This article is part of a blog series on immersive technologies, exploring how they are changing the way we do business in the construction industry.

Immersive technologies are using new concepts in the construction industry. In this article, we will explore the pros and cons of these technologies to help you understand why they should be adopted to stay competitive in this tough market environment.

There are numerous industry challenges that immersive technologies can mitigate. Here are a few examples of the risks:

• being late and over budget on your projects
• potential design mistakes found after construction has begun
• worker safety on site

To overcome these issues you can introduce augmented and virtual realities (AR/VR) in your processes and safety training courses to improve the quality of your constructions and safety.

Safety with immersive tech

A VR simulation can reduce the number of accidents by demonstrating dangerous circumstances in a safe environment, raising employee awareness, and giving them the opportunity to learn how to act safely and confidently when an emergency happens in the real world to help you save lives.

Augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) can help avoid human errors that cost money. Low-qualified staff can, in the virtual environment, rehearse how to perform any task, safely and in the correct way, reducing the number of potential mistakes in real-world situations.

Design with immersive tech

A digital model of a building design is made of:

• pipelines
• electrical communications
• texture data.

Navigating and visualizing these structures on a computer, even in 3D, does not allow construction professionals to appreciate the spatial environment. With AR applications you can superimpose images from CAD or Building Information Modeling (BIM) programs onto the existing environment, creating a blended augmented image. You can then:

• overlay the BIM model on constructed structures
• take photos or videos and send them to the project team via the internet
• check how newly built underground pipes, cable lines, or ducts align with the design.

Using VR and AR you can walk your clients around the neighborhood and see virtually what the construction looks like before it is built, so they can tell you if they would want something to be changed before you start building, avoiding unnecessary waste and costly reworks.

Some company owners still hesitate to implement AR/VR/MR technologies despite the fact that the newest AR/VR technologies can cut building costs by up to 90% and save the construction industry up to $15.8 billion through preventing mistakes caused by insufficient or inaccurate data.

The pros and cons of AR/VR in construction

Immersive technologies have a lot of potential but are not widely adopted yet. Let's see what their benefits and challenges are.

Benefits

Introducing immersive technology takes BIM to the next level. People can walk around a building that has yet to be built. It provides:

• lower development costs avoiding waste and costly reworks by depicting design errors before it is constructed
• reduce time to plan your project by showing all stakeholders the virtual building
• streamline your processes mainly during the design reviews
• decrease guesswork by displaying the virtual building to all stakeholders, improving communication and avoiding errors during the construction
• provide greater design understanding to clients, helping them to visualize and appreciate the space of the not-yet-built construction as well as its surroundings
• facilitate collaboration
• enable training safety
• enhanced communication by sharing a global virtual experience to speed up the project development process and allowing the virtual representation of a project
• clients can find misconceptions early so they won’t pay twice for mistakes in the future.
  

3D interior designs and virtual apartment tours

Immersive technology like 3D interior designs, 3D visualization, and virtual apartment tours showcase buildings in an interactive, effective, and convenient way. It stimulates sales significantly since clients:

• know what they pay for by experiencing the spaces of the unbuilt apartment
• try different designs such as wall color, floor material, etc.
• chose fixtures that are most appropriate
• walk around their future apartments.

Challenges

As in all business situations, benefits are associated with some limitations. In the case of immersive technologies you should consider the following challenges:

• equipment is weather-sensitive and performs best when the environment is stable
• strong internet connections are required to collaborate, despite the fact that augmented reality apps can work offline
• training is essential to use immersive technologies well

These pitfalls may prevent you from investing in the technology. Fortunately, the open-source mobile toolkit cost is decreasing, allowing small-to-medium businesses to get a reasonable Return on Investment.

Immersive Technology uses

AR streamlines the construction processes

With AR apps you can visualize and describe the outside world:

• projecting, in real-time, images onto the real world
• detecting errors at an early stage of the design process
• avoiding waste and errors in the construction process
• bringing profits to your company
• collaborating to help project teams to troubleshoot problem areas
• understanding where everything will be built.

You can then easily make changes before, during, and after the project. For example floor plans designed in BIM and interfacing with AR applications have been in use since 2016.

VR changes the construction processes

Increased demand for building efficiency, and pressure on architects and designers to identify issues early, justify the use of VR to review your designs.

A BIM model uploaded in immersive VR headsets helps architects and designers to get a sense of space before the building physically exists, helping them to spot errors early and construct better quality buildings.

VR also allows you to make a more compelling case when bidding for a new project taking all stakeholders on a virtual tour of the future space.

Key use cases

Project planning/preparation

BIM combined with immersive technology can help you to have an interactive model of a construction project to show it to clients from the outset of a project so you will be in alignment with your clients.

Understanding data

Immersive technology can help users to access and visualize:

• the location of your projects
• the style of the construction
• windows, doors, and fixtures
• MEP elements.

For example, you can increase your productivity with HoloLens by displaying the physical dimensions of space, including them in BIM for accurate visualization and improving the quality by reducing the cost of the construction process.

Streamlining processes

AR/VR technology can streamline efficiency and improve team collaboration during a project. AR and VR models can now be rapidly and easily shared across the team regardless of location.

For instance, you can view 3D models of physical environments on your smartphone or tablet and optimize BIM models by getting data from IoT sensors in real-time.

Improving safety

Safety should be your number one priority to consider whilst building a quality asset.

For instance, using immersive technologies you can build digital prototypes at minimum costs to mitigate potential risks before the start of a project.

Touring nonexisting facilities

BIM drawings associated with immersive technologies allow users to tour their new facility even before the ground has been broken, seeing how they can fit on the construction site.

It allows project managers to visualize how everything slots together, on-site, and to scale before they order materials or calculate the work required for installation.

On-site revision allows architectural discrepancies to be detected. High costs and delays can be avoided by promptly adapting to the changes.

Training

Staff can familiarize themselves with the controls and operations of heavy machinery in a safe environment.

Luffing Tower Crane created a training simulator for crane operators. This method of direct learning:

• raises safety awareness
• delivers intuitive training
• lowers training expenses and downtime.

Remote maintenance

Immersive technology helps:

• staff to identify where to dig to fix a pipe
• having an experienced technician on call, no matter where in the physical world they are

A real-time collaboration between field workers and remote experts without a site visit will:

• save you time
• lower the risk of errors.

Collaboration

Immersive technology allows you to:

• inspect the job site as if remote workers were there in person
• capture notes, images, or videos of problems to be reviewed by remote specialists.

For instance, you can provide design reviews and creates markups more efficiently with professionals working on projects remotely.

Change building models quickly

Using immersive technology for project modifications, any operator can display the interior and exterior views of a structure and make modifications to the virtual plans without modifying the original drawing.

This is very valuable for engineers to:

• troubleshoot any errors in a virtual view before applying changes to the physical structure
• continuously update data in the BIM model
• remove the guesswork from project changes
• improve workflow
• prevent wastage of materials.

Speed up sales

Testing buildings with your client using immersive technology before they are constructed and see how the work progress can shorten the sales cycle.

For example, attract future prospects by showing them the property so they can feel and visit it before the construction is done.

Prevent labor shortage

Incorporating immersive technologies into training and real-world construction work will give a techy image to the construction industry and attract young people you would normally find in high-tech fields.

In Conclusion

Immersive technology solutions have a lot of potential for the construction industry.

Using immersive technologies on a regular basis will change the way you work, streamline and modernize your processes, and improve visualization and collaboration. So take the plunge by introducing immersive technologies in your modus operandi to have a competitive edge and win more bids.

The benefits of implementing immersive technologies include:

• interactive and interesting customer experience
• avoiding costly reworks
• effective project management
• risk-free training
• efficient cooperation with clients.

Driving Vision's technology diagnostic looks at the best way to incorporate new technology into your workflows and how to move your organization to the use of immersive technology so you can open up new possibilities for your daily planning tasks.

The technology appraisal report will help you to explore what investment is required to improve your projects’ productivity and collaboration as well as the ROI you can expect.

A Driving Vision expert will conduct the interviews online and will issue a report and discuss our findings with you. Together we will decide the best way to implement the solutions at your pace and according to your budget.

Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now