b'Ekso Bionics powered exosuit can reduce fatigue and strainQ4 Tech Report:Wearable Technology in Constructionby Jeff RubenstoneProduct News EditorReprinted with permissionEngineering News Record Magazine2016. All Rights Reserved BNP MediaT he future of wearable technology forDaqri helmet also may aid construction workersPoint Positioning has been using GPS-enabled the construction industry conjures upon the jobsite. But with a price tag a fewsafety vests to track worker locations across images of workers covered in clunkyhundreds dollars above an ordinary hardhats, itcrowded jobsites (ENR 10/19 p. 53). When machineryhydraulically powered exosuitsremains a premium item. working within multiplying the wearers strength, while gleamingStill, major construction-equipmenta geofenced visors with information-dense heads-up displaysmanufacturers expect these technologies tojobsite, workers block their vision. But companies looking toarrive in the industry in the near future. Werecan be located bring more wearable tech to the jobsite arelooking at all sorts of wearables, mixed reality,to within 8 in. focusing on getting their innovations intogeofencing, collision-detection systems, saysof precision.workers existing gear to boost adoption. As aGeorge Taylor, a vice president at Caterpillar Inc.Skanska USA result, in the near future, construction workersLike the Daqri helmetwith that visor thatran trials of the may find that common assets, such as hardhats,can display an overlay of information mappedRed Point worker-location system on a Boston safety vests and even the tools they carry, areto what youre seeing[theres a] lot of potentialproject, and the results impressed Tony Colonna, being infused with new capabilities. for things like that. senior vice president at the firm. We see that The Smart Hardhat While Caterpillar has yet to unveil its owna GPS-type positioning system can monitor Packing advanced technology into thewearable tech, Taylor thinks AR may changepeople relative to equipment or keep [them] out standard hardhat is the goal of California-basedhow users work with equipment. Unlikeof danger zones, Colonna told ENR. You can firm Daqri. The firms Smart Helmet looks asa virtual-reality [VR] system, mixed realityhave real-time feedback and know how much if it were a traditional hardhat but features aallows someone to be in their environment. [It]real manpower is being delivered to different clear visor that can display 3D visual overlayssuperimposes information, so they know what tosites on the construction site.in the wearers field of view. It also featurestouch and how to perform tasks, he says. JustTightly controlled, sensor-laden jobsites a 360 wireless camera, allowing a full viewthink about a technicians productivity: If youcan be made to work with wearables, but what of the workerscan improve it by 10%and we think of thatabout a construction setting thats a bit more surroundings. Thefigure across our dealer networkthe amount ofchaotic, such as a busy highway project? Tom system is capablerelief that would give us is substantial. BecauseMartin, a Virginia Tech electrical and computer of a form ofits hard to find good technicians. engineering professor, saw a chance to improve augmented realityBuilding a Safer Safety Vest road-crew worker safety when the university (AR), also calledundertook a study of semi-autonomous vehicles mixed reality,Getting wearable tech into constructionwith the Virginia Dept. of Transportation.in which imagesworkers existing wardrobe is easier thanDedicated short-range communication can be made toconvincing them to put on another bit of gear.(DSRC) systems allow newer vehicles to appear dynamicallySafety vests are commonplace on jobsites, andcommunicate with each other via radio signals. on surfaces in the surrounding environment.technology firms are looking to bake theirThese systems are expected to form the backbone Designed primarily for industrial work, theinnovations into standard gear. For example, Red 22 www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer'