Augmented Reality in Construction

Although the construction industry is becoming more innovative, it still lags behind other industries in adopting new technologies. One such technology augmented reality. Augmented reality has the power to make construction easier, better, safer. Here is more about augmented reality and it’s use in the construction industry.

What Is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality is a view of the physical world around you through your computer or phone, with data coming as computer-generated sounds, videos, graphics, or GPS signals

One great example of this technology, although not work-related, was the Pokémon Go game. With this game, users could view the real world through their phone’s camera and “see” the Pokémon on their street or in the sky. They could even interact with the Pokémon and “catch” them with their phone.

There are many work-related use cases for augmented reality, and it can be used in various industries. For example, some companies use it to display information about products on their shelves while others use it to provide more realistic views of their products. Archeologists have used it to extract possible details from excavation sites and understand what the site could have looked like.

Easier Concrete Construction with Augmented Reality

FARO Technologies recently released its first augmented reality app for concrete construction, called FARO Flatness Check. This is a great example of the use of augmented reality in construction.

A flatness check is a method of examining the flatness of concrete slabs or other surfaces. Traditionally this has been done by hand using a straight edge and a level. With the FARO app, inspectors and contractors can check the levelness of concrete using their iPad or Android tablet.

This easy-to-use app can even guide foremen to find out where the concrete is out of tolerance and fix it. With this app, they can do it while the concrete is still wet, which makes it more efficient at correcting mistakes.

“By helping the concrete industry prevent waste, reduce materials usage and speed time spent on-site FARO is taking an important step in its ongoing corporate sustainability efforts to reduce carbon emissions and to ensure greener, cleaner communities wherever FARO products are in use,” said Alistair Wells, Director of Product Management at FARO.

Take Another Step into the Future with Mixed Reality

Mixed reality is where you integrate the real world with virtual worlds. With mixed reality, you can interact with physical and digital objects at the same time.

The biggest difference between mixed reality and augmented reality is you need a VR headset to view and interact with mixed reality. The main difference with virtual reality is you are still aware of the real world and the objects around you. You don’t get totally immersed and lost in the virtual world.

You can interact with a virtual environment (such as a model of your site) while remaining in the real world. This allows for greater collaboration between team members and a more immersive experience for remote visitors. The cost of building these models is also significantly lower than that of conventional methods.

With this new technology, workers can view instructions from their site supervisor on a tablet or smartphone then overlay that information onto the thing they’re working on. This will allow them to complete tasks much faster and with greater accuracy.