Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are becoming increasingly popular in various industries, and the introduction of ChatGDP has certainly opened people’s eyes to the possibilities that AI can offer. However, AI is not just about generating text or graphics – it can be used in a variety of settings.
The construction industry is no exception, and we are just beginning to discover the potential of AI in the field of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC).
In this article, I want to show you seven interesting AI tools that have the potential to revolutionize the way we work in the AEC industry.
Imerso - Monitoring As-build construction status
Link – https://www.imerso.com/
Imerso is an AI-driven construction risk management app. It is a platform that monitors the As Built status of your building projects against the BIM execution plan
Imerso can be used for many different purposes, but the main ones are:
- It has the fastest and simplest 3D scanning workflow on the market, allowing your teams to capture As-Built documentation at every stage of the project with the press of a button and completely independently.
- Visualize BIM and the As-Built reality from anywhere, right on your browser,
- Check the status and verify completed works at every stage of your project,
Thanks to Imerso, we can:
- Achieve construction cost savings of 2%
- Reduce construction design management time
- Save money
- Identify costly errors before they occur
Aurivus - Scan To BIM
Link: https://aurivus.com/
Aurivus is a scanning application that provides an easy and fast way to go from Scan-to-BIM. One of its main features is that it uses AI to find objects in 3D laser scans of buildings, facilities, and plants, which makes modeling easier, faster, and more cost-effective.
It automatically adjusts the views in every perspective to allow you to focus on modeling. The application works with Revit as a plugin, making it a useful addition to any BIM workflow.
Aurivus offers several advantages, including
- an intuitive and simple user interface that reduces learning time and increases motivation for modelers.
- It also saves 50% of modeling time and is two times faster than traditional modeling methods, resulting in less manual work, lower recruitment costs, and higher productivity.
- Additionally, Aurivus allows for extremely fast calculations, making it a valuable addition to any BIM workflow.
ArkDesign - Schematic Architecture Design
Link – https://arkdesign.ai/
ArkDesign is an AI platform for creating architectural schematic designs. Its goal is to generate optimized building designs instantly, allowing architects to make better and faster decisions.
From concept to construction, it helps design the most profitable configurations by optimizing for density and profitability.
The main feature of this AI tool is the generation of optimized floor plans in a fast and efficient manner. It also offers advantages such as:
- the incorporation of local building codes and ordinances,
- integration with other tools,
- maximization of the salable area and number of units, and automation of manual work.
Autodesk Forma (formarly Spacemaker.ai) - Early stage planning and design
Autodesk Forma, formerly known as Spacemaker.ai, is a cloud-based software for early-stage planning and design that allows architects, urban planners, and developers to generate and explore multiple design options, taking into account various constraints and objectives.
It’s main features:
Site Analysis: Forma provides in-depth site analysis, considering factors like solar exposure, wind impact, traffic patterns, and more. This analysis helps designers understand the potential of a site and informs their design decisions.
Automated Design Generation: The platform uses artificial intelligence to generate a wide range of design options based on input parameters and constraints. This feature helps users explore creative design solutions quickly.
Collaboration: Forma facilitates collaboration among team members by allowing them to work together on a shared platform. This real-time collaboration improves communication and decision-making.
Visualizations: The platform offers 3D visualizations of design options, helping stakeholders better understand the spatial qualities of the proposed solutions.
Autodesk Forma offers several advantages, including better decision support with real-time analytics, reduction in time taken to develop full concept design, and the ability to model complex design concepts in full 3D in just minutes.
Additionally, Forma allows designers to connect their favorite design tools through extensions, making it a versatile addition to any BIM workflow.
Blackshark - AI-powered solutions for geospatial and satellite data analysis
Link – blackshark.ai
Blackshark – is a geospatial platform that extracts insights about the planet’s infrastructure from current satellite and aerial imagery via machine learning at a global scale.
Missing attributes are enriched by AI to provide a photorealistic, geo-typical, or asset-specific digital twin. Results can be used for visualization, simulation, mapping, mixed reality environments, and other enterprise solutions. The massive cloud-computing capability enables rapid updates at any time.
Blackshark’s scale platform turns current satellite, aerial and geospatial data into a semantic, machine-readable database and photorealistic synthetic 3D environments for simulation, visualization, and wider industrial and enterprise applications.
Blackshark.ai’s sophisticated, AI-based service – called Orca – detects objects and extracts attributes about buildings, vegetation, roads, infrastructure, or other features of your interest.
Naska.ai - Reality capture on construction powered with AI
Link – naska.ai
Naska.AI is an AI Construction Software platform that connects BIM data, reality capture, and the schedule to reinvent how developers, owner-operators, and general contractors track project quality and progress.
Naska is a cloud-based platform that automatically compares on-site data against the project BIM model and schedule, delivering high-quality information to reduce risk and uncertainty in project delivery.
It’s main advanteges are:
- Automatic quality and progress tracking – Check the automatically generated quality reports and documentation of your project.
- Improve coordination among site teams – Manage sites from anywhere and make critical decisions quickly.
- Prevent unnecessary expenses – reduce re-work by detecting costly errors on time, slash litigation costs and have objective evidence to resolve potential claims.
Smartbarrel - The most accurate time clock in construction empowered by AI
Link – https://smartbarrel.io/
The main goal of SmartBarrel is to completely automate time tracking and guarantee 100% accuracy on the construction site.
It takes control of the field with a single, simple construction time tracking app.
SmartBarrel in a nutshell:
- Gives you everything you need to automate timesheets and daily logs, monitor your workers in real-time, and stay on top of job productivity.
- Bring 100% accurate time tracking to any jobsite. – Portable, rugged, and solar-powered, It’s time clock uses advanced biometric facial verification to ensure 100% accurate timesheets.
- SmartBarrel’s construction daily log software automates your reporting and saves you hours every week
- SmartBarrel’s construction site PPE tracking feature enables you to track and display whether workers are wearing their personal protective equipment and masks.
- Reduce risk with SmartBarrel’s construction safety feature through detailed and automatically updated construction incident reports
To sum up
The AEC industry is in need of innovative solutions to increase efficiency in our still largely analog field. While there are many AI tools available on the market, the ones presented in this article are just the tip of the iceberg.
Undoubtedly, in the coming years, designers, architects, and engineers will increasingly turn to AI tools. As we are still in the early stages of AI development, I am incredibly curious about what the next decade will bring.
What about you? Which AI tools do you use? Share in the comments below!
