The following projects are already underway and exemplify the type of research that is undertaken in InSer‐Lab.
Floorbook:
This is a social network system that (1) analyzes the vocabulary of the tags or annotations on the forms of representation used in construction documentation, (2) categorizes and models communities according to the user’s role in the shared form of representation, and (3) makes suggestions to the users to optimize their particular world view so that the suggested annotation is more precise and personalized. The social network system works as an effort of collective intelligence that enables the sharing of semantics of the tags that are associated with representations.
WikiCon:
This is an electronic service that provides the semantic requirements for exchanging, sharing, and integrating information at both a user level and an application level. The service is a semantic resource for current domain dictionaries and specialized taxonomies. Its purpose is to (1) increase their applicability to harmonize multiple applications, and (2) augment their validity to the processes they support. This resource is based on ontologies, which can be seen as a semantic abstraction layer above the current standards for classification of construction products and model schemes.
Onto-Civil:
An ontology that assists civil and construction engineering stakeholders in sharing and exchanging information through a mediating system that: (1) Accommodates views of a concept according to the actor’s discipline, and backgroun and (2) provides a series of precise semantic associations to inform the metadata and accurate ontology definitions for the metadata foundations.
By fostering the researchers’ participation and promoting the sense of community, Onto-Civil will stimulate coordination and collaboration for experimentation to advance knowledge and learning. For example, construction project stakeholders can use Onto-Civil as a semantic resource to enhance their ability to communicate standards to be used in civil and construction engineering projects. These activities enable their communities to explore fundamental insights to the challenges of current work practices in the civil and construction engineering discipline.