A Comparative Analysis of Visualization Methods in Architecture:Employing Virtual Reality to Support the Decision-Making Process in the Architecture,Engineering,and Construction Industry

The design process of the built environment relies on the collaborative effort of all parties involved in the project.During the design phase,owners,end users,and their representatives are expected to make the most critical design and budgetary decisions-shaping the essential traits of the project,hence emerge the need and necessity to create and integrate mechanisms to support the decision-making process.Design decisions should not be based on assumptions,past experiences,or imagination.An example of the numerous problems that are a result of uninformed design decisions is“change orders”,known as the deviation from the original scope of work,which leads to an increase of the overall cost,and changes to the construction schedule of the project.The long-term aim of this inquiry is to understand the user’s behavior,and establish evidence-based control measures,which are actions and processes that can be implemented in practice to decrease the volume and frequency of the occurrence of change orders.The current study developed a foundation for further examination by proposing potential control measures,and testing their efficiency,such as integrating Virtual Reality(VR).The specific aim was to examine the effect of different visualization methods(i.e.,VR vs.construction drawings)on,(1)how well the subjects understand the information presented about the future/planned environment;(2)the subjects’perceived confidence in what the future environment will look like;(3)the likelihood of changing the built environment;(4)design review time;and(5)accuracy in reviewing and understanding the design.

Rationale for Decision-Making Processes in Enhancement of Community Participation for Sustainable Mangrove Management in Lamu, Kenya

Decision-making is the process of deciding between two or more options in order to take the most appropriate and successful course of action in order to achieve sustainable mangrove management. However, the distinctiveness of mangrove as an ecosystem, and thus the attendant socio-economic and governance ramifications, causes the idea of decision making to become relatively distinct from other decision making process As a result, the purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact that community engagement plays in the decision-making process as it relates to the establishment of governance norms for sustainable mangrove management in Lamu County. In this study, a correlational research design was applied, and the researchers employed a mixed techniques approach. The target population was 296 respondents. The research used questionnaires and interviews to collect data. A descriptive statistical technique was utilized to perform an inspection and analysis on the data that was gathered. The findings indicated that having awareness about governance standards is beneficial during the process of making decisions. In addition, the findings demonstrated that respondents had the impression that the decision-making process was not done properly. On the other hand, the participants pointed out the positive aspects of the decision-making process and agreed that the participation of both gender was essential for the sustainable management of mangroves. Based on these data, it appeared that full community engagement in decision-making is necessary for sustainable management of mangrove forests.

Alunite processing method selection using the AHP and TOPSIS approaches under fuzzy environment

Alunite is the most important non bauxite resource for alumina. Various methods have been proposed and patented for processing alunite, but none has been performed at industrial scale and no technical,operational and economic data is available to evaluate methods. In addition, selecting the right approach for alunite beneficiation, requires introducing a wide range of criteria and careful analysis of alternatives.In this research, after studying the existing processes, 13 methods were considered and evaluated by 14 technical, economic and environmental analyzing criteria. Due to multiplicity of processing methods and attributes, in this paper, Multi Attribute Decision Making methods were employed to examine the appropriateness of choices. The Delphi Analytical Hierarchy Process(DAHP) was used for weighting selection criteria and Fuzzy TOPSIS approach was used to determine the most profitable candidates. Among 13 studied methods, Spanish, Svoronos and Hazan methods were respectively recognized to be the best choices.

Manufacturing Process Oriented Environmental Friendly Assessment with Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution

Green manufacturing is a mode to realize environmental friendliness by considering the environmental impact and energy consumption in manufacturing process.In order to make an environmental friendly assessment for manufacturing process,a multi-criteria decision making( MCDM) model combined with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process( FAHP) and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution( FTOPSIS) is proposed in this work.The environmental and resource criteria and manufacturing process objects are identified as the first step.Then,the weights of the criteria are calculated by FAHP.Finally,based on experts' evaluation using fuzzy words,the manufacturing process objects are ranked by FTOPSIS.The proposed methodology is applied to a gear shaft manufacturing.The sensitivity analysis and comparisons are implemented to prove its robustness and effectiveness for the ecofriendly assessment for process objects.

A Model-Based, Aspiration-Led Decision Support System NY-IEDSS

An AI-aided simulation system embedded in a model-based, aspiration-led decision support system NY-IEDSS is reported. The NY-IEDSS is designed for mid-term development strategic study of the Nanyang Region in Henan, China, and is getting beyond its prototype stage under the decision maker's (the end user) orientation. The integration of simulation model system, decision analysis and expert system for decision support in the system implementation was reviewed. The intent of the paper is to provide insight as to how system capability and acceptability can be enhanced by this integration. Moreover, emphasis is placed on problem orientation in applying the method.

Causes,Effects,and Control Measures of Construction Change Orders in the U.S.

Change orders have a significant impact on many aspects of construction projects.They are known to be the primary cause of litigation in the construction industry.Change orders are almost inevitable due to the uniqueness of each project from many perspectives,such as the type of building,complexity of the design,human factors,and the available resources.Change orders are the formal mechanism to implement design changes during the execution phase.These changes are usually the outcome of lack of visualization by the owner,misunderstanding,miscommunication between different parties involved in the project,shortage in resources,and other factors.This research aims to investigate and rank causes,effects,and control measures of change orders in the construction industry in the U.S.This research presents the results of a questionnaire surveying owners,contractors,and consultants.A total of 123 industry professionals in the Architecture,Engineering,and Construction(AEC)field,with either significant or final decision-making authority on reviewing,issuing,and approving change orders responded to the survey.Results indicated that owners are the primary source followed by consultants and contractors,respectively.Some of the more important control measures identified in this research are collaboration and visualization technologies.

Six-step reasoning model for robot-soccer

The decision making system of robot soccer is a kind of knowledge system. A Six step Reasoning Model is established by formalizing its expert knowledge and decision making process. Furthermore, many other models can be considered as mutation and evolution of the Six step Reasoning Model.

Developing a mathematical assessment model for blasting patterns management: Sungun copper mine

Blasting is one of the most important operations in the mining projects that has effective role in the whole operation physically and economically. Unsuitable blasting pattern may lead to unwanted events such as poor fragmentation, back break and fly rock. Multi attribute decision making(MADM) can be useful method for selecting the most appropriate blasting pattern among previously performed patterns. In this work, initially, from various already performed patterns, efficient and inefficient patterns are determined using data envelopment analysis(DEA). In the second step, after weighting impressive attributes using experts' opinion, elimination Et choice translating reality(ELECTRE) was used for ranking the efficient patterns and recognizing the most appropriate pattern in the Sungun Copper Mine, Iran. According to the obtained results, blasting pattern with the hole diameter of 15.24 cm, burden of 3 m, spacing of 4 m and stemming of 3.2 m has selected as the best pattern and has selected for future operation.