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Interactive Data Visualization and Augmented Reality of Urban Photovoltaic

The same repository is also backed up at ETH Arch Chair's repo: https://github.com/architecture-building-systems/FCL-Exhibition-2023-ARUnity

Introduction

This project is an iPad mobile app created for the Future Cities Lab Exhibition 2023 at ETH Zurich, aiming to visualize influential data of photovoltaic power usage using augmented reality. It utilizes 3D printed models of two sites, Zurich and Singapore, and is composed of three key modules: energy demand(cooling and heating), mobility flow (both vehicle and non-vehicle), and social economics(energy trading within these regions). By inputting these data in a specific format, the project creates a virtual overlay on the physical 3D models, providing a direct and clear view of the real situations in the designated areas.

Environment and dependencies

The ARFoundationAllBackup branch represents the final version of this repository. It is compatible with Unity 2021.2 and later.

This project is developed based on AR Foundation 5.1 and its demonstration example AR Foundation Sample Project.

It depends on 2 Unity packages:

To build on iOS mobile devices, it requires an external development environment:

  • Xcode available on macOS and developer account

How to use

case1: Directly run on device without modification

This project can be directly built to iOS device providing input data in specific formats.
In this case, Unity is not required. Follow the steps below:

Xcode part
(See tutorial video that demonstrates the following steps.)

  1. Clone this repository and go to 1610FinalBuild folder, open Unity-iPhone.xcodeproj using Xcode 14.0 or later.

  2. Plug in your iOS device (with developer mode enabled) to the compmuter, and select this device on top of the window in Xcode.

  3. In Xcode, click on "Unity-iPhone" on folder hierarchy on the top left, and then "Signing & Capabilities" in the middle.

  4. In "Signing & Capabilities" page, check "automatically manages signing"

  5. "Add an account" under "Team" selection options, and then choose your account for Team.

  6. Run the project by clicking the triangle "run" button on top left. This way Xcode builds the app to your device.

Device part

  1. On your iOS device, sign in to the Apple developer account the same as "Team"

  2. "Verify" this app in Settings > General > VPN & Device Management

  3. Transfer the data for visualization to the device under App document folder(Example file formats are described below). There are many ways to do this. For example, use 3rd-party iOS file explorers, such as iMazing or iExplorer. Navigate to ../Apps/FCL AR Visualization/Developer/Documents, and copy-paste the folder PersistantFilePath including the files in it to this path (i.e., the whole file path can be: ../Apps/FCL AR Visualization/Developer/Documents/PersistantFilePath/ZurichEnergyTrade.json). For the app document file path, see Unity Persistant File Path.

  4. The app is ready to use.

case 2: Modify project before building to device

To modify project on models, scenes, scripts,...,etc, follow the steps below:

Unity part

  1. Install Unity Hub. In Unity Hub, go to "Install" to install Unity 2021.2 or later, add 2 modules: "Visual Studio for Mac" and "iOS Build Support".

  2. Clone this repository and open the Unity project at the root of this repository.

  3. Modify the projects as needed.

  4. Go to Build Settings, select a target platform(iOS in this sample), and build this project in a new folder. In this way, unity automatically build a Xcode project.

Xcode part

  1. After finishing building, go to that new folder and open Unity-iPhone.xcodeproj using Xcode 14.0 or later.

  2. Follow the steps of case1

Data Format

Sample data can be found in this repository under folder PersistantFilePath. To customize data to visualize, prepare new data in the following format, update the file name in code,and follow step#9 of previous section case1.

Energy Demand

{
"houses":
[
{
"id": "B6327",
"load": "227630.1"
},
{
"id": "B117045",
"load": "0"
},...
]}

Mobility

{
"type": "FeatureCollection",
"features": [
{ "type": "Feature", "properties": { "uid": 0.0, "Time": "2023-07-31T02:23:32.083", "Lat": 1.3906850104627779, "Lon": 103.89404394884859, "is_vehicle": 0.0 }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ 103.894043948848591, 1.390685010462778 ] } },
{ "type": "Feature", "properties": { "uid": 0.0, "Time": "2023-07-31T02:23:32.083", "Lat": 1.3906829774271761, "Lon": 103.89404762958823, "is_vehicle": 0.0 }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ 103.894047629588229, 1.390682977427176 ] } },
...]}

Energy Trade

{
"DataEnergyTrade":[
{
"From": "B1082_demand.csv",
"To": "B1030_demand.csv",
"Transmission": "4",
"T": "12"
},
{
"From": "B1108_demand.csv",
"To": "B1047_demand.csv",
"Transmission": "1",
"T": "12"
},
...]}

Table of Contents

Sample scene(s) Location in project
Menu ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/Menu
Images ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/Images
Energy Demand Module ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/ImageTrackingWithMultiplePrefabs
Mobility Flow Module ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/ImageTrackingWithMultiplePrefabs
Social Economics (Energy Trade) Module ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/ImageTrackingWithMultiplePrefabs
Debug Image Tracking ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/BasicImageTracking

Menu

../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/Menu

Menu
Menu

The menu scene is the start page of the app. It allows users (1)select the city, then (2)select the data module.

Image

../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/Images

ReferenceImageLibrary.asset manages the images that can be detected in physical world. Use this to modify or add new images.
After modifying images, add the cooresponding prefabs that will be instantiated when the new image is detected under: (A module's scene, eg., EnergyDemandScene.unity) > Hierarchy > gameobject ARF XR Origin Set Up > gameobject XR Origin > Inspector > component PrefabImagePairManager(Script) > PrefabList.

Instantiate module prefabs

The matched prefabs are instantiated in the virtual world when the corresponding image is detected in physical world. The location and rotation are set by functionAssignPrefab in the scriptPrefabImagePairManager.cs.

Detailed explanation can be found in AR Foundation Image Tracking package documentation.

Data Visualization Modules

Prefabs location: ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/Prefabs
Scenes location: ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/ImageTrackingWithMultiplePrefabs
Scripts location: ../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/Scripts

Energy Demand Module

Zurich Cooling Demand
Zurich Cooling Demand

Zurich Heating Demand
Zurich Heating Demand

Singapore Cooling Demand
Singapore Cooling Demand

The annual energy demand is measured in kWh, and it's represented by a color bar on the right. This bar uses different shades of blue(for cooling)/red(for heating) to indicate the level of demand. Darker shades of blue/red represent higher demand. The darkest level matches the highest demand within the area of study. Each building displays its annual demand on top of the model, and its color corresponds to the color scale bar to show the level of demand. The annual cooling demand data is visualized on both Zurich and Singapore models; the annual heating demand data is visualized only on Zurich model.

The following table summarizes the code for Zurich case, the Singapore case shares the same structure.

Scripts Function Description
ColorManager.cs Start Set the file path: string path = Application.persistentDataPath + "/PersistantFilePath/" + "Zurich_QH_total.json" , and call all functions.
Loadjson Read and load the data from energy demand json file. Store the data into dictionary with building id as Key and cooling load as Value.
AssignLoad Assign the cooling load on the attached building gameobject.
AssignColor Assign the color according to the level of demand of the attached building gameobject.
LoadOnText Show cooling demand on top of the building gameobject by changing the text of its children gameobject: TextMeshPro
Colorbar.cs SetColorbar Set the color bar that indicates the level of demand. The highest demand value in this area is rounded to the nearest whole number. This number matches the darkest color, and 0 demand value matches the white color. The color gradient in between shows the interpolation between min and max values of demand.
LoadOnText Display the interpolated figures beside color bar.
House.cs class Root Transferred data from json files using JSON2CSHARP online tool.
Unity Assets Zurich Heating Zurich Cooling Singapore Cooling
Scene EnergyDemandScene.unity QCEnergyDemandScene.unity QCSingaporeEnergyDemandScene.unity
Prefabs ZRHmodel2809.prefab ZRHModel_QC.prefab Qc_SingaporeEnergyDemand.prefab
Scripts ColorManager.cs,Colorbar.cs QCColorManager.cs,QCColorbar.cs QCSingColorManager.cs,QCSingColorbar.cs
Data Scripts House.cs House.cs House.cs
Data Files Zurich_QH_total.json Zurich_QC_total.json Sing_QC_total.json

Mobility Flow Module

Zurich Mobility Flow
Zurich Mobility Flow

Singapore Mobility Flow
Singapore Mobility Flow

The mobility flow of vehicles and non-vehicles is demonstrated on virtual models which include the terrain and buildings within areas of study. Given the location(latitude, longitude) and time, each user(a person/a vehicle) is represented by one dot(a sphere prefab) showing on the models according to time sequence. Based on real-time records, the mobility flow is speeded up by timeSpeedupFactor, which default value is 1000 times faster than real-time.

The following table summarizes the code for the Zurich case, the Singapore case shares the same structure.

Scripts Function Description
MobilityFlow.cs Start Set the file path: string path = Application.persistentDataPath + "/PersistantFilePath/" + "Zurich_Mobility.geojson" , and call all functions.
LoadJsonFlat Read and load the data from a mobility json file, store the data uid, time, lon, lat into the list dataList, and sort out by time from the earliest to the oldest time.
IEnumerator InstantiateSpheresWithTimeDelay fetches the data from dataList and instantiates sphere prefabs that represent the users according to time. The waiting time is the difference between the previous time spot and the current time spot.
MapCoordinatesToUnitySpace Map latitude and longitude to their corresponding locations on the model using reference points and their respective coordinates from Google Maps, allowing the calculation of new points on the model.
ShowTime Display time on the progress bar.
ZurichMobilityJson.cs class ZurichMobilityJson Transferred data from json files using JSON2CSHARP online tool according to json file structure.
Unity Assets Zurich Singapore
Scene MobilityScene.unity SingMobilityScene.unity
Prefabs ZurichModel0210_buildingterrain.prefab SingaporeMobility.prefab
Scripts MobilityFlow.cs SingMobilityFlow.cs
Data Scripts ZurichMobilityJson.cs ZurichMobilityJson.cs
Data Files Zurich_Mobility.geojson Singapore_Mobility.json

Social Economics (Energy Trade) Module

Zurich Energy Trade
Zurich Energy Trade

Singapore Energy Trade
Singapore Energy Trade

The social economics module illustrates energy trading among buildings in the area over the course of a day. When a building's PV panel generates surplus electricity, it trades it with neighboring buildings. Buildings turn blue when selling excess energy, displaying the amount in kWh above them, while those purchasing electricity turn yellow, showing the electricity they receive. Arrows indicate the trading direction and amount (indicated by arrow width).

The following table summarizes the code for Zurich case, the Sinagpore case shares the same structure.

Scripts Function Description
EnergyTrade.cs Start Set the file path: string jsonFilePath = Application.persistentDataPath + "/PersistantFilePath/" + "ZurichEnergyTrade.json" , and call all functions.
LoadJson Read and load data from the energy trade json file. FromBuilding sells transmission amount of electricity to ToBuilding at hour T, and these data are stored in a list.
IEnumerator StartLaunchLineRenderers Fetch data from dataList and assign corresponding building on the model, and then pass the data to initiate TEMPChangeBuildingColor
IEnumerator TEMPChangeBuildingColor Assign "from building" location as the start point of the arrow(line renderer) and "to building" as end point. Change the color to blue for "from building" and yellow for "to building". The arrow width is scaled to fit the model size and indicates the amount of transmission electricity. The arrows are destroyed after prefabStayTime
ShowTime Display time on progress bar(slider)
ZurichMobilityJson.cs class ZurichMobilityJson Transferred data from json files using JSON2CSHARP online tool according to json file structure.
Unity Assets Zurich Singapore
Scene EnergyTradeScene.unity EnergyTradeSingaporeScene.unity
Prefabs ZRHmodelEnergyTrade.prefab EnergyTradeSingapore.prefab
Scripts EnergyTrade.cs SingEnergyTrade.cs
Data Scripts DataEnergyTrade.cs DataEnergyTrade.cs
Data Files ZurichEnergyTrade.json EnergyTradeSingapore.json

Debug Image Tracking

../Asset/Scenes/ImageTracking/BasicImageTracking
This scene is used for checking the image detection works. It is disabled by default. To enable this function, go to menu.unity scene, find Debug button under Canvas, and check the box in Inspector.

Unity Assets Content Description
Scene BasicImageTracking.unity When an image in the ReferenceImageLibrary.asset is detected, the information of this image is displayed in virtual space.
Scripts TrackedImageInfoManager.cs