Contractor trials mixed reality headsets on school site
Morgan Sindall has completed successful trials of the Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality headset to perform installation checks on site. The Construction & Infrastructure division and consulting arm BakerHicks tested the system at the new Ashmole Primary School site in Southgate, London. BakerHicks’ specialist BIM team projected their computer model onto the mechanical, electrical and public health (MEPH) installations on the site.
A customised app allowed the project team to then view and check a section of the project’s MEPH work.
The team used an image tracker to superimpose the holographic BIM model onto the soffit of the ceiling.
This allowed the project team to walk through the building wearing the Microsoft HoloLens headset, which acts as a self-contained holographic computer, to check and audit the actual built product against the original design.
The headset can record what the wearer is seeing and is fully interactive, enabling any changes to be communicated to the design team.
Trevor Strahan, head of BIM at BakerHicks said: “The success of this trial marks an exciting step in our journey in exploring the possibilities HoloLens technology could bring to our industry.
“We have been quick to recognise the benefits that ‘virtual world’ technology can deliver and apply it in a ‘real world’ environment.
“We’ve been working on developing Augmented Reality for a while now and it is really exciting to see all that come to fruition.”
Steffan Speer, Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure’s business improvement director said: “The benefits mixed reality could bring to our teams and customers are vast – including remote conferencing, construction design and installation reviews along with the presentation of construction models via holograms.
“I’m looking forward to our subsequent trials as we look to develop these exciting capabilities further.”