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BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is in the field of CAD systems and methods for space
planning, interior design and facilities management, as used, for example,
by architects, space planners, interior designers and corporate facilities
managers for designing and allocating space to the various subdivisions of
their clients' projects.
Systems and methods of this general type have been in use for some time. An
example in the system commercially available under the trade name SIGMA
III from SIGMA Design, Inc. of Englewood, Colo., the assignee of this
application. It is believed that other systems of this general type are
offered by Calma, a division of General Electric Company, by
Computervision of Bedford, Mass., by Intergraphic of Huntsville, Ala., by
CalComp, a division of Sanders Associates, and by Prime Computers. Certain
aspects of systems of this general type are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos.
3,705,410 and 4,275,449. The first patent appears to be directed to a
space allocation system for goods, and the second patent appears to be
directed to a modeling arrangement for a building layout.
As exemplified by the SIGMA III system identified above, systems of this
type can operate by gathering answers to a series of questions to the
user, to elicit information such as project data, identification of
departments, of available floor space and of furniture and equipment,
determination of affinities between departments (i.e., the degree of
desirability or undesirability of having departments close to each other),
staffing personnel priorities, etc. Typically, there is a stacking process
in which the designer, with the help of the system, determines the optimum
vertical arrangement of the various departments. In one example, the
system displays a stack of floors on the left side of the screen while the
right side of the screen displays of column of rows each identifying
respective departments. The user can enter the departments on the correct
floor using manual, semi-automatic or automatic modes. Once a satisfactory
vertical sorting of the departments has been completed, the user can begin
the so-called blocking process, in which the user fits together the
departments which ended up on a given floor. As an example, in the
blocking process the departments which ended up on a given floor are
displayed on the right-hand side of the screen while the left side
displays the floor plan, and the user can move departments to selected
floor areas using manual, semi-automatic or automatic blocking commands.
Following this, the designer can begin placing interior partitions and
furniture on the floor plan, using the blocking plan outlined as a
reference, can place furniture, can create various report, etc. Background
information on the SIGMA III system identified above can be found in the
following material, where is hereby incorporated by reference into this
specification as though fully set forth herein: "SIGMA Design's-SIGMA
III," F-M Automation Newsletter, Volume 7, No. 7, July 1984, and the
Product Reference Manual of SIGMA Design, Inc. and particularly SIGMA III,
SPACE PLANNING/FACILITIES MANAGEMENT MENU, Chapters 7.0-7.11, Version 5.0,
July 1984.
In the prior art in which the system makes use of an indication of the
affinities between departments, to the extent known those affinities are
identified by numerical or letter codes. Similarly, in the known prior art
systems which make use of priority ratings, the priority of a given
department is indicated again in numerical or letter codes. While this can
be useful, it requires the user to read those codes in order to appreciate
their significance, and to keep in mind a number of such codes in case the
screen displays a number of departments at the same time. Particularly in
more complex situations, this can slow down the process, and can lead to
errors or other difficulties.
To overcome these and other disadvantages of the known prior art in this
field, this invention makes use of color blocks in a particularly
efficacious manner which allows the user to tell at a glance at the screen
whether the design progress up to that moment is satisfactory, and to get
other important information at a glance at the screen. Also in accordance
with the invention, the user can switch screen displays between different
significances of color so as to get rapid and easily perceivable
information about important aspects of the process as the system goes
through its various stages.
In a particular and nonlimiting embodiment of the invention, after the
system is provided with suitable identification of the various
departments, it forms and displays, on a color screen, an affinities
matrix which shows, when in a priority color mode, (i) a column
identifying departments to which respective portions of a space are to be
allocated and the space requirements and relative priorities of the
departments, wherein priorities are indicated by respective blocks of
priority colors ranging from warmer for higher priority to cooler for
lower priority and (ii) the affinity between each pair of departments,
indicated by respective blocks of affinity colors which are at the matrix
positions corresponding to the department pairs and range from green for
high affinity to paler green for lower affinity, white for neutral
affinity and red for negative affinity.
For example, the left side of the screen can show a column or rows, one per
department, each identifying the name of the department, its number, and
its space requirements. The right side of the screen can show a matrix
having a row for each department and a color for each department. The
intersection of a column and a row of the matrix identifies a matrix
element corresponding to that pair of departments. Of course, the diagonal
at which the row and the column for the same department meet does not show
affinity colors. The screen can also show the name of the project and any
file name, and a row of blocks showing the chosen range of affinity colors
and numerical designations for levels of affinity. The numbers identifying
the respective departments in order of priority can be in blocks colored
in priority colors indicative of the priorities which the respective
departments have in the space allocation process (for example, highest
priority can be assigned to the company president and lowest to the lunch
room), and the same priority colors can be shown on the row of blocks
identifying the columns of the matrix. The matrix squares can be colored
in accordance with the perceived affinities between departments. For
example, the matrix square for the president and the v.p. of finance can
be colored green to indicate high affinity, i.e., the high desirability of
having these two departments close to each other, while the matrix square
for the president and the lunch room may be colored red to indicate
negative affinity, i.e., the desirability of having these two departments
far from each other. In case two different departments perceive their
affinities differently, the matrix square for the pair above the 1,1-N,N
diagonal can indicate the priority which one of the departments perceives,
and the matrix square (or element) for that pair below the diagonal can
show which the other department perceives. In that color scheme, called
"priority" or "department" color mode, a user can get important
information about priorities and affinities at a glance, without the need
for reading numerical or letter codes and without the need for
alphanumerical or statistical manipulations. For example, the user can get
at a glance an overall idea of the distribution of priorities and
affinities, an overall idea of any different views between departments as
to their relative affinities, an overall idea of whether a lot or a few of
the departments have expressed neutral affinities (i.e., that it makes
little difference whether they are close to each other or far apart), an
overall idea of the distribution of types of affinities (e.g., a need to
have many departments close to each other, or a need to have many
departments far from each other), as well as other general or more
specific information about the priorities and affinities of the respective
departments. While there is a natural limitation on the number of
departments that can be shown in the affinities matrix at any one time, in
terms of screen size and legibility, the matrix in fact can be much larger
and only selected windows from it can be displayed at any one time, and
the display scrolled through the entire matrix.
In another color scheme, referred to as an affinity color mode, the user
can select or "key off" a particular department and have it colored blue
to show that it has been keyed off, and the other departments on the
screen automatically re-colored in their affinity colors with respect to
the selected department. This happens both for the blocks for department
numbers at the left side of the screen and for the department number
blocks in the row on the right-hand side of the screen, over the matrix
blocks. Again, this allows the user to perceive at a glance important
information about affinities and priorities. The user can switch between
these modes at will, and assign and reassign priorities and affinities.
After affinities and priorities are determined and perhaps manipulated with
the help of the colored matrix display discussed above, a stacking diagram
can be formed and displayed on the screen, replacing the affinities matrix
display. The stacking diagram can show on the left side of the screen a
stack of floors in the form of blocks related in size to the available
floor areas, and a row of columns at the right side of the screen, each
identifying a respective department, its relative priority and its space
requirements. Using a manual, a semi-automatic, or an automatic mode a
user can move the departments on the correct floors. For example, in the
manual mode the user determines where each department should go based on
his own judgement, depending on factors such as priorities, affinities and
space requirements and availabilities. In a priority color mode for the
stacking step, the system colors the number blocks of the department rows
in the priority colors, and when a user determines that a particular block
should go to a particular floor, a department allocation block is shown
within the selected floor block. The size of this allocation block
corresponds to the space requirements of the department, and it is in the
priority color of that department. In that color mode, the user can tell
at a glance the relative priorities of the departments identified at the
right-hand side of the screen, what (if any) departments have been
allocated to what floors, the priority of each allocated department, and
the approximate relative sizes of the allocated departments and the
approximate portions of their respective floors which they take.
In an affinity mode for a stacking diagram, the coloring is by affinities,
and the allocation block of a selected (or keyed off) department is
colored blue while the allocation blocks of other departments are colored
in their respective affinity colors relative to the blue department. The
affinities scale can also be displayed on the screen, together with
affinity numbers. Again, the user can derive important information at a
glance, e.g. information such as the relative sizes and affinities of
allocated departments, and can change the diagram as needed and see the
results at a glance.
Following stacking, a blocking diagram is formed and displayed on the
screen. As an example, the blocking diagram shows at the left side of the
screen the floor plan of a particular floor, preferably with a scaled
grid, and shows on the right-hand side a column of rows each pertaining to
a department. Again, the system can show the blocking diagram in a
priority color mode or in an affinity color mode. In the priority (or
"department") color mode the system shows the number blocks of the
departments (at the right-hand side of the screen) in the respective
priority colors, and shows in the same color an allocation block at the
left-hand side of the screen, at a place on the floor and over a portion
of the floor corresponding to the space requirements of the department. In
an affinities color mode, the blocking diagram shows the allocation block
of a selected (keyed off) department in blue and the affinities blocks of
the other departments, in the colors indicative of the affinities of the
other departments to the blue colored department, again allowing the user
to derive important information at a glance at the screen, and to change
the blocking diagram allocations as needed and see the results at a
glance.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a system and a method
utilizing color displays which make space planning/facilities management
particularly convenient and efficacious. Other objects of the invention
will become apparent from the detailed description below, when read in
conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates the interaction between a user of an exemplary system
utilizing the invention and the system to create a data base for use in
the process.
FIG. 2 illustrates in simplified form a screen display showing an
affinities diagram.
FIG. 3 illustrates in simplified form a screen display showing a stacking
diagram.
FIG. 4 illustrates in simplified form a screen display showing a blocking
diagram.
FIG. 5 illustrates a screen display showing an affinities matrix in the
priority (or department) color mode.
FIG. 6 shows the affinity matrix of FIG. 5 but in the affinities color
mode.
FIG. 7 shows a stacking diagram in the priority (or department) color mode.
FIG. 7a shows a stacking diagram at an earlier stage of the stacking
process, again in the priority color modes.
FIG. 8 shows the stacking diagram of FIG. 7 but in the affinities color
mode.
FIG. 9 shows a blocking diagram in the priority (or department) color mode.
FIG. 10 shows the blocking diagram of FIG. 9 but in the affinities color
mode.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In an exemplary and nonlimiting embodiment of the invention, the
requirements of an organization can be estimated in the traditional
fashion of surveying the organization to elicit the data required in
subsequent steps of the process. This data can then be entered into the
system and organized into several files, to create a data base for use in
stacking, blocking, furniture placement and other steps. As indicated in
FIG. 1, the data entry phase of the process flow can add information
needed for data flow files for building, a unit, a project, as well as
more specific information respecting size, staff, affinities, census
(e.g., a phone list of personnel in the project), individual (a
description of individual work stations), time (for a time period to be
used), and work station (e.g., the area each staff member requires). This
information can be used then in the stacking, blocking and furniture
placement phase of the process flow. In the data process flow part of FIG.
1, these steps of stacking, blocking and furniture placement can lead to a
structure involving furniture location (e.g., for counting furniture from
actual drawing data base), furniture design (a data base for furniture
design with color, material, etc.), furniture catalog (for a furniture
catalog with descriptions of items), manufacturer (for information of the
name of manufacturer of furniture pieces), furniture maintenance (for
information respecting planned or desired maintenance of furniture items),
and furniture order (for tracking furniture by purchase order).
The information collected in the survey includes information respecting the
perceived priorities and affinities of the departments of an organization.
In this context a "department" means any unit of an organization treated
as such in the process, and can range from a large unit such as the
manufacturing department of a large company to a small unit such as an
individual desk or individual staff member. The priority information
includes information as to the relative priority given to departments in
allocating space. For example, the user of the invented system and method
can choose to allocate highest priority to the president of a company,
next highest priority to the vice president of finance, next highest
priority to the vice president of marketing, lower priority to the
bookkeeping department, lower yet priority to the office supplies
department, etc. The priorities can be ranked numerically from the highest
to the lowest. In terms of affinity, the information can include the
perceived affinity, for example as determined by a survey, of one
department to another. For example, the affinity between the president of
a company and the vice president of finance may be high, in the sense that
it is convenient for them to have their offices close to each other, the
affinity between the company president and the shipping department may be
lower, indeed negative, in the sense that it is not desirable to have
these two departments close together. For example, higher positive numbers
can be assigned for higher affinities, a zero can be assigned or neutral
affinity, and a negative number, or progressive negative numbers, can be
assigned for negative affinities. It may be that each of two departments
perceives its affinity to the other department differently, in which case
one affinity may be assigned as the affinity measure of the first
department toward the second and another affinity may be assigned as a
measure of the affinity of the second department toward the first. In
addition, the data base information can include the name of the
department, the perceived space requirements of the department, and the
project name and other information.
In accordance with the invention, this information is used to form and
display on a screen an affinities matrix, such as the one illustrated in
simplified form in FIG. 2 and labelled "Affinity Screen." As illustrated,
the affinities matrix has at the left side of the display screen a column
of rows for the respective departments. Each row identifies the size of
the department (the square footage required by the department), the number
of the department (in order of priority, e.g. from 1 for the highest to 4
for the lowest), and the department name. At the right-hand side of the
screen display there is a square matrix having as many rows as there are
departments (and as many columns). There is a matrix element (a square
block) for each pair of departments. In addition, on the upper right-hand
side of the screen there is a row of blocks numbered 2, 1, 0 and -1 to
show the scale of possible affinities. For example, 4 can mean "absolutely
must be as close as possible to each other," a -1 can mean "some
separation of these departments would be beneficial" and 0 can mean it
makes little difference whether the departments are close to or far from
each other.
As a particularly important feature of the invention, and as further
illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the affinities matrix can be enhanced by
using it in one of two possible color modes: in a priority (or department)
color mode as shown in FIG. 5 or in an affinity color mode as shown in
FIG. 6. As seen in FIG. 5, the column on the left side (for the department
number) is made up of blocks, one per department, and each block contains
the number of that department, in order of priority, and the entire block
is colored in a color indicative of priority. In the illustrated example,
the priority (or department) colors range from warmer for higher priority
to cooler for lower priority. A row of blocks having the same priority
numbers and same priority colors is at the top of the matrix of affinity
elements. Over the affinity matrix there is a legend of six blocks
labelled from +4 to -1 and containing the range of affinity colors, from
green for high affinity, to paler greens for lower affinity, white for
neutral affinity and red for negative affinity. The choice of six affinity
colors happens to be one of the parameters for the particular example
being discussed here; in fact the above-identified system from SIGMA
Design, Inc. can use a range up to +9 to -9, and other ranges can be
implemented in different systems embodying the principles of the
invention. Each element of the matrix is a square block colored in the
color of the affinity between the pair of departments represented by that
matrix element. For example, in FIG. 5 matrix element 23,1 (row 23, column
1) is colored red to indicate negative affinity between the president and
the shipping department. Matrix element 7,1 is colored white to indicate
neutral affinity between the president and the reception department. If
2-way affinities are desired, the affinities to the upper right of the
diagonal from element 1,1 to element 27,27 can show the lesser priority
department affinities. For example, the affinity of department 1 to
department 2 is in the lower left half of the matrix while the affinity of
department 2 to department 1 is in the upper half.
A display such as that illustrated in FIG. 5 can be created by entering the
survey information and then switching the system into the affinities
matrix display mode, or it can be created in whole or in part by the user
by placing the system into the affinities matrix display mode and then
entering the needed information via a keyboard.
The affinities matrix display can be used, in the alternative, in the
affinities color display mode, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The user can
select a particular department, in this case department 19 (personnel) and
"key off" that department and indicate to the system that he wishes to
have an affinities color display. The left-hand column of department
numbers then colors block 19 blue, to indicate that this is the selected
or keyed off department, and colors every other department in its affinity
color with respect to department 19. In this example department 20 is
colored white to show that it has a neutral affinity to department 19, and
department 18 is colored medium pale green, to indicate that it has
affinity of level 2 to department 19. Similarly, in FIG. 6 the row of
department blocks over the square matrix is similarly colored.
The coloring illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 allows the user to read the
matrix quickly and easily by changing the color scheme between the
priority and affinity color modes, and getting at a glance important
information about priorities and affinities and their distribution. In
addition, in case the user is in the process of entering information
respecting priorities and affinities, or in the process of changing such
information, this is quickly facilitated by the color schemes and by the
color legend in the upper right-hand side of the display.
After the priority and affinity selections have been made, as facilitated
by the coloring schemes discussed above, and any desired re-assignments of
priority and affinity designations have been made, the system enters the
stacking process in which the optimum vertical arrangement of the various
departments is selected. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the system forms and
displays a stacking diagram on the screen, showing on the left-hand side a
stack of floors in the form of blocks related in size to the available
floor areas and a column of rows on the right-hand side, where each row
identifies a respective department, its relative priority and its space
requirements. Two legends are shown at the upper part of the screen. A
command legend lists manual, semi-automatic and automatic mode and a color
legend has a department (priority) block and an affinities block to
indicate a priority color mode and an affinity color mode. In the manual
mode, the user determines to which floor each department should go. As
shown in FIG. 3, there are three numbered cross-hairs, and they can be
used to move a department from the right-hand menu to a selected floor,
move a selected department from a selected floor back to the right-hand
menu or move a department from one floor to another.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, which shows an exemplary stacking diagram, the
system at this stage of the process can be operated in the department (or
priority) color mode, where it shows, at the respective floor block of a
selected floor, an allocation block sized in relation to the space
requirements of a selected department and colored in the respective
priority color of the department. For example, floor 6 shows (i)
department 18 in the form of an allocation block labelled 18, colored
green to indicate medium priority for the department, and (ii) department
25 in the form of an allocation block 25, colored violet to indicate low
priority. In this mode, the user can tell at a glance the relative
priorities of the departments which have been assigned to the floors and
the distribution of departments by priority. The column of department
numbers on the right-hand side of the diagram no longer has any colored
blocks because all departments have been moved from the right-hand side
menu to the respective floors. In the process of allocating (moving floors
from the menu column on the right to the chosen floors on the left), those
departments which have not yet been moved retain their colored priority
number blocks, as illustrated in FIG. 7a. In the priority column mode
illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 7a the legend block color has its portion
labelled by department highlighted to indicate that priority colors are
used in this display.
FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary stacking diagram used in the affinity color
mode, as illustrated by the highlighted "affinity" box of the color legend
at the upper right-hand side of the screen. In this mode, the affinity
color range is displayed at the upper right-hand side of the screen. Here,
the allocation block for a selected (or keyed off) department is colored
blue on the left-hand side (department 9 on the third floor) and all other
departments are colored in their affinity colors relative to department 9,
thus allowing a user to perceive at a glance important information
respecting the affinities and distribution of departments and to make
changes by switching back and forth between the two color modes for the
stacking diagram phase of the process.
After stacking is completed, the system forms and displays on the screen a
blocking diagram showing a selected floor as a block sized and shaped in
accordance with the floor area, and a column of rows each identifying a
respective department, its relative priority and its space requirements.
Referring to the simplified blocking diagram shown in FIG. 4, the left
hand of the screen has a floor block, preferably with a planning grid on a
selected scale, and the right-hand side of the screen shows a row for each
department which ended up on that floor in the stacking process. At the
upper right hand there is a legend block for items such as commands,
modes, area and for color scheme (which can be either a priority color
scheme or an affinities color scheme, as selected by the user). The system
prompts the user for the size of the planning grid he wishes to use, and
provides manual, semi-automatic and automatic blocking commands, similar
to those functions in the stacking process. When the user initiates the
fill command, the department he has identified begins to fill up squares
in the planning grid. The unfill command does the opposite. As a
department is "unfilled" or erased from the floor plan, its area is
returned to the departments file and can be placed at another time. Force
fill and force unfill are similar to the fill and unfill commands, but in
this mode the department being placed or unplaced has precedence over the
other departments and will bump (or erase) any previously placed
departments. The limit area and overfill commands determine if the
placement process stops when the square footage of that department has
been placed on the floor plan or whether the system continues to fill in
the grid squares between two bound areas on the floor plan, regardless of
the department's size. The user chooses the command that is appropriate to
the task he wishes to accomplish, and continues until a satisfactory
blocking plan has been developed. At any point in the process he can
repaint the departments in their affinity colors or in their priority
colors to assist him in deciding which areas belong adjacent to each
other.
FIG. 9 illustrates blocking in the department (priority) color mode. The
right-hand side menu shows the departments by row, with the department
number blocks colored in the priority colors, in color blocks whose size
corresponds to the required square footage of the respective departments.
The left-hand floor plan shows how the departments are fitted with respect
to each other, and the color scale at the upper right-hand side of the
screen shows the priority color range, and color blocks which contain the
respective department numbers and have sizes corresponding to the required
floor areas of the respective departments.
FIG. 10 illustrates a blocking diagram in the affinity color mode. The
color scale at the upper right-hand side is now the affinities color
scale, the department blocks in the menu are colored in the affinities
colors, with the selected department (marketing) colored blue and the
others colored in the affinity colors with respect to the marketing
department, and the floor block at the left side of the screen shows the
marketing department in blue and the other departments in their affinity
colors relative to the marketing department. By selectively using the
color scheme of FIG. 9 and the color scheme of FIG. 10, and switching
between the two, the user can derive at a glance important information
assisting him in proper placement of departments on the floor and in
making changes. The blocking diagram process can be repeated for each
floor of interest.
The priority and affinity color manipulations of the invented system and
process can be implemented as an improvement to a known CAD system and
process, such as the one available commercially from SIGMA Design, Inc. To
this end, a color graphics system of suitable size and configuration is
programmed, using known programming techniques, to automatically assign
(i) a respective priority color to the numerical or alphanumerical
priority which the system user assigns to a department and (ii) a
respective affinity color to the numerical or alphanumerical affinities
which the user assigns. Then, in accordance with the invention, where a
prior art system would display only an alphanumeric designation, a system
operating accordance with the invention would display in addition to, or
in place of, such alphanumeric designation, a color block, and thereby
facilitate and enhance the user's interaction with the system. Once the
color designations are incorporated in the department descriptions, and in
the descriptions of affinities between departments, they follow the
display of appropriate priority and affinity alphanumerical designations,
provided a suitable color display system is used in accordance with the
invention. Accordingly, because the affinity and priority designations in
numerical form are known from the prior SIGMA Design, Inc. system and
process, and because it is believed that a person skilled in the art can,
without undue experimentation, implement the color manipulation scheme
discussed above in any desired environment of specific hardware and
operating system and program language, and for the sake of keeping this
specification not only complete but also concise, no specific program
listing is included.
In conclusion, an important aspect of the invention is the translation of
alphanumerical to color information, and the addition of this color
information to the alphanumerical displays, or the substitution of the
color information for alphanumerical displays, to enhance understanding of
the numerical information and to facilitate and speed up the user
interaction with the system. It is believed that the use of color
information in accordance with the invention is unique in this technology,
and is an important enhancement to the usefulness of CAD systems and
processes of the type discussed in detail above.
Numerous variations of the color display and manipulation modes discussed
above are possible within the scope of the invention, which is defined by
the appended claims.
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