Applications of AR Integrations for Construction and Design
Overview of Augmented Reality Technology
Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes digital information in a user’s view of the real world, allowing you to see real and digital worlds together. These new tools reduce the need for travel, streamline how you access and interpret data, and allow you to remotely analyze a project’s progress. In this article, we will present three types of AR technology, all of which combine reality plus digital in different ways; specifically:
1. Remote Expert — Field-to-office video conferencing
2. Reality Capture — Capture and augment reality with 360-degree photo virtual site tours
3. 3D Design Visualization — View an overlay of full-scale 3D-design in a real-world location
The Value of Using AR
Across different uses of AR technology, we consistently see the following value added:
- Increased safety
- Cost reduction
- Speed of decision making
- Enhanced stakeholder communication
Remote Assistance
Connect field and office staff through live video conferences with features to annotate live-video with augmented reality.
Why
- Increased safety — Teams can quickly and safely identify and mitigate safety concerns or complete safety assessments. Hands-free headsets for field personnel provide a safe way of communicating while being able to walk, work, and wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, safety glasses, and hardhat.
- Cost reduction — Replace costly and time-consuming physical site visits with virtual site visits.
- Speed of decision making — Connecting a team of office and field staff via video conference supports efficient and thorough communication of site risks, issues to discuss, questions, change in conditions, etc., in a single call
- Enhanced stakeholder communication — Participants in a video call can ‘be’ at the site virtually, participating in a discussion as if they were there. Virtual site visits offer stakeholders a new way to learn about and interact with the site.
How
Librestream Onsight Connect is one example of a software to create the AR experience. Anyone joining a call needs to have a user name/login for the Onsight Connect App as well as the app downloaded onto any phone, PC, or supported hands-free device.
Once setup is complete, field or office staff can place calls to any available contacts. With the ease of making a phone call, remote staff can feel like they are on-site, able to see clearly and thoroughly the site conditions as if they were there.
Key Features of Onsight Connect
- Real-time video collaboration
- Annotate real-time video with augmented reality text, shapes, and arrows
- Capture in-call high resolution pictures
- Share documents
- Group calls (e.g., five users from across the world can join in a call)
- Floating licenses offer flexibility to share between project team individuals
- Security: no data stored in the cloud; captured pictures/video are saved on local devices
- Hands-free ‘Realwear’ headset that is waterproof, dust-tight, drop-proof, PPE-compatible
Technology Limitations
- Remote Assistance requires a Wi-Fi connection for the caller in the field (cell phone hot spots work well, but cell coverage is variable)
- Requires downloading the app (there are options to avoid this)
Reality Capture
Capture, organize, and augment 360-degree photos to create a virtual site model.
Why
- Increased safety — Virtual site models allow whole project teams to visit the site virtually, minimizing risk of staff visiting the site in-person who are less familiar with site hazards. Virtual access to the models also increases number of project team members who can identify or resolve risks present on site. Virtual site models can also be used as health and safety guides, or for safety training.
- Cost reduction — 360-degree photos capture the site so thoroughly, it’s possible to replace some costly and time-consuming physical site visits with virtual site visits.
- Speed of decision making — Any decisions about construction progress, issues, safety, etc., can be understood quickly and clearly by viewing the site model virtually. Project team members can track and communicate issues in the virtual site model, making the model a collaborative project platform.
- Enhanced stakeholder communication — 360 photos don’t leave any part of the picture missing! Stakeholders can check in on construction progress on their own schedule — completing a virtual site visit from anywhere, anytime.
How
HoloBuilder is one example of a software to create this experience. Using a mobile app (‘Jobwalk’), field personnel capture and place photos relationally on a site plan. The capture process is quick and simple, and as soon as the project is synced to the cloud, all new images and markups are available to the project team to review (in almost real-time).
The project team and stakeholders have access to a virtual model similar to Google Street View, where the viewer can self-navigate from one photo to the next, virtually walking through a project site. The virtual model can be augmented with digital information, 3D design, and synced with BIM 360 for issue tracking, making the virtual site tour a shared workplace for the project team and stakeholders to collaborate.
Key Features of HoloBuilder
- Unlimited photos within space
- Mobile app makes field capture streamlined
- Augment photos with text, drawings, PDFs, 2D photos, 3D objects, video, and web links
- Measurement tools
- Integrate 3D BIM model from Revit or Navisworks into HoloBuilder project
- Split-screen mode supports viewing time-lapse photos and/or 3D models side-by-side
- View HoloBuilder portal on any PC, mobile device, or compatible VR headset
- Option to download final product for archiving
- Integrations: BIM 360, Revit, Navisworks, Google Maps, and more
- SpeedMode automates photo capture at predefined locations, using augmented reality technology to track your location on the project site to ensure photos are taken at the same location each time
Original source : Augmented Reality Integrations for Construction
