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Fortis Bank designs fully automatic bank
branches using Walkinside.
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — By
combining user-friendly 3D navigation technology with the
precision and detail of the engineering world, MicroStation
users can greatly enhance the conceptualization and visualization
of their 3D projects. How exactly? With Walkinside.
Walkinside is the premier 3D visualization software
for MicroStation that allows for that mix. It was by using
Walkinside that Fortis Bank's Philippe Monserez and
his team of designers created what is to be the Belgium's
first fully automated bank.
A fully automated bank — an idea
emerges
The journey began as Mr. Monserez — manager of Fortis
Bank's Architecture, Engineering and Construction departments
— wanted a quick and easy way to create interactive presentations
of their 3D MicroStation projects. He wanted the ability to
freely interact with the model in real-time, unlike static
renderings and pre-recorded flythroughs that lock the user
to a path and one point of view. With this in mind, Fortis
Bank acquired Walkinside after evaluating different
methods of creating interactive 3D presentations.
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| View of Fortis' fully automated bank with the e-Bench
waiting area (left front). Imagine the graphic above in
3D. Imagine moving through it, turning to look at the
different aspects of the room, furniture and equipment
in any manner you please. That's the Walkinside
experience. |
In 2003, Fortis Bank's marketing department came up with
the idea to design a fully automated bank. More specifically,
a bank that was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, complete
with automatic teller machines that could offer services very
close to what a normal bank would offer. Within the company,
there were different opinions as to what this automated bank
should look like. So, to handle the differences of opinions,
Mr. Monserez set up a design competition between three external
design firms and three internal designers to conjure the automated
bank concept. The external designers could use any tools they
wanted, but the internal designers all used MicroStation and
Walkinside exclusively.
"We provided all the designers with a brief mission
statement for the automated bank and a previous bank project
they could refer to as an example," stated Mr. Monserez.
"Very little technical detail was provided to the designers.
This was part of our strategy. We wanted the designers to
be as creative as possible, absolutely no limits on the ideas
and concepts that would make up this automated bank."
Walkinside helps win competition!
According to Mr. Monserez, most of the external designers
provided only PowerPoint presentations, static renderings,
floor plans and front views with some colored pencil applied
to them. The three internal designers utilized Walkinside
to present their designs. Their presentations were "outstanding!"
and won the design competition.
The Walkinside presentation allowed the user to move
through an outdoor café area into the automated bank,
highlighting the bank's different features, like the "e-Bench".
The e-Bench is a special waiting area that provides a place
to sit and wait for a person's turn to bank. Also, the e-Bench
provides access to the Internet and video games through flat
screen monitors to make the wait more pleasant.
"The Walkinside presentation was very impressive,"
stated Mr. Monserez. "As a result, we won the design
competition with the submission from one of our designers."
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| Walkinside screen shot of the Fortis Bank fully-automated
bank branch. |
Why Walkinside works for Fortis Bank
"We really like Walkinside because it allows us
to easily operate in two different worlds," stated Mr.
Monserez.
"With MicroStation, we operate in the engineering world
defined by 3D elements, structures and static renderings.
With Walkinside, we can move the engineering world
into a three-dimensional virtual world, where you can view
and interact with the environment in real-time. Walkinside
is as simple to use as the video games that my eight-year-old
child plays."
About Fortis Bank
Fortis Bank is one of over 100 companies that make up The
Fortis Group. It handles a range of financial services through
different subsidiaries including private banking, merchant
banking, asset management and insurance in Europe, Asia and
the United States. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions,
The Fortis Group's history spans 284 years.
Call now!
For more information on Walkinside,
contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant today! Call 727-442-7774
extension 9016 or email
us.
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