Construction projects rising bigger and bigger
Construction projects have an ever increasing complex nature and rise up faster then ever before. The number of supertall buildings, that means 300m+, in the world has tripled in the last seven years and within the next three, buildings surpass the 1000m limit. The problem is, aquisition and use of modern information technology lags behind all other industries.
Characteristics of high rise building construction | Daniel Daum
Hard hat 2.0: labor protection, product intelligence and work efficiency on construction sites
In recent years the construction sector plays a vital role in society, accounting for 6% of the global GDP and will become even more important in future because of several global mega trends such as migration into urban areas. Especially the construction of high-rise buildings (HRB) has an ever increasingly complex nature and is entirely reliant upon efficient communication between individuals and considered one of the most information-dependent industries. Indeed, the sheer number of construction workers involved in the processes undertaken during the construction renders the communication networks on sites exponentially complex. But, HRB construction is and has ever been by virtue of its harsh and dangerous conditions a follower not a technology leader. It has been hesitant to embrace latest innovation opportunities and in contrast to other industries, its productivity has stagnated over decades. This development can be attributed to several challenges: the persistent fragmentation and information dependency; poor collaboration between construction workers involved in the project; the industry’s difficulty in acquiring and using new information and communication technology (ICT); and constraints in recruiting and training a talented and future-ready workforce.
Construction needs Disruption
Innovation with emphasis on information and communication technology (ICT) has become both a success factor and impairment in high rise building (HRB) construction projects worldwide. According to latest research, the level of skilled construction workers is expected to increase by 10% or more in the next years and thus, identifying the potential of streamlining collaboration by construction personnel on sites will be vital to success in future projects. This exploratory design study investigated the perceptions of construction's workforce and revealed factors to improve real-time collaboration in high-rise construction. The project identified that emerging mobile communication technology has the capability to not only improve data and information sharing but rather clearly confirms that it improves work performance entirely in practice.
Providing a smarter on-site environment:
Centralized expert skills and data, available everywhere to any time, connects and educates workers.
With the front-camera in the helmet, both workers and their supervisors on site are able to contact remote supporting experts like site managers or architects on-demand rather then laying down a work order to have the expert visiting the facility to provide appropriate guidance. Workers on site receive the guydance they need for a task quickly and accurate. Expensive expert skill-sets are centalized instead of duplicated across the site with the result that both time and cost can be reduced. Information for work steps, materials and site conditions can be seen by everyone via screens or acoustical via voice control in each helmet.
