Starting Off:
Last Friday, the #ConTechTrio aired episode 28 of the podcast in which James Benham (@jamesmbenham), Rob McKinney (@conappguru) and Josh Bone (@bim2thebone) discussed the latest construction tech news and hosted a live Q&A from the AGC IT Forum in Chicago. Headliners last week included SmartReality+ pump skid example, an immersive Hybrid Reality system, Google’s Project Jacquard, a smartphone 3D printer, UK’s BIM Level 2 Mandate, an in-ear language translator and much more!
Weekly Poll:
The JBKnowledge Twitter poll question from last week’s episode, “Do any of your day-to-day online tools or applications integrate with each other?” – resulted in 88% Yes and 12% No. A new poll question was also highlighted on the show, related to this week’s episode – “Does your company have an Internal Technology Champion?” The poll can be found on the JBK Twitter page and participants need only answer the single question with “Yes” or “No.”
Construction Tech News:
The trio kicked off the live Q&A podcast highlighting their favorite news stories for the year. James’ top 2016 videos included, loaders fighting each other on the streets of China, a forklift moving a legally parked car and SmartReality+ pump skid example. It has been a big year for virtual and augmented reality in construction, from the release of the Oculus Rift to an immersive Hybrid Reality (iHR) system, we are starting to see the industry embrace VR in the design and building process. Also in regards to AR news, Magic Leap released a new video showcasing its future product’s capabilities, Plans4Less.com created AR printable paper and Caterpillar began using AR to showcase equipment maintenance directions.
Other exciting 2016 technology discussed on the podcast included, Microsoft’s Hololens (which James was wearing during the live episode), Project Tango’s construction takeoff and volumetric analysis capabilities, Pericepts BIM VP product and Google’s Project Jacquard. The construction industry is going robotic this year, with new innovations like a robo-builder that can create a house in 2 days, Fastbrick’s mobile brick laying robot, Hyundai’s ‘Iron Man’ exoskeleton suit and a Cyborg RoboGlove that will literally give a user superhuman strength.
There have also been major improvements within the world of drones including FAA’s new drone regulations, the release of DJI’s Phantom 4, SkyCatch’s drone commander app and even an anti-drone rifle. In regards to aerial drone software for 4D data capture, DroneDeploy and Maps Made Easy are highly recommended for optimal results. James finished out his top tech stories for 2016 with OLO, the first ever smartphone 3D printer and Flashforge Dreamer Dual Extrusion 3D Printer, James’ recommended 3D printer for beginners.
Josh went on to discuss his top construction tech news, providing a great overview of the UK BIM Level 2 Mandate and the key elements driving the mandate. In other BIM news, the National Institute of Building Sciences, a source of innovative solutions for the built environment, is creating a National BIM Guideline for Owners – a documented process for a design team to follow in order to produce a standard set of BIM documents.
Josh also discussed a new technology, generative design, which mimics nature’s approach to design. The technology starts with your end design goal, then explores every possible design option and chooses the most optimal solution to get there. Companies working to implement more of this type of technology include Akaba, Building System Planning, Inc. and Autodesk. Josh finished up his segment by highlighting the democratization of BIM and the need to get BIM in more hands.
Rob rounded out the trio’s top construction tech news for 2016 with new apps available on Windows 10 (SmartBid, PlanGrid, Procore, etc.), HoloLens’ integration with Trimble and Procore and the world’s first smart earpiece which translates between users speaking different languages.
Open Q&A:
In the second half of the podcast, the trio broadcasted live at the 2016 AGC IT Forum in Chicago, Illinois. The trio answered questions from Twitter, as well as, the live audience attending the Q&A podcast session. Questions and topics discussed during the Q&A included the trio’s favorite Star Trek technology, what construction firms should do when they have overlapping software features, estimators taking on the role of BIM Coordinators, Project Tango’s volume metric calculations and much more!
Tune into the #ConTechTrio podcast again this Friday for Episode 29, featuring Chris Weaver from Andy J. Egan Company! Until then, you can catch up on past episodes of our construction technology podcast and even check out some bonus episodes via the links below!
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on iTunes
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on Spreaker
Download the NEW ConTechTrio Podcast App
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on SoundCloud
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on YouTube
