From CAD to iAD A Survey of Internet Application in the AEC Industry

The Internet is becoming more and more useful in the field of architectural design that what we conventionally called CAD might soon be changed to iAD (internet aided design) (Zhou and Krawczyk 2000). In order to have a clear vision of what iAD will be or should be, we should examine what is the current situation. This research focuses on an investigation of selected web vendors, which are typical and most influential in providing Internet related services for the AEC industry. Our purpose for doing this survey is: to understand the progress and development of internet application in AEC industry, identify the technology used in this area, determine the advantages and deficiencies of current practice and develop a base for future research in proposing a revolutionary model of internet aided design for architecture.