As in most industry sectors, advancements in technology drive change. But many of us take a pragmatic approach when it comes to adoption of new technology. We’re much more comfortable sitting back and watching the early adopters struggle to find ways to make it work for their particular application or business model. It’s much easier to let someone else work out the bugs in the system or crash and burn while trying to do so. We like to step in once the technology has been thoroughly vetted, and there’s a logical blueprint in place for its adoption and use. For those individuals and companies that dare to live on the bleeding edge; however, life can be pretty exciting.
I think a lot of other industries tend to view the construction industry as laggards when it comes to technology adoption. But I would argue that the building design and construction community has come a long way in recent years.
The acceptance and widespread use of mobile devices has transformed the look and feel of the job site. Design firms and contracting companies alike have made hefty investments in mobile technology for many of their employees. They’ve also invested heavily in software to speed up communication, improve collaboration and coordination, and drive up productivity.
A major benefit of this investment in technology is the speed in which design changes can be shared and communicated with everyone involved on a project. The growing need for collaboration on the front end of a project has also accelerated the adoption of virtual design tools like building information modeling (BIM) software. Many pre-fab activities taking place today by contractors are directly related to models produced by BIM software.
Advanced layout tools and systems are also accelerating the layout process on a job site. Mechanical and robotic total station equipment has replaced point and line lasers or strings and tapes. And once the construction project is nearing completion, you can forget about marking up those original drawings to create an “as-built” plan of the project. 3D scanning technology is now available to make quick work of documenting the final location and layout of all equipment and systems at the site.
So where do we go from here? What new technology is looming on the horizon that could work its way into the design and construction community next? As outlined in our August cover story, “A New Vision for Building,” Freelance Writer Tom Zind notes the wager is on the high-tech process of digitally lifting detailed project designs off the page and vividly into a user’s view. It’s known as augmented reality (AR), and its roots lie in the gaming world. Although AR is in its infancy, a few of those early adopters I mentioned above believe the technology is solid, and they’re even testing it on real projects today.
So my question is: Are you ready to unleash your inner gamer and lead the AR charge in the design and construction arena?
