Building Design+Construction reached out to AEC professionals who have studied and applied augmented reality and asked them to pinpoint applications that are ripe for the technology. Here’s what they had to offer:
1. Business development. Three-dimensional models are great for communicating your vision for a building project, but imagine the impact of being able to take potential clients on a walking virtual tour of a design scheme while on the site. For instance, some luxury condo developers are testing AR for use by their sales teams for virtual tours during the preconstruction and construction phases. And some high-end homebuilders are using the technology in their physical model homes to better demonstrate upgrade options.
2. Design visualization at all phases. Any time there’s data to be visualized, there’s a good case for AR, says Autodesk’s Dace Campbell, AIA, LEED AP. “Photo-matching is a common practice for many designers, using tools like Photoshop to show ‘what if’ scenarios overlaid in a real context,” he says. “AR supports the rapid study of design alternatives, with real-time photo-matching from any viewpoint, and at full scale.”
3. Survey and layout. “Whether you’re surveying the real world to gather data to put into a virtual model or are doing layout with survey tools, to me that’s a strong case for augmented reality,” says Campbell. “If we had accurate, dependable position tracking, arguably you wouldn’t need a tape measure. It would be the next generation of the total station, where the virtual projection shows you precisely where each component of the building gets installed. Except, unlike with a total station, layout is done intuitively and in real time.”
4. Design analysis. With AR, virtually any analysis a Building Team already does on screen—seismic analysis, acoustic performance, structural modeling, etc.—hypothetically can be performed in the physical space. “We can already do that with today’s CAD and BIM tools, but AR will enable us to perform analysis at full scale while walking around a project site,” says Campbell.
5. Design assistance and constructability review. Being able to perform constructability review in situ during construction with both the architect and contractor standing in the same space has tremendous potential for enhancing communication and confidence, as well as cost and time savings.
6. Scheduling and site logistics planning. AR can extend today’s 4D scheduling tools to the project site, enabling a real-time look at the actual progress of a construction project compared to the planned progress while team members are touring the construction site. It can also be used to help visualize phased site logistics on complex projects.
7. Prefabrication. “Some forward-thinking contractors are looking at AR to support prefabrication inside a shop,” says Campbell. An advantage to prefabrication is higher quality, since laborers are assembling components in a factory, away from inclement weather.
8. General fabrication installation. Firms can use AR to help guide a building component into place. Furthermore, AR can support the installation effort by augmenting the laborer’s view with specific assembly instructions, specifications, and relevant standards.
9. Quality control, punch lists, and inspections. Whether it’s a municipality official doing an inspection or a contractor checking construction, quality control is an easy entry point into AR for many firms. For example, an inspector can make sure all the sleeves are in the right location before they complete formwork for a shear wall. Being able to overlay the BIM model of what was intended versus what is actually in place could offer huge benefits for construction teams.
10. Safety. AR can enable teams to do spatial safety audits, making sure, for example, work isn’t taking place above or below other critical work. Also, hazardous work and critical emergency information could be highlighted in an AR view so that all workers are aware of on-site hazards and remedies. For instance, laborers doing hot work on a roof could be alerted to the location of the nearest fire extinguishers.
11. Commissioning. With AR, you can overlay metadata onto the assets in the facility and extend what has taken place during punch listing and inspections. Agents responsible for commissioning and testing can have relevant information about a building asset available to them in context, without having to search through reports and logs to find or enter a specific point of information.
12. Facility operations and maintenance. Campbell calls AR the “ultimate stud finder.” Provided that the BIM model is updated to offer an accurate representation of what was built, facilities professionals can use AR to look behind walls, above ceilings, and below floors without ever touching the space. A facility engineer could get a pretty good idea of where building systems reside without performing destructive demolition and surveying.
Read our full report on augmented reality for the AEC field.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Test run on the HP Z200 SFF Good Value in a Small Package
Contributing Editor Jeff Yoders tests a new small-form factor, workstation-class desktop in Hewlett-Packard’s line that combines performance of its minitower machine with a smaller chassis and a lower price.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
| Oct 13, 2010
Thought Leader
Sundra L. Ryce, President and CEO of SLR Contracting & Service Company, Buffalo, N.Y., talks about her firm’s success in new construction, renovation, CM, and design-build projects for the Navy, Air Force, and Buffalo Public Schools.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital tower gets modern makeover
The Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn., expanded its D unit, a project that includes a 243,443-sf addition with a 12-room operating suite, a 36-bed intensive care unit, and an enlarged emergency department.
| Oct 13, 2010
Modern office design accentuates skyline views
Intercontinental|Exchange, a Chicago-based financial firm, hired design/engineering firm Epstein to create a modern, new 31st-floor headquarters.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital and clinic join for better patient care
Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, the two-story Owatonna (Minn.) Hospital, owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, connects to a newly expanded clinic owned by Mayo Health System to create a single facility for inpatient and outpatient care.
| Oct 13, 2010
Biloxi’s convention center bigger, better after Katrina
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi is once again open for business following a renovation and expansion necessitated by Hurricane Katrina.
| Oct 13, 2010
Tower commemorates Lewis & Clark’s historic expedition
The $4.8 million Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower in Hartford, Ill., commemorates explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the point where their trek to the Pacific Ocean began—the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
| Oct 13, 2010
Maryland replacement hospital expands care, changes name
The new $120 million Meritus Regional Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., has 267 beds, 17 operating rooms with high-resolution video screens, a special care level II nursery, and an emergency room with 53 treatment rooms, two trauma rooms, and two cardiac rooms.
