Gilbane Construction & Augmented Reality

Gilbane Construction Saves Huge With AR

Augmented Reality (AR) continues to prove its worth in construction via Gilbane Building Company. The national construction company has been one of many to implement AR into its business processes— to profitable results and huge savings.

A typical project for Gilbane includes paper blueprints or digital models. However, the construction giant recently swapped pen and paper for Microsoft’s AR computer, Hololens, just last summer. Gilbane construction and augmented reality have since yielded $5,000 worth of savings.

How? After senior manager, John Myers, decided to explore the potential of Hololens in the industry. Using AR, Myers was able to view his projects in 3D as well as make use of holographic images of project sites.

Specific to one project in particular, Myers was able to identify that several steel frames ordered to support walls were too long. By merging Gilbane construction and augmented reality, Myers was able to take proactive measures and cancel the order before delivery. The frames were cut to size, and the use of AR saved the company $5,000 in labor costs by avoiding overtime expenses in having workers needlessly spend time cutting and refitting the frames themselves.

Beyond Gilbane Construction & Augmented Reality

Gilbane is far from the only construction company to take advantage of AR. In fact, Topcon Positioning Group, known for their work in manufacturing optical equipment for construction and surveying industries, partnered with the AR smart helmet makers, DAQRI, at the end of 2016.  With a heads-up, hands-free display, the professional-grade wearable AR helmet was integrated into Topcon’s own construction processes by providing a wealth of applications: high-resolution 3D depth camera, 360-degree navigation cameras, high-tech augmented reality sensors, built-in programming, and much more.

Augmented reality tech is looking to solve time and resource management problems common to the construction industry, while providing instant communication and information between workers in the field and those located remotely. With time and management directly related to profit, AR is in the immediate line of sight of the industry’s future.

Just last summer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 143,000 unfilled construction positions, with a cut in over 2.3 million jobs between 2006 and 2011, and a 20% decline in skilled labor that is still affecting the industry to this day. The solution? Many companies are looking to AR to fill the labor gap. How? By improving the skill-set of current workers.

Similar to how Gilbane construction and augmented reality worked together to reduce time and save money, other construction companies can use the tech to see improvements in whatever area they are lacking in. AR is really just a technology that superimposes information diagrams onto real-world objects to yield the company the most relevant information specific to its task. Whether that task is extending labor, bringing up project site information, or something entirely different, AR comes down to one thing: making the construction industry the best it can be.