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January 29, 2014

Oculus Rift Construction Industry

Integrating the Oculus Rift into the construction industry

    35 replies

    Up and Coming
    January 29, 2014
    Can you elaborate?
    Up and Coming
    January 29, 2014
    I work in the industry and struggle to see where it can be used other then walk through..
    Maybe someone can open my mind :)
    Up and Coming
    January 29, 2014
    Hmm, how many strengths could I list off the top of my head...

    - Architectural visualization
    - Job site organization
    - Construction training
    - Remote contracting and consulting
    - Construction plan verification and inspections

    For example, if you are a building inspector and you need to inspect some new construction, just imagine being able to visualize the construction plans in full stereoscopic 3D and then having the ability to overlay that image on top of the actual building. You could find mistakes almost instantly.

    In fact, a lot of industries are catching on to these ideas. For example, back in the late 90's Boeing experimented with VR headsets to help electricians wire jets with greater efficiency and accuracy. They could see where the wire needed to go before installing it. The car industry has been using VR for years to visualize vehicle concepts before commissioning prototypes to save time and money.

    Just search the Internet for more ideas. VR is being used everywhere.
    January 30, 2014
    Great examples these are exactly the scenarios I'm imagining
    Participant
    January 30, 2014
    I've been working with it for safety related training for substation personnel. Better to experience the danger of opening the wrong set of equipment disconnects in a simulation rather than seeing a video.

    Even contemplated using a real heated coil and engaging a fan that would blow hot air on the trainee in the simulator when they 'virtually' fault the primary conductors and cause them to flash a burning fireball of molten metal...
    Up and Coming
    January 30, 2014
    There's also machine/vehicle operation training such as the 'Rift Ramps' forklift sim:
    viewtopic.php?f=51&t=3905&hilit=+forklift

    Peejle
    January 30, 2014
    I was just working on the underground train station at London liverpool st with my construction company access was a complete nightmare and space was limited once you were actually underground mainly due to over crowding from designers and executives checking up on work, using the oculus for this purpose none of these bodies would even have to enter the working area they wouldn't even need to be on the site
    Participant
    February 4, 2014
    As you say the amount of people this could potentially remove from hazardous areas is amazing. I could see affordable hmds being touted as a safety mechanism if used correctly.

    For health and safety the idea of removing people from a situation (do they need to be there?) is a key principle. Although this might not completely remove the need to be there at some time or other, any reduction in exposure to hazards can only be a good thing.

    Obviously there's massive scope for AR in this field also. (productivity as opposed to safety)
    February 4, 2014
    Yes I think with today's standard of Health and safety there is no way this concept will be looked at as just a gimmick it's something that will be affordable and could potentially save lives! obviously user friendly software will have to be upto par to make it fit into practice with ease but I don't see any real problems with that some brief demo software would be a great advantage at this point to sell the product and prove the potential life saving and cost/time effective benefits
    February 4, 2014
    Another point that could well be valid within this area is that the Oculus Rift could potentially lower Public Liability insurance's for contractors that decide to integrate the Rift into the work place
    In turn the Rift could possibly pay for itself or even in certain cases may even save money in that particular field due to the lower risk it would create