FARO Launches Augmented Reality App for Concrete Construction

FARO Technologies, a global leader in 4D digital reality solutions, recently released the FARO Flatness Check, the company’s first augmented reality app for the concrete industry that will enable the immediate visualization of floor flatness and floor levelness, ensuring pours are completed on schedule, improved quality of work, and the elimination of expensive rework typical in high-rise residential and office construction.

Flatness Check integrates with FARO Sphere, the company’s cloud-based and Software as a Service-enabled ecosystem and is compatible with several generations of laser scanners, including the new FARO Focus Premium Laser Scanner. Using an iPad, users can document and analyse the floor flatness and floor levelness of any concrete slab and share that data with additional project stakeholders. The app also enables foremen guiding field crews to identify out of tolerance areas within minutes and to fix those deviations while the concrete is still wet. This near real-time ability will ultimately cut costs for contractors and other involved parties as improved quality means less rework. With Flatness Check, schedules are adhered to and other trades can continue their work in a timely and efficient manner.

Capturing Scan Data into Analysis Algorithms

“Together with key customers serving as industry experts, FARO has created a unique quality control workflow for the concrete industry with the huge potential to reduce rework and costs,” said Alistair Wells, director of product management. “Flatness Check is the first of its kind, is embedded into the FARO Sphere ecosystem, and marks the beginning of what will be the rollout of additional construction quality control solutions. By helping the concrete industry prevent waste, reduce materials usage and speed time spent on-site, FARO is taking an important step in its ongoing corporate sustainability efforts to reduce carbon emissions and ensure greener, cleaner communities wherever FARO products are in use.”

What distinguishes Flatness Check most is its intuitive design and user interface. This allows excellent usability to capture scan data directly into the app’s analysis algorithms and to generate augmented reality heat maps of a concrete slab. Differentiated colours correspond to specific floor flatness and floor levelness deviations, and all that detail is readily viewable on a standard iPad. The app is fully compatible with Sphere and can trigger scan processing and registration, analysing all data collected from Focus Premium, M70, S70, S150 and S350 laser scanners.

“The ability to scan, analyse and view a floor analysis on the job site in augmented reality is a complete game changer,” said Ben Stocker, a construction technologist with Skender, a Chicago-based general contractor. “It’s a much more immersive experience for all parties consuming the data.”

Flatness Check is available for download now in the Apple App Store or through the Sphere portal.