Cross-platform framework for semantic BIM-to-XR data exchange in immersive construction informatics
- Authors
- REHMAN, SADDIQ UR
- Issue Date
- 2026-08
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V.
- Author Keywords
- Citation
- 논문 Automation in Construction, v.188, no., pp.-
- Journal Title
- Automation in Construction
- Volume
- 188
- ISSN
- 0926-5805
- Abstract
- The integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) with Extended Reality (XR) enables real-time visualization, simulation, and verification, yet practical adoption is constrained by interoperability overhead and unreliable semantic transfer from BIM authoring tools to real-time engines. This paper presents BIMUniXchange, an open-source framework for asynchronous BIM-to-XR exchange that couples lightweight geometry with externalized semantic tables and reconstructs interaction-ready object semantics and multi-level hierarchy in Unity. The framework includes ReUniXchange, ArchUniXchange, and a Unity C# package for metadata re-attachment, validation, and XR deployment. BIMUniXchange is evaluated on six real-world BIM models using objective metrics including processing time, peak memory behavior, semantic completeness at element and parameter levels, and XR runtime frame rate, with comparisons against IFC-based and built-in exporter workflows and positioning against representative industry middleware and prior research pipelines. Two XR applications demonstrate practical utility and confirm that the proposed exchange supports scalable, semantics-driven immersive construction informatics. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
