Hypermodeling infuses the project’s documentation into the 3D model, automatically.
After using BIM for 10 years myself I noticed it goes only half way (or less). To automate documents is one thing, but this does nothing at all, really, to improve the communicative effectiveness of documentation, the purpose of which is - to communicate effectively. It's about the medium of communication itself, which needs improvement. This is achieved (now) by infusing the project’s documentation into 3D, automatically. ..which is not unlike infusing synchronized audio into moving picture, because doing so elevates the effectiveness of both audio (contextualized in picture) and picture (clarified by synchronized sound). Without Hypermodeling, you're just making silent film - speechless 3D that cannot be delivered because it carries nothing but ambiguity. Now the model is clarified by exactly what the team said it wanted to say about a project in its documentation..
David, This IS the place for debate. We are in the world, right. The world is for debate. :)
You are right about implementation. Poor implementation = failure.
I'm not advocating that every guy on every ladder carry an electronic device instead of paper. I am advocating that when the guys are in the construction trailer in the morning, their computers and phones and whatever devices they have are able to present to them information that they can understand and use.
This makes that much easier.
Anything they see that they want to print, they can print and carry to the ladder.
This video ftp.bentley.com/.../Model%20Documentation%20examples%20iPub.mov
shows accessibility of document information in 3D.
Everything you see in that video happens automatically (except for the button pushing). It is an automatic by-product of the documentation process. When the team makes documents by putting model views on drawings by using callouts, the software automatically connects everything to make the documents visible in context in 3D. There is no set up, no time, no effort required to make this happen. Every drawing in the document set is indicated by its callout or a marker in place in 3D at the position in the building that the drawing draws.
Regarding devices. We are, like everyone else, working on making our apps and data visible on many devices. A common strategy is the use of things like Citrix. We have, for example, our apps running on iPhones and iPads and Android phones and so on, currently,
Likewise, even without that, we've shown at our last 2 conferences the development of our dgn webviewer, which makes all of this work in a web browser (for viewing).