Category: Features
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Augmented and Mixed Reality in Construction
Augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are in the headlines, thanks to the recent mobile gaming boom. How are these emerging technologies applicable to construction? In this blog post, I present six application areas to consider. In AR—like Google Glass or Pokémon GO on a mobile device—the visible natural world is overlaid with a layer…
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Interview with the AEC Business Blog Host, Aarni Heiskanen
The AEC Business podcast had its 50th episode and the blog started its fifth year. Below is an interview with the author and founder himself – Aarni Heiskanen. Interviewed by Larisa Topalo. Aarni, can you say a few words about yourself? I’m Aarni Heiskanen, writer and founder at AEC Business blog and interviewer at AEC…
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Virtual Reality for Construction – AEC Business
Paradoxically, Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are still lagging behind the visions that people have for their use. However, VR has already demonstrated its capacity to change the ways we design, make decisions about, and produce built environments. Is VR finally feasible? Two AEC Hackathons and meetings with certain startups have made me think that Virtual…
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Connecting Real Estate Developers with Consultants – Interview with Savannah de Savary of IndustryHub
I had the pleasure of interviewing Savannah de Savary, Founder and CEO of IndustryHub. The company’s discovery platform enables real estate developers to find top architects, interior designers, engineers and other consultants. What made you start up IndustryHub? I was working as a developer at a NYC based development firm and when it came to sourcing innovative…
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Ten Ways to Innovate AEC Services – Part 2
Every company, big or small, can innovate. Companies that don’t innovate end up competing with their peers on the lowest profit. Here are five more ways to start innovating your next service (check out the first five). 6. Radically shorten the lead time How can you make something that takes a week to complete happen in…
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Managing Infrastructure Projects with Infrakit – Interview with Teemu Kivimäki
Finland has been in the vanguard in adopting building information modeling (BIM) for infrastructure construction. In this interview I discuss with Teemu Kivimäki, CEO of DCS Finland, how Infrakit helps in projects that use BIM. Can you say a few words about the background of your company and how Infrakit came about? The background of…
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Virtual Reality for Homebuyers – Interview with Teatime Research
I visited the newly formed virtual reality startup Teatime Research, tried out their Showroom app demo, and interviewed the team. They let me step into a virtual apartment house, move around, and modify it to my liking. The experience was great! Present during my interview were four of the six co-founders: Sakari Salli (CEO), Paavo…
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Ten Ways to Innovate AEC Services – Part 1
Every company, big or small, can innovate. Companies that don’t innovate end up competing with their peers for the lowest profit. Here are five of the ten ways to start innovating your next service. 1. Redefine your customer We tend to think that our customer is the organization that pays our bill. This thinking can…
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The Changing Business Environment of Design in the Construction Industry
The Finnish Association of Consulting Firms (SKOL) organized its annual Consultants’ Day in April. The first presenter was the chairman of SKOL’s board, Markku Moilanen, of the Ramboll Group. His presentation addressed the changing business environment of design. “Big changes are taking place in our business environment. Oftentimes, when we’re talking about our business environment…
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Productization in the Construction Industry: Interview with Granlund
Service productization can help construction companies do better business and have more satisfied clients. AEC Business had the opportunity to interview Mika Virkki, Senior Consultant and Energy Manager at Granlund, a Finnish Helsinki-based company specialized in design, consultancy and software services with expertise in energy efficiency. He told us about their new productized service –…