What is reality capture in construction, and what are its benefits, applications, and limitations? We’ve developed this helpful guide to answer these and other questions because we know it can be challenging to keep up with the latest innovation and technology in the construction industry. Let’s dive in.

Reality capture is one of today’s most innovative technologies transforming construction, making short work of processes like jobsite photo documentation—historically a tedious, time-consuming activity. Reality capture solutions offer a welcome replacement for manual methods by letting builders digitally capture, share, and analyze real-world jobsite conditions to move faster and make smarter decisions. These solutions can leverage laser scans, drone images, smartphone photos, or, in the case of OpenSpace, high-resolution 360° images. Historically, reality capture consisted of capturing 360° images with laser scans, but OpenSpace led the way in democratizing reality capture with a more cost-effective and efficient way of capturing with 360° cameras mounted on a person’s hard hat during regular site walks. Once the capture data is uploaded to the cloud, project stakeholders can virtually walk through the jobsite by accessing the images from their desks or anywhere in the world to see site conditions in near-real time and identify issues quickly.

Using a reality capture platform like OpenSpace, small and large builders alike can significantly streamline many of their processes to generate significant cost savings on single projects or multiple projects across an entire company. From reducing travel by as much as 50% and improving communication to strengthening project management capabilities and enhancing QA/QC, companies using reality capture are seeing a significant return on their investment.

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