An Overview of State-of-the-Art Technologies for Data-Driven Construction

Abstract

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) community has been implementing actions that address the significant productivity and efficiency problems that are common in on-site construction. In spite of the many advantages of introducing emerging technologies, the industry continues to rely on hard copy documents. However, the recent advent of new technologies such as AI, Blockchain, IoT, and 5G-communication is leading the built environment into a modern data-driven environment. This data-driven environment can be described as having five phases based on the data utilization criteria: data acquisition, data highway (mobile), data security, data analysis, and data realization. The AEC community can apply IoT, 3D laser scanning, and drones to the data acquisition phase. These technologies can provide the AEC community with fast, affordable, and robust data collecting methodologies. 5G-communications technologies can allow participants to communicate enormous quantities of data in seconds among the various stakeholders. Blockchain enables the AEC industry to share, secure, and store data in distributed ledgers, establishing transparency, immutability, traceability, and decentralization. It also utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms for data analysis. AI and ML analyze big data collected from the acquisition phase and give a prediction about models or improve decision making by clustering or categorizing data. Finally, by introducing speech recognition technology, virtual and augmented reality, the designer can provide customers with a customer-centered environment. This study presents an overview of state-of-the-art technologies for data-driven environments, use cases, and the impacts of these technologies on the AEC industry productivity and efficiency.