As an industry construction is never one to stand still but it is still hard to imagine that soon construction workers could use voice-activated technology that sends real-time audio instructions into their earpiece and projects augmented reality (AR) graphics onto their helmet visor, but it all could be a reality very soon thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology being developed at the University of the West of England’s (UWE Bristol) Big Data Enterprise and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (Big-DEAL) alongside leading construction firms including Costain, Winvic Construction Ltd, TerOpta, Enable My Team and Geo Green Power.
The new system utilities conversational AI, technology that allows the user to verbally ask for and receive information in real-time from a computer, just like millions do every day with their Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Scientists aim for the system to not only remove the need for walkie-talkies onsite but also the need to consult hard copies of blueprints. A construction workers will hopefully be able to speak commands such as “show me building plans” or “show me construction sequence”, which will prompt the AI technology to project them onto their helmet visor – very Terminator!
The new technology is also aimed at assisting project managers who will be able to access information on. a head-mounted display or a hand-held device, such as a co-workers’ timesheets to locate them on site, as well as information on the status of various elements of the project. The total three-year project, which started January 2019, is expected to cost £1.86 million and is being funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to help improve worker safety, productivity and efficiency. Professor Lukumon Oyedele, Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Digital Innovation and Enterprise at UWE Bristol, said: “Until now, conversational AI has mostly been used in labs and controlled settings.
“Here we are bringing it into a construction environment, where workers are using their hands and need a quick and effective way to gather information. One of the many challenges is to ensure that the instructions are audible and stand out, given that there is a lot of background noise on a busy construction site. We are therefore looking at technologies including noise-cancellation to allow for this. We hope that this technology will augment workers’ capabilities, to make construction more efficient. It is about improving worker’s productivity, ensuring a faster delivery process and getting it right the first time by avoiding defects.”