A British consortium led by the Soluis Group has secured £1 million of funding from Innovate UK to develop an Augmented Worker System (AWE), pioneering the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality for the construction industry.

The system will enable the intelligent design, construction, maintenance and whole-life value of buildings, supporting construction and infrastructure growth. AWE will also realise significant value from Building Information Modelling (BIM) and will target a 25% reduction in cost, 25% reduction in waste, and increased productivity of 30% for projects.

Smarter Ways Of Working

The Augmented Worker System aims to improve the construction process at every stage, meeting the Digital Built Britain (DBB) Building Information Modelling (BIM) standards mandated by the British Government. Business Secretary Greg Clark said, “The adoption of cutting-edge Virtual and Augmented Reality technology in industries like construction will be vital in helping us identify new, smarter ways of working”.

Partners in the consortium include Pinnacle Business Solutions, Carbon Dynamic, and the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC). Danny McMahon, senior manufacturing engineer and digital manufacturing team lead at the AFRC told us, “AR and VR are huge opportunities for the construction industry – they can make it markedly more efficient, cut waste, and make it a safer place to work.We hope to help shape the industry’s future for the better.” You can read more about the AFRC's work in a previous article.

Augmented Worker System

Martin McDonnell, Chairman of Soluis Group explained the motivation for the project saying, “Our vision was to create a set of tools that would form the augmented worker of the future. For a business like us, we could only drive this innovation a certain amount and working with the consortium and receiving funding from Innovate UK will help us achieve this much faster and more effectively.”

The project will launch on 1st September with a kick-off meeting attended by the consortium organisations.