Last Friday, the #ConTechTrio aired episode 21 of the podcast in which James Benham (@jamesmbenham), Rob McKinney (@conappguru) and Josh Bone (@bim2thebone) discussed the latest construction tech news. Headliners last week included a fixed wing vertical takeoff and landing drone, IBM’s night vision glasses, @Autodesk and @TrimbleCorpNews partnership, a new construction camp, and much more! Special guest @Dougjchambers, CEO of @FieldLens, also joined to discuss the changing role of technology for tracking issues on project sites.
The show kicked off with a video from @BuiltWorlds, highlighting the world’s first 3D printer using a chemical sintering deposition process for construction. Leave it to Las Vegas to jump right into testing automated flying passenger drones, and they plan to begin later this year. James highlighted his drone video of the week, which showcased a fixed wing vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL).
For all the summer campers out there, check out a new construction camp that teaches 7th and 8th grade students real world skills that can help them their entire lives. @IBM has a patent for technology that can add night vision to your glasses using Google Glass. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, check out how @MagicLeap is bringing your favorite characters to life…right in your living room!
In podcast news, James Benham announced the ConTechTrio podcast has passed 15,000 listens! Also, a friendly reminder that the podcast now has it’s own app, which is available for download in the iOS store. In other podcast news, @ConstrJunkie has opened up voting for its “Best Construction Podcast of 2016 Contest,” click here to vote for your favorite one (wink, wink). In regards to JBKnowledge, we are excited to announce that our new website launched last week! Take a look around and subscribe to the blog to get the latest construction news/tech updates delivered right to your inbox. JBKnowledge will also be launching the Annual Construction Tech Survey within the next week, so keep an eye out for it!
The JBKnowledge Twitter poll question from last week’s episode, “Do you have a process for testing & implementing new technology?” – resulted in 44% No and 56% Yes. A new poll was also highlighted on the show, that’s related to this week’s episode theme, “tracking project issues through technology.” The poll can be found on the JBK Twitter page and participants need only answer the single question with “Yes” or “No.”
Jumping back to construction tech news, homebuilder @PulteGroupNews has unveiled its “invisible house,” a net-zero energy home prototype built with “airtight building methods.” A new @GoPro-control system, called GoHawk, was discussed on the podcast, which allows a user to start and stop their video by just biting down on the device. @Queenb_robotics has created the Exo360 drone, which carries five 4K cameras that gather aerial footage in multiple directions, then stitches the clips together into a 360-degree video for immersive viewing on VR headsets.
Breaking news, @Autodesk and @TrimbleCorpNews have signed an interoperability agreement, allowing the two BIM competitors to exchange API’s for a variety of products for architecture, engineering and construction. A Microsoft @HoloLens movie discussed on a previous podcast episode was found to be based around an actual project. The abandoned Packard Plant, a 3.5 million square foot building in Detroit, is going to be revitalized using augmented reality (AR) in the form of a HoloLens paired with Trimble’s Connect Platform.
BIM mandates made headlines again, the Russian Ministry of Construction is planning to create their own BIM mandates at the federal level and angles to become the authority on building information modeling technology. In other BIM news, London’s Architectural Association announced they’re launching their first robotics course, sending a message to the construction industry – robotic tech is not just a trend, it’s here to stay. The trio finished out their weekly tech news updates highlighting @FortuneMagazine 500’s List, which featured seven US based construction and engineering firms.
In the second half of the podcast, Doug Chambers, CEO of FieldLens, joined the #ConTechTrio to discuss the changing role of technology for tracking issues on construction sites. After graduating from The University of Rochester, Doug went straight into construction management and proceeded to oversee the construction process for for 11 years. He learned throughout those years that he was constantly making the same coordination mistakes and sought out a way to improve the on-site process – thus FieldLens was born. Doug went on to discuss FieldLens’ integration with Bluebeam, its compatibility with BIM and the tool’s new “Live Layer” feature.
Tune into the #ConTechTrio podcast again this Friday for Episode 22. 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
