It’s not just building methods that have had to move with the times. Anyone pursuing a career in a trade must keep up with the latest innovations.
Thankfully, many of them are downright good fun!
Now see here!
Augmented reality technology is not new in the gaming world but it’s seldom been seen on construction sites . . . that is until now. Manufacturers are keen to explore the possibilities of safety goggles that project digital images and information over real-life scenes.
If you’re an architect, project manager or engineer, this opens up the possibility of viewing plans or instruction manuals in your goggles with your hands free to carry on working.
Especially helpful if you’ve just climbed ladders to the sixth storey and left your folder at ground level.
Smart shirt
For some reason plaid shirts have become the uniform on building sites all over the world. Everyone from labourers to bricklayers to plumbers seems to like kitting out as a lumberjack.
All that’s about to change with the age of ‘smart shirts’.
Yes, an American manufacturer has created shirts with sensors that can gauge the wearer’s heart rate and body biometrics and send the information to smartphones or tablets. Currently being tested on construction workers, it’s hoped the technology will improve on-site health and safety by alerting to the danger of common ailments such as dehydration or heatstroke in the summer.
Best feet forward
They say you can tell a lot about someone from their feet – which is why all the best spies wear extra-thick socks. In many trades, steel toe capped boots are normally the order of the day. But these are about to step into the digital age.
A company called Digitsole is now marketing an insole with a sensor. This is linked to a smartphone that can help detect whether a worker is tired or in pain.
The shoe immediately sends a message to the site manager. The sensors can even set the temperature, which will be welcome on cold winter mornings in the UK.
Get with the programme
In days gone by, for admin work and appointments, tradespeople had to rely on scraps of paper in their dungarees pocket and a stubby pencil often left forgotten behind one ear.
Today there is a growing number of smartphones apps that have been designed specifically to keep electricians, plumbers and joiners fully up to speed with their virtual paperwork.
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