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Interacted with Matthew Byrd to Bring his Construction Technology Perspective to Light

Various surveys and studies have proven that the construction industry needs to be prompt in integrating new technologies; 2023 is the same.

Contractors are striving hard to invest in the right set of technologies. But the grass is not always greener. Like in every other industry, difficulties persistently impact productivity, profit margins, and business sustainability.

To shed some light on the same, we interviewed an industry expert to bring his perspective on construction technology to light.

Q & A with Matthew Byrd

Who Did We Interview?

Matthew Byrd is a globally recognized leader and podcast specialist in the construction technology & reality capture industry. He assists firms in utilizing new technology and innovative workflows to capture, process successfully, and deliver accurate data from real-world project sites, integrating them into digital environments.

Let Us Quickly Get To Our Expert’s Point Of View.

Question 1: How do you see the construction industry in the year 2023? Do you think this year will be a "digital year" for construction professionals?

Digital Transformation, Digital Twins, Industrial Metaverse. So many buzzwords describe what's happening in technology within the construction industry and the built environment.

We're advancing the construction industry into a "Visual and Digital Industry" more rapidly now than ever.

One of our focuses is pushing the digitization of real-world environments using technologies like 3D Laser Scanning, Drones, and LiDAR. These technologies can help you create true, accurate 3d models of buildings, infrastructure, and facilities so that engineering and design teams have a digital replica of the real-world site as they do their work.

The construction industry is seeing massive ROI by integrating technology and digitization into its processes.

Question 2: The construction industry has undergone dynamic changes over the years. What do you consider as the biggest challenge for this industry now?

I think one of the biggest challenges the industry has is the lack of personnel. It's a hectic industry, and a lot of people are retiring from the industry, so we have a new wave of talent that we need to continue inspiring to join one of the essential workforces in the world, which is construction!

This industry is responsible for everything we use in our lives, building our homes, roads, airports, and stores. We need to continue pushing the integration of new technology and inspiring more young people stepping into their careers to consider a role in construction.

Question 3: What potential do you see in the latest construction technology trends? Are they capable of boosting the productivity of construction professionals?

Some of the technologies we see making a MASSIVE impact are 3D Laser Scanning, Drones, LiDAR, and BIM, and there's a future wave of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Robotics.

All of these technologies and their use cases help boost productivity, reduce waste, improve design, reduce project timeline, reduce budgets, etc.

These are all the technologies and topics we're focused on exploring, proving out, and then bringing awareness to through our podcast, webinars, and our annual conference with the "Reality Capture Network".

Question 4: Where do you see the construction industry in the next five years? Please share your valuable insights with our readers.

Every construction area will see more adoption of the technologies I mentioned previously. We're going to see digital replicas of a job site captured with 3d laser scanning and lidar, 360 video, and images.

We will see more design processes integrating virtual reality to immerse the project teams in a realistic version of the design and make changes based on scaled reviews before it is built.

We'll see the field teams using Augmented Reality headsets to visualize the 3d model the design team has provided in the real-world job site during construction.

We'll see more robotics like the "Spot Dog" from Boston dynamics walking around a job site autonomously, capturing images and measurements.

There are SO many technologies and innovations we'll see continuing to grow in adoption in the next five years.

To summarize, construction is going to continue seeing a massive digital transformation and technology adoption curve over the coming 5-10 years.

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Question 5: In four words or less, what's your prediction about the transforming construction industry?

Blending Physical & Digital Realities

Question 6: What's your success mantra?

"MOVE QUICK... FAIL FAST... MAKE CHANGES..." -Matthew Byrd

I understand no one "WANTS" to fail... But the point is, if you never fail, you're never moving fast enough or need more innovation.

Greatness is born through innovation. Great ideas become industry-changing innovations when people are willing to pursue them over and over, even through failures, until they reach a point where they've created something amazing.

There are hundreds of examples of the Icons and great leaders of the world going through MANY failed attempts and difficulties before becoming the most successful individuals in their industry.

Elon Musk. "Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."

Thomas Edison. He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. Yet aren't we thankful he never gave up?

Michael Jordan. "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and miss."

Never give up. Accept that failure is part of the process.
Be smart, but move quickly, learn from failure, make changes, and do whatever you do. Don't let fear hold you back from trying. Keep going. ;)

More Details

In 2020, Matthew and his team launched the “Reality Capture Network." The Reality Capture Network started as a podcast and has grown to include an online education centre and an annual industry conference, becoming the largest community of reality capture professionals in the world.

RCN focuses on raising awareness and helping grow the adoption and implementation of reality capture technologies across all industries, with a significant focus on architecture, engineering, and construction.