Digitization of the transforming construction industry!

Digitization of the transforming construction industry!

How far has the digitalization of the transforming construction industry progressed? I would like to take a look at some of them because they are large in scale to grasp everything. Isn't the basis of digitalization the automation by robotization using AR?

How will AR utilization in the construction industry proceed? Microsoft Japan and Koyanagi Construction will collaborate on the utilization of HoloLens
Microsoft Japan and Koyanagi Construction Co., Ltd. announced a collaboration regarding the utilization of "Microsoft HoloLens" in the construction industry. It is said that the project is proceeding based on three concepts.

Mr. Takuzo Koyanagi, President and CEO of Koyanagi Construction

How will the construction industry utilize AR (Augmented Reality)? On April 20, 2017, Koyanagi Construction Co., Ltd., a construction company in Niigata Prefecture, announced a collaboration with Microsoft Japan in a business development project "Holostruction" that utilizes the AR head-mounted display "Microsoft HoloLens". Holostruction is a project that aims to solve various problems facing the construction industry, such as improving operational efficiency and ensuring transparency in business and operations, by utilizing HoloLens and its technology. The project is said to be cooperating not only with Microsoft Japan but also with Microsoft in the United States.

Koyanagi Construction is proceeding with Holostruction based on the following three concepts, and aims to put it into practical use in the future.

Ensuring business transparency
Utilization of BIM (Building Information Modeling) / CIM (Construction Information Modeling) data
Trial of new communication ideas
At the same time, we plan to support the government-promoted initiative "i-Construction", which aims to improve productivity by utilizing IT at construction sites and standardizing construction timing, aiming for attractive construction sites.

What kind of usage can HoloLens be used in the construction industry? Mr. Takuzo Koyanagi, President and CEO of Koyanagi Construction, explained the concept of Holostruction.

How to "ensure business transparency" with HoloLens
Mr. Koyanagi states that the construction industry is particularly required to ensure the transparency of the business because there were problems that have developed into social problems such as seismic camouflage and diversion of construction data in the past. Therefore, Koyanagi Construction has developed a mechanism that can share all data from buildings, materials, materials, and worker behavior, and transparency that can be "shown" to the ordering party, including construction, inspection, maintenance, and repair plans. We have put in place a mechanism for securing. For example, by combining the construction plan and the 3D data of the building, the state of the building at a certain stage of the construction plan can be confirmed (Fig. 1).

Figure 1 Using HoloLens, check the construction plan and the state of the building (exhibitor: Microsoft Japan)

Furthermore, it is said that it will aim for a mechanism that can respond immediately by centrally managing the history and estimates due to plan revisions and design changes.

Utilization of BIM / CIM data
Koyanagi Construction is developing a mechanism that utilizes BIM / CIM data to store information necessary for process inspection together with 3D blueprints so that it can be checked immediately when needed. BIM / CIM is a mechanism that creates 3D data at the design stage of a building and uses a database with attribute data such as cost and management information added to it in the process of building design, construction, and maintenance. That's it. From this, even if the inspector does not actually go to the site, it will be possible to perform the same inspection as when going to the site with the AR image seen on HoloLens (Fig. 2). "In the future, we want to be able to perform inspections using only 3D images," says Koyanagi.

Fig. 2 Check the state of the construction site using HoloLens (Exhibitor: Microsoft Japan)

Like other industries, the construction industry is facing an urgent issue of labor shortage due to Japan's declining birthrate and aging population and the declining working population. It is hoped that HoloLens will reduce the burden on inspectors and reduce the problem of labor shortage.

What is a "new communication idea" realized by HoloLens?
Koyanagi Construction is developing a function with HoloLens that can display the completed building image in full size, share the same field of view with local workers, and simulate the arrangement of heavy machinery and workers from the planning stage. That is. It also aims to create a new communication method that is created when multiple people wear HoloLens and see the same 3D data (Fig. 3).

Koyanagi Construction believes that HoloLens will "fill in the gaps in human skills." It takes a certain amount of time and experience to be able to accurately imagine a 2D blueprint commonly used at a construction site as a 3D building in my head. "If you use HoloLens and the blueprints are 3D from the beginning, everyone can share the same image of the building without gaining experience at the construction site. Therefore, using HoloLens It may be possible to realize a new communication method that bridges the gap in experience, "says Koyanagi.

Figure 3 Using HoloLens, multiple people can check the 3D image of the building (exhibitor: Microsoft Japan)

Koyanagi Construction wants to conduct a demonstration experiment of Holostruction during FY2017. Microsoft Japan wants to continue to support the project in terms of technology, usage, and operation.