Technology is developing at an incredible rate in all areas of industry, work and leisure. From the way we communicate with people, access services and do our jobs we truly are living in a digital world. And the development of technology is not going to slow down any time soon.

But what about the construction industry?

Not renowned for being an early adopter of digitalised technology, according to various reports, it seems that this is about to change with the sector beginning to take more and more advantage of the technology available to it.

David Philp, BIM Director at AECOM said, “construction technology is reshaping how we deliver and maintain our built assets, it is increasingly helping us place digital information into the real world”.

So, has the time come for the industry to ‘get digital’ to avoid missing out and if so, which technologies are going to have a big impact?

Virtual Reality:

A proposed £1 million funding into a new virtual reality system by Innovate UK (a non-departmental public body set up to drive productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and benefit from innovative ideas) has been forecast to cut costs by up to 25% if implemented across the construction industry. By supporting the Augmented Worker System (AWE) – wearable virtual reality equipment – it aims to improve the construction process in the areas of efficiency and sustainability, safety, asset management, monitoring of progress, digital job guidance and design.

The construction industry already uses the Building Information Modelling (BIM) system which provides contractors and professionals with a virtual walkthrough of the construction project, starting to replace the traditional blueprints with interactive 3D models.

Drones:

Also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones are used to film information in areas that have limited access for people. This reduces the time and effort needed to get the information by capturing images that support surveys, assessments and inspections on site, not to mention human error. They also contribute to construction site health and safety by highlighting hazards or areas for attention.

Health and Safety:

Wearable equipment like the Smart Helmet has a transparent visor, special lenses and 4-D augmented reality. It gives safety information about the wearer’s surroundings and warns of potential hazards amongst other information. Inevitably, as forewarned is forearmed, the more that technology can be used to minimise risk, the safety for workers on a construction site improves. The new technology has led to other wearable equipment and devices such as smart glasses responsive clothing.

Thanks to the implementation of construction technology, 3D-printed houses, rotating skyscrapers and automatically designed hospitals are becoming a reality and the construction industry needs to fully embrace the technology available to maintain this progress.