Fairly or unfairly, the Canadian construction industry
has a reputation for being slow when it comes to the
adoption of new technologies.
In fact, a 2017 industry survey conducted by KPMG
indicated the majority of Canadian construction and engineering
firms did not have a technology integration strategy
in place, and most considered themselves technological followers
rather than leaders.
Despite this technological reluctance, one relatively new
form of technology is becoming adopted by an increasing
number of companies in Canada’s architecture, engineering
and construction (AEC) sector, and has the potential to be
a serious game-changer for many segments of the industry,
including deep foundation construction.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality
(AR) are perhaps best known for their use in
today’s multi-billion-dollar video game industry.
However, that same technology is starting to
gain a toehold in the construction industry, and
is being used for everything from planning and
virtual walk-throughs of design plans to helping
conduct quality assurance inspections.
While VR and AR technologies have been around since
the 1990s, they did not become mainstream until the past
decade; and it wasn’t until about five years ago – thanks to
the increasing use of building information modelling (BIM) –
that they started being used in construction.
Piling Canada recently spoke with two leading technology
companies about why VR and AR use is increasing in the construction
industry, what these advancements have to offer
to both large and small construction firms and what this all
means for the future of construction in Canada.
Virtual reality vs. augmented reality
Prior to any discussion about the merits of VR and AR in
the construction industry, it is worth noting the differences
between the two. In simple terms, VR is a completely simulated
environment created by computer technology. AR, on
the other hand, enables the user to stay visually present in
the real world while elements are augmented by computergenerated
overlays that provide an X-ray view into an object
or environment.
COVER STORY
Virtual reality and augmented reality are still new
technologies in the construction sector, but could be
potential game-changers in the not-too-distant future
By Jim Timlick
PILING CANADA 13