Mixed reality holograms are the buzz this month as Microsoft released HoloLens devices. Different than previous, completely virtual experiences, HoloLens combines holographic technology with actual reality to create an environment where at-scale holograms can be projected into physical environments. For those of us who live in actual space—and not just in the video game realm—this has huge impacts on our ability to design, construct, operate and improve projects.
CDM Smith started actively evaluating and applying virtual and mixed reality since early 2015. Our Innovation Group and R&D program constantly evaluate new technologies, and there is no shortage of options these days. But, even within the flood of cool and different things, mixed reality stands out as something that could radically improve how we collaborate and deliver engineering and construction projects. In addition to our own engineering, construction and business technology professionals, we have partnered with the HoloLens startup Object Theory to accelerate our progress. Over the past seven months we have been defining AEC use cases and testing actual models in the HoloLens environment with a focus on collaboration to deliver infrastructure projects more efficiently. We have also been investigating opportunities to leverage mixed reality for facility operations, to reduce the lifecycle cost of projects for our clients. Here’s what we’ve learned: