explained the scenes of using CIM models, such
as an integrated model based on multiple sources of information, which
was used for business analysis and then for construction management;
points to consider in creating CIM models, effects of using CIM on the
scene such as maintenance or consensus building; and the key concept
for construction information modeling (CIM). He also mentioned
possibilities of advanced collaboration of FORUM8 products with 3D
models.
 |  | | Mr. Shinya Sugiura, Obayashi Corporation |
The
next special lecture was "Past, present and future of the technologies
for road, bridge, tunnel and paving and about introducing CIM" by Mr.
Tatsuoki Inagaki, Director of Pave & Road How-To Way Technology
Association. He enumerated accidents and disasters around social
infrastructure including roads and bridges, and as a relative topic,
mentioned problems of deterioration of social infrastructure. Then he
introduced points of road law revision in response to them, issues of
maintenance and update being examined in the Conference to discuss
measures to cope with the aging of social infrastructure, and
activities of the subcommittee of road maintenance technology towards
constructing a platform to grasp information on the facilities
discussed in the Conference. Meanwhile he reviewed the overview and
present situation of CALS/EC and road management database (MICHI)
treated so far, and developed his speech into expectation towards
utilization of advanced ICT and introduction of CIM in consideration of
the above-mentioned issues. In addition, he illustrated diverse
simulation using UC-win/Road. He also stated a proposal to succeed in
CIM with challenges in introducing CIM, while stressing prevention and
mitigation of disasters among the topics described in CIM Institution
Investigative Committee. Finally, he insisted on necessity of organized
education.
 |  | Mr. Tatsuoki Inagaki,
Director of Pave & Road How-To Way Technology Association |
Following
these lectures, FORUM8 staff member made presentation "Development of
3DCAD Studio™." First, he introduced our existing CAD solutions such as
general-purpose CAD (UC-Draw), the automatic drawing tool for civil
engineering (UC-Draw Tools), and CAD functions of UC-1series. Then he
reviewed their response to CALS/EC in the mean time, focus on 3D data
that also leads to CIM, participation in a 3D CAD engine development
project, and the process of starting to develop original CAD
applications using the outcome of the project. Next, he recapped the
functions of 3DCAD Studio™ under development such as of modeling,
measurement, layers, and file input and output while demonstrating
examples of model that can be created and creation work. He also
mentioned development plans in the future, linkage among our products
towards the future, and support for cloud.
The next presentation
was "UC-1 Engineer Suite and functions of CIM, auto design and cloud"
by FORUM8 staff member. UC-1 Engineer Suite, which is the generic name
of product set editions of our design CAD software UC-1 series, is
composed of 8 categories released one by one since this April. Apart
from the latest functions of each single product, he expounded
functions of CIM, cloud, and auto design, among the functions of the
suite reinforced in particular. He also introduced development plans in
the future about auto design of steel bridge, the steel bridge design
tool, and the partial coefficient method.
The last presentation
in the sessions was "Data linkage of CIM&VR and 3DVR Engineering
Service" by FORUM8 staff member. First, he recapped the present
situation and outlook of our integrated solutions using BIM/CIM. Then
he showed demonstration of different design and analysis data are
linked together on VR. He further mentioned available services such as
3D bar arrangement CAD for SaaS, 3DVR engineering service, 3D drawing
options, report and drawings total service, noise measurement
simulation service, 3D laser scan modeling service, 3D mock-up service,
3D scan work progress control VR modeling.
Architecture&BIM Sessions
Providing the latest information for BIM field
Architecture&BIM
Sessions started off with a special lecture given by Prof. Yasushi
Ikeda from Keio University who is a famous architect in the discipline
of BIM research. It was held live from Paris where AIAC International
Workshop for Built Architecture 2013 was in session and his lecture is
titled "Global viewpoint about architecture and city design and data
communication". He introduced about AIAC International Workshop Studio
and the various other kinds of competition and project and even about
BIM as the communication media for design information. He also
mentioned about the advancement in digital design technology,
arrangement of open source design environment with the help of advanced
network technology, and the example of an interactive discussion among
citizens on public works design through SNS (whose popularity has risen
considerably) and the future vision.
 | Pro. Yasushi Ikeda
Keio University |
The
following presentation on the overview of BIM&VR solution was given
by FORUM8 delegate. He explained about OHPASS plug-in which allows
seamless linkage between the calculation result of Optimal Highway Path
Automatic Search System OHPASS and UC-win/Road, evacuation analysis via
EXODUS and an example of the visualizing the analysis result, 3DVR
engineering service, all of which are the latest products and services
FORUM8 have in store.
Mr. Tomohiro Chikada of Azbill
Corporation. gave his lecture titled "Energy analysis for
air-conditioning of buildings via DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus". He
introduced about the building automation project currently being
deployed by Azbill Corporation which focuses on infrastructures
including hospitals, universities and factories. He thoroughly
explained about the power-saving measure taken by Azbill Fujisawa
Techno Center in summer 2011, the first summer after earthquake, in
which he used DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus to run a simulation to
predict the outcome and effect of the measure.
 |  | Mr. Tomohiro Chikada
Azbill Corporation |
Prof.
Shuichi Asayama from Tokyo Denki University gave his lecture titled
"Analysis for structures using Automation functions of Multiframe" and
introduced the use of Automation function of Multiframe using Delphi.
He explained the programming method of series of basic flow from the
setting of joint data, cross section and load to the analysis execution
and how to extruct bending moment using source code of the simplified
sample. There were good questions like "Is it possible to make the span
of column longer or shorter by automation design feature?", to which he
replied "It is possible upon consideration. Once the information of
joints have been changed, Multiframe will run automatic calculation".
Furthermore, he introduced the designing of a structure shaped like a
wave using sea wave.
 | Prof. Shuichi Asayama
Tokyo Denki University |
Next
Mr. Pascal Bergougnou who is a general director in Asia-Pacific of
Graitec Pte Ltd. gave his lecture titled "The latest features of BIM
structural steel detailing software Advance Steel/Concrete 2013, their
case studies, and their interoperability". He explained the new
functions of Advance Steel/Concrete, linkage with other software,
automaic design of member, re-do/un-do features and the revision
history, and automatic generation of bar arrangement drawing etc. In
addition he introduced many case studies from many countries.
 |  | Mr. Pascal Bergougnou
A general director in Asia-Pacific of Graitec Pte Ltd. |
As
the last lecture of Architecture&BIM sessions, FORUM8 delegate gave
a presentation titled "BIM solution and 3DVR engineering service" and
introduced 3D Scan Modeling Service, 3D Printer Model Service and even
3D Projection Mapping Simulation etc. of the latest FORUM8 BIM&VR
solution.
VDWC/CPWC Sessions
Future "Urban design" for Olympic in 2020
To
help students prepare for the submission of Virtual Design World Cup
and Cloud Programming World Cup, both of which are the international
competition for students, we had our room in which applicants cat get
our support and gave presentations of the related products and even
showcased some of our technologies. The presentation titled "VR
urban city system" given by Mr. Hiroo Kasagi of managing director of
workshop for sustainable community and facilitator of this presentation
gave his final advice on the works for VDWC. On top of that, he
mentioned about the facilitation for urban planning and even the
concept for using VR and the advanced safety city creation for Olympic
in 2020. He said about future urban planning "It is worth verifying the
risks that we may face in any type of disaster, to check whether
measures against disasters are suitable, and to quantify these results
for the sake of gaining trust from countries worldwide".
 |  | Mr. Hiroo Kasagi
Managing director of workshop for sustainable community |
FORUM8 Design Festival 2014-3Days Venue: Shinagawa Intercity Hall
| Day1 November 19(Wed), 2014 | The 13rd 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud Judgment Commitee | | Day2 November 20(Thu), 2014 | The 13rd 3DVR Simulation Contest on Cloud Award Ceremony
The 15th UC-win/Road Conference The 8th Design Conference | | Day3 November 21(Fri), 2014 | The 8th Design Conference |
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