7 Important Takeaways — The State of AR & MR in Construction
Placer Solutions has released its new research report series starting on the topic of Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) in Construction.
The series strives to be independent, with a shared mission from all collaborators to assist builders and tech providers in successfully digitizing the industry by providing high-quality information on best practices.
This is a lightly edited transcript of a conversation between the two collaborators, Nate Fuller and Erin Khan, that explores the key themes resonating at the end of the journey. This scratches the surface of an entire world of high-quality content in the report itself— which we hope you enjoy!
#1. Apple’s Vision Pro Could Change The Game
EK: The new Vision Pro is definitely a step in the right direction but there’s still probably more technological advancements that will come into the market, specifically tailored for construction professionals, that will make AR and MR processes easier to adopt and have a much more natural look and feel to them. I hope it’s headed towards a safety glasses-like design that’s lightweight, easy to use, and feels almost akin to an iPad.
NF: I agree, and I think that Apple’s Vision Pro is going to accelerate things in a way that HoloLens and Magic Leap maybe weren’t able to. I think Apple, as a company, brings a lot of user experience expertise that headsets severely need.
You look at things like visionOS SDK, ARKit 6, and RealityKit — these tools are going to accelerate AR and MR applications by enhancing the dev experience and softening the learning curve for new startups entering the space. However, I don’t know that Apple is positioning this for construction, or even industry at large, which is unfortunate.
#2. Good Outlook for Overcoming Technological Hurdles
NF: An overarching theme of this research was a tension between how close the technology seems to be and continued frustrations getting it to work in the field. Most people we talked to had familiarity with AR and MR’s technological hurdles — model drift, localizing on projects, resolving issues related to heavy BIM model rendering. However, we walked away optimistic that these issues would be resolved soon.
EK: I’m definitely on the optimist side, especially seeing what builders are able to get out of the tech today even with its current challenges. The case studies we saw were amazing! It feels like we’re also experiencing an evolution of comfort with XR technologies in general. Earlier on, we saw solid adoption with virtual reality, which was then bolstered by the Quest2 coming into the market, but now I’m starting to see users push for in-field XR applications, which fit AR and MR solutions really well. The next gen builders will likely have AR applications built into their workflows.
NF: I think another point that came out of this in terms of best practices is that the industry is also falling in line with standardization. Areas like standardized BIM formats, data model standardization through Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), and buildingSmart’s new BIM Collaboration Format (BCF) — those are all bright spots.
EK: What we consistently heard from all of our field users is that everyone pretty much has an iPad. They’re happy with their tablets. They understand how to use it. That hardware adoption cycle has already more or less been addressed at this point.
Now you’re just talking about the process of pulling up a 3D model into augmented reality or mixed reality and getting users used to interacting with the 3D digital data. Linking it to something that’s comfortable already makes it a bit easier to get users out of their comfort zone, if you will.
#3. Overhyping Technology Only Leads To Disappointment
NF: It’s always easy to armchair things, but I was there for some of this in 2015 and so I’m just going to go there and say it and hope there’s lessons here for the next generation of construction tech startups — I think early providers, for lack of a better term, flubbed it up.
They either didn’t have someone from construction in the room, or they didn’t listen to the industry, or maybe they didn’t prioritize construction as a market. I think one of the early headset providers putting out a video of someone walking onto a jobsite in high heels with no hard hat on was just dumb. I don’t know if I’ll put this in the article, but who greenlit that? Come on!
EK: That’s fair.
NF: I think the go-to-market could have been improved. I don’t know that headsets needed to be some of the first applications of AR and MR in construction. Back to some of our topics in the report, I think technology providers could have used mobile devices as the gateway technology to get people onto their $5,000 headsets, rather than having them buy a $5,000 headset that doesn’t really do much yet, or that no one wants to use, or that’s hard to use.
To provide benefit of the doubt, it’s highly likely that there was enormous pressure to get ROI on flashy new headsets quickly. But the marketing hype was excessive, and we heard from quite a few people that the marketing did a lot of long-term damage to the product class.
So whatever the case, I would hope that the lessons uncovered in our report helps the next generation of startups avoid some of the same mistakes, because it is such an important technology for our industry.
#4. Focus on First Time (Construction) User Experiences
EK: A consistent theme reported back from many, many field users was that if you’re having team members standing around trying to figure out a new tool, they’re wasting their time — even just a couple of minutes looks really bad. They’re not getting immediate value out of the tool.
Essentially, you’ve lost trust, which is a huge deal. Once you’ve lost that trust during that first time user experience, it’s really hard to get that back and get people believing that it’s worth it to take another chance.
NF: This is towards the top of my list as well. I keep recalling the conversation we had with one of the field users from our use cases who said that it took five times with the headset for a new user to feel comfortable using the product on their own. Five times.
#5. The Need for Aftermarket Providers
NF: We heard that there were a couple of key hardware issues that needed addressing and a lot of the early incumbent technology providers weren’t addressing them, at least not well. Chief amongst them was hard hat compatibility for headsets. There are some aftermarket accessories, like Trimble XR10 and a few industry-specific devices, like RealWear HMT-1, but not a lot of options to give headsets a unique construction feel.
EK: I can also lean on my own experience here implementing headsets in the field. Fashion really matters in construction — especially with construction field users, it’s actually pretty funny!
If you’re wearing something new, maybe it’s something on your head, maybe it’s a new type of hard hat or safety vest or whatever it is, people notice that and pick up on that. A lot of times there’s an impression from field users or people who are doing work in the field, like, “oh, I don’t want to be caught dead wearing that. It’s so outlandish. I look like a robot.”
There’s this level of unfamiliarity and hesitancy about being somebody that’s different on site. I think closing the gap between that perception to realizing that this is actually something that is going to make my processes better, faster, safer — addressing that perception, I think, is key.
#6. AR & MR Strongly Supports ESG Goals
EK: Environmental, social, and governance are super important and not always talked about in construction. I was, I would say, pleasantly surprised with the capabilities for AR and MR, specifically around social and environmental good.
On the social aspect, every single instance we saw of the technology being applied, it was primarily bringing people together who wouldn’t have been able to communicate or collaborate before.
On the environmental side as well, being able to reduce your footprint and have more remote meetings was impactful. There’s a lot of opportunities still yet to be tapped through AR and MR. I’m personally very excited to see how creative construction companies can get with applying this tool for ESG.
NF: One thing we learned over the course of the pandemic and the whole work from home exercise is that different people operate differently, and different people thrive in different environments differently. I think AR and MR, if anything, opens up a new environment in which to engage a project. There are certain people who otherwise would not have been included in that process who can use this tool to really thrive and shine.
#7. Support Construction Tech in High Schools, and Even Earlier
NF: We didn’t necessarily write about this in the report, and I think it actually transcends AR and MR, but it’s the high school and middle school programs bringing construction concepts and technology to students.
These programs seemed to have a lasting impact on quite a few of the field users we spoke to who might not have been the first ones digging in the dirt, but who are nonetheless super smart and motivated. This type of technology really drives excitement and offers a new career path.
EK: Yes. We had so many conversations about early exposure during high school or even middle school. It seems to leave a big impact for students to say, “Hey, I can see myself doing this as a full-time career.”
Not just, to your point, like digging in the dirt, but doing very sophisticated things on a computer that’s influencing a building and that’s going to be part of their legacy for decades to come.
I would bet that we’re going to see, maybe we’ll give it a generation or two, but a new evolution of what the construction field worker looks like. I think that’ll be somebody who’s technology empowered and can pick up digital transformation and apply it in the field. Field application of digital tools will be that new field engineer role of the future.
Placer Solutions provides high-quality and independent research reports on emerging technology trends in the construction industry.
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If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more, check out the full report at placersolutions.io/research-and-reports.
