The Open BIM COVID-19 program facilitates the adoption and validation of preventive measure to minimise infections and optimise the occupancy of space, both in buildings and open spaces, taking into account aspects such as interpersonal safety distance or furniture
The software is translated into 6 languages and can be adapted to the national safety regulations against COVID-19 of any country in the world and at any phase to optimise the distribution of people and prevent the spread of the virus
The tool is completely free and allows the results to be viewed in 2D, 3D, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality thanks to the use of Open BIM technology
In a second phase of development, the application is expected to analyse the pattern of virus dispersion and spread in buildings with computational fluid dynamics
CYPE has developed globally pioneering software to give greater safety to business owners, employees and customers in buildings in the fight against COVID-19. Specifically, the Open BIM COVID-19 software facilitates the adoption and validation of preventive measures to minimise infections, taking into account criteria such as interpersonal safety distance, furniture or the installation of separators, amongst other points.
The software also generates a detailed report containing the maximum allowed capacity and graphic documentation to design the most appropriate layout in accordance with the criteria established by current regulations. In this way, business managers, for example, can optimise the space of their facilities, whether they are shops, restaurants, hotels of floors of buildings, according to the protection measures against COVID-19 established by each country, and validate in advance the preventive measures needed to minimise infections. In Spain, CYPE has followed the criteria established in the BOE (Official State Gazette).
According to Carlos Fernández, Technical Director of CYPE, the tool works very simply and intuitively, and the development of this tool responds to a need on the part of business owners and customers to offer and have the greatest guarantees of safety and protection. “Open BIM COVID-19 is a free program with which is it possible in a matter of minutes to measure and distribute the layout of people in both open and closed spaces, according to the interpersonal safety distance established by the regulations, and to foresee the location of the devices necessary to be able to resume activity”, explains CYPE’s Technical Director.
In this regard and as an example, the director of the company indicates that, in the case of Spain, the BOE, the official gazette, requires the installation of bins and the provision of hydroalcoholic gels or disinfectants with virucidal properties authorised and registered by the Department of Health to clean hands, or when not possible, soap and water.
“In these cases it would be advisable to plan the installation of a reception point with hydroalcoholic gels and a mask or glove dispenser”, explains Carlos Fernández, whilst detailing the desirability of putting up signs of interpersonal distance, warnings of the need to wash hands or to avoid touching the face etc. “All of these elements are included in the program we have developed”, adds the director of the architecture, engineering and construction software company.
With all this information, the program allows users to design in advance circulation routes, in a similar way to evacuation routes, to avoid contact between people and thus minimise as much as possible the risk of infection and optimise the occupancy. “The idea of this software is to carry out a study in advance that simulates the most appropriate safety measures according to the conditions of each space, and not just according to a percentage as is currently the case”, emphasises the Technical Director of the Spanish Company with users in over 160 countries on five continents.
In the event that the entered data is incorrect, the program identifies the distancing problems and gives options for solutions, such as the installation of partitions or separators. Furthermore, Open BIM COVID-19 makes it possible to specify whether the people are men, women, boys or girls, if they are standing or sitting, as well as if they are wearing a mask or not.
A tool that can be used in any country in the world
The development of this tool is the fruit of this company’s commitment to improving people’s safety and trying to offer more protection in spaces, giving consumers greater confidence. For this reason the application is completely free, available from the cloud platform BIMserver.center.
The software is designed to be used in any country around the world, since the safety parameters can be edited according to the requirements of each country. “Spain recommends social distancing of two metres so that there is a low chance of exposure, whilst in Hong Kong the distance is 1.5 metres”, explains Carlos Fernandez. All of these parameters can be edited manually in the software that is available in Spanish, Catalan, English, French, Italian and Portuguese.
The latest technology in architecture, engineering and construction
The free software developed by CYPE has incorporated Open BIM technology, the most up to date technology being used in the architecture, engineering and construction sector. To do this, it uses IFC4 files, but also other types of technology such as gITF format, which is found in video games, for viewing in 3D.
Furthermore, the program makes it possible to export plans, so that owners can place a plan in their businesses explaining the adopted safety measures to be followed, as in the case for example of hotels, where the installation of evacuation plans is obligatory.
“With our solution the results can be viewed in 2D, 3D, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, and in this way provide the most suitable protection material to reduce the possibilities of infection and adapt the installations with the level of separation established in the regulations”, concludes Carlos Fernandez.
A rapidly evolving program
In a second phase in which CYPE is already working, Open BIM COVID-19 will improve its features and introduce new ones. In particular, the staff of the company’s development department are working on the option of performing a simulation of how the virus would spread, taking into account the speed and dispersion pattern of particles in coughs and sneezes.
