BIM visualization on construction site

[alex.zh]

Hi there,

We have been working on a Hololens application to visualize BIM models on construction site.

Please check https://youtu.be/NwqSVpMOAHI to get the idea of the concept.

Note that there are yet features to arrive before public launch..

Would be happy to chat with AEC professionals about the topic if anyone is interested in getting rid of paper based blueprints, saving money on reworks and moving construction into digital era 🙂

[dgorsman]

Paper and pencils never need charging, are capable of surviving falls from heights humans won't walk away from, and are intrinsically safe in virtually all environments.  Oh, and they work with safety goggles and helmets, too. 

[peter.neil.nz]

The HoloLens (which I think Alex is using) is a certified safety goggle as well, and there are at these 3 vendors that have integrated helmet options. 

[alex.zh]

David, you’re right, smart goggles are more sophisticated tool than paper-based one and sometimes a good simple solution doesn’t need more advanced replacement. BUT I’m sure you would also agree that similar feedback you could hear about pretty much every novelty tech at the beginning of it’s adoption (computers, cell phones, drones, maybe CAD and especially BIM software as well?  ) and that’s how innovation adoption curve works. But now we all use them. I would rather stick to the value AR tech can provide for the construction industry, whether it can solve real problems of repeated costly reworks and etc. 

Btw to backup Peter’s comment (Hi Peter ), the Hololens conforms ANSI Z87.1 certification.

[dgorsman]

That comment was mostly tongue-in-cheek. 

The people you should be showing this to won't be posting here - you want the shop workers, those who are actually on site day to day.  They'll be able to point out in quick order any shortcomings.

[alex.zh]

Thanks, David! We will definitely follow your advice 🙂

[AdvancedCM]

Alex,

Nice video. I’ve worked very heavily using Navisworks models the last 5 years applying BIM principles on industrial projects across engineering and construction phases. Having over 40 years of cost and schedule experience your focus on productivity and quality is correct as currently the industry is the least productive one on the planet.

While I have found some companies learn quickly, adoption is slow among the average company due to many factors. Educated owners like the technology for its principles and results if effectively applied. But often the design professionals have little interest in construction productivity as those companies are typically responsible for means and methods. However, the value in overall reduced costs and schedule starts in leveraging technology such as this in the design phase so construction companies don’t have to rework models to make them fit for the field. There are also firms who make their profits on defects and subsequent change orders so they have little interest in improvements even though their own out of pocket costs would be reduced if effectively executed.

And it is true that you won’t see many folks who would use this type of technology in this forum. While Autodesk touches on the perimeter of construction with their software they don’t have a single forum platform for construction applications like they do for design and media. In fact I find it’s a very fragmented area with some construction associations filling part of that need but there is a big gap and somewhat hard to get the news out.

I’ve used the Oculus Rift with Navisworks models through Unity but you are tethered to the computer so while it has proved valuable it’s not good for field use. Keep working on it.

Regards,

Tom

[alex.zh]

Tom, thanks for your feedback.

I believe that we should always strive for excellence in what we do and I see that construction industry has great potential for improving processes and workflows and getting rid of scams because in the end we (end users) pay for the inefficient routines, reworks and incompetency.