One of the more subtle but exciting parts of covering the technology industry is watching concepts go from a buzzy, exciting possibility – yet still intangible – to becoming a real-world value. Of course, there are plenty of instances in which that step is never taken, which is why at least some healthy skepticism around new ideas is generally warranted, but there are plenty of concepts whose tangible value becomes inarguable. Around the AEC industry specifically, there have long been huge promises made to transform one of the oldest industries on the planet, sometimes with suboptimal results. That said, today we’re starting to see a few different tools and concepts that were once just buzzwords gaining traction in the industry.
It’s this idea that is at the center of today’s look at stories from friends around the industry covering the AEC space. There are a number of different kinds of tools, and some concepts that are being combined, to transform a variety of work types today. First up, we have a look at the strides being made with NVIDIA’s Omniverse and how that idea has transformed up to today. Then, we look at two concepts that have been around for some time in BIM and GIS, now bringing them together. And then finally, of course, AI is the idea which most embodies this idea of buzzy to tangible results, at least in some instances. Find the full articles below.
NVIDIA Omniverse spreads its wings
Greg Corke | AEC Magazine
In large part thanks to the current AI boom being experienced by every industry, NVIDIA has emerged as one of the world’s most valuable companies. Their chips, which help provide compute power for these generative AI algorithms, are at the center of that valuation, but there are other big pieces of their company portfolio, including Omniverse. The physically realistic 3D visualization and simulation platform has become incredibly valuable for a number of enterprise use cases, and some recent developments have only added to that value. In this article, Corke outlines some of the ways that Omniverse has become such a valuable tool for AEC firms.
Connecting BIM and GIS: The New Reality of Environmental Projects
Pal Porkolab | Autodesk
Both BIM and GIS are digitally-based tools, but they certainly don’t feel as futuristic as some of the other things we talk about at Geo Week News, and the other technologies featured in this article. However, they are extremely valuable and becoming effectively mandatory in some use cases, particularly around environmental sustainability. This article goes in depth around how these tools are both similar and different, and how they can interact for better workflows.
AI at the Grid
Laura Black | Connected World
AI is at the center of nearly every tech-adjacent conversation in any industry, and different sectors have different ways of using it. This article looks specifically at the inspection and monitoring of grid infrastructure, an extremely important space given our reliance on energy and electricity for our day-to-day work along with the aging of many of these spaces. It’s important to monitor these as frequently and accurately as possible, which AI is able to do by analyzing large amounts of imagery taken around these sites. Black’s article delves into some of these advantages.
