Okay, we admit it. We love to talk about the future of construction technology and all the amazing things that may happen in the next few years. But you’ve got stuff to do now. You’re making sure today’s work gets done right so you can stay on track and make your margins tomorrow.

You don’t have time for daydreaming.

That’s why we decided to sort through the exciting world of emerging construction technology and create a list of ways that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) technologies are saving real money for real construction companies today.

These technologies are benefitting construction firms today by:

• Reducing Rework
• Improving Safety
• Lowering Labor Costs
• Meeting Timelines
• Resolving Issues Faster
• Increasing Quality

Here’s a look at how you can do the same on your next construction project.

Definition: Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-simulated environment that allows you to interact in a realistic and/or physical way within the environment. An example of virtual reality in construction is interactive 3D modeling that allows you to manipulate the model to test the effect of changes before making them in the real world, which are available from companies like Autodesk via offerings like Revit Live for software and HTC’s Vive for hardware.

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Definition: Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality (AR) is any technology that superimposes spatially contextual information over the user’s view of the real world, providing a additional data while still permitting interaction with the real environment. An example of augmented reality in construction is the Daqri helmet, which provides workers with real-time information and data about the construction environment, such as animated instructions on how to complete a task, while they are engaged in that task.

Mortenson saw an opportunity for MEP to detect clashes using the DAQRI smart helmet integrated with BIM 360 software.

1. Reduce Rework

An article in AEC Magazine describes a recent situation where VR saved millions of dollars on a campus-sized construction project. A Skycatch drone was providing a real-time VR simulation of the project, feeding an up-to-date view of conditions on the ground directly to the management team in the trailer. When they compared this view to the plan by overlaying plan data, they discovered an eight-inch misalignment between where ground was broken for the foundation, and where the plan called for it to be laid. 

This discovery saved the project millions of dollars in rework by preventing the $400,000 concrete slab being poured in the wrong place, and potential subsequent work being placed on the misaligned foundation.

2. Improve Safety

Some of the same technologies that reduce rework, also improve safety. The Daqri helmet, for instance, can improve situational awareness for the wearer by calling attention to important features of the environment, such as temperature differentials and unsafe conditions. It can also send information back to a central location for supervisors and managers, so they can help workers avoid potentially hazardous situations. 

A smart badge from Redpoint Positioning serves a similar function in a simpler way. It provides indoor GPS, which tracks all workers on the site based on their location within a building structure, and feeds that information back to a central location. Managers can thus see their entire workforce in real time, enabling them to identify potentially hazardous situations before they escalate. The badge also can sound a warning signal to the worker if they’re about to step into an unsafe zone.

3. Lower Labor Costs

In addition to the labor savings implied by improved safety and reduced rework, a number of automated “smart construction” machines and technologies use VR and AR to do jobs that once required skilled labor. For instance, a Skycatch drone can generate a 3D VR model of a site that allows automatic calculation of area, volume of earth to be moved, and other information that once required human hours to accomplish.

The same technology can be combined with intelligent construction machinery to allow work to be conducted from inside a trailer rather than inside the cab, thus reducing the number of boots in the field.

4. Meet Timelines

According to research cited in AEC Magazine, one reason construction hasn’t seen efficiency gains like other industries, is that the construction site is in a “constant state of flux.” This constant state of flux makes it difficult to predict and maintain timelines. Even a small change can add days or weeks.

VR technology, such as that available from Skycatch, enables real-time updating of 3D models so that managers in the trailer can see conditions as they change, and adapt to them nearly instantaneously. Logistics and asset management are simplified and made more accurate. Likewise, augmented reality instructions from the Daqri helmet help builders stay on task and on track with their work.

5. Resolve Issues Faster

In the same way that VR allows managers to see real-time conditions and adapt for the sake of timelines, it also allows them to catch issues faster and react to them quickly. A utilities engineer, to borrow an example from the AEC article cited above, can watch utilities being installed in near real time, and make design changes as needed. “What took days or weeks with manual data gathering and oversight,” say the authors, “can now be done in minutes.”

The Daqri helmet meanwhile, by allowing managers to see a situation from the worker’s point of view, provides similar ability to work through and resolve issues in real time. 

6. Increase Quality

Just as VR enables faster decision-making, it empowers better decision-making.  VR promotes a better, faster understanding of shared ideas because it offers a spatial experience that leaves little room for (mis)interpretation.  This better understanding means fewer RFIs, fewer change-orders, and less rework -- which of course goes back to reduced time to deliver a project, and more safely.

AR, too, helps increase quality by enabling intuitive and rapid construction layout and installation without depending on instruments that take your eyes off the task at hand.  Further, AR supports intuitive inspections by overlaying the BIM describing design/construction intent onto as-built conditions to compare and contrast the work in place.  This can even be done with covered conditions, giving construction professionals the “ultimate studfinder.”

How to Get the Most out of Your VR/AR Investment

The great thing about embracing emerging technologies like VR and AR is that often they can be used with and amplify another construction technology that you might already be using. To gain the maximum benefit of using VR, for example, integrate VR with technologies like drones for construction site surveying purposes.

You can also store and use that information in a common data environment like BIM 360 Field or BIM 360 Glue. Doing so helps you continue to leverage those insights throughout the build project, which can be used to identify more clashes in the field, help prevent rework and help your team work more efficiently.

The pace of change in the industry is constantly getting faster. 3D modeling, cloud-based software solutions, drones, 3D printing, and AR/VR are no longer future technologies--they’re here now, and when correctly used, are poised to help construction firms save a significant amount of money and effort. 

Construction companies that embrace new technology today can gain immediate and future competitive advantage.

Learn more about using drones in construction and get continuing ed credit -- check out our Site Surveys with Drones course at ConTech Academy:

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