London-based construction technology start-up, XYZ Reality, and University College London (UCL), have been awarded a government grant to develop XYZ Reality’s augmented reality solution into the construction of UK hospitals. The grant has been awarded by UKRI through an Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).
Founded in 2017, XYZ Reality developed Engineering-Grade AR to tackle some of the most pervasive and costly issues facing the construction industry. Its technology uniquely enables users to view hyperscale BIM models on-site in real-time and to millimeter accuracy, making it particularly beneficial for projects with complex MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) services, such as hospitals or data centres. The company is on a mission to eliminate 2D in its entirety, empowering construction teams to Build it Right, First Time. XYZ Reality is the company behind HoloSite, the world’s first Engineering Grade Augmented Reality system.
Significant accuracy and efficacy savings have been strongly evidenced through hyperscale data centre adoption. Overall construction sector benefits through technology-enabled transformation are expected to be phenomenal locally, nationally and internationally.
In 2019, the government announced the Hospital Infrastructure Plan, a five-year programme of investment in health infrastructure, including building 40 new hospitals, which will deliver world-class facilities to meet the changing needs and rising demands facing the NHS. This programme will rely on innovation to be successful, in particular, the adoption of new technologies both in design and build are crucial, as current approaches are time-consuming, ineffective, costly and out of date.
This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) will be delivered in partnership with UCL’s world-leading Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction and Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), with support from UCL Innovation & Enterprise. It will examine how Engineering-Grade Augmented Reality (AR) can help to bring infamously complex construction projects in on-time and on-budget, using hospitals as case studies. Case studies will feed into XYZ Reality’s overarching aim to enable transformation in the construction sector through the demonstration of benefits, such as improving productivity and efficiency, reducing waste and developing sustainable approaches.
Dr Grant Mills, Faculty Lead for Health and Associate Professor, said: “Hospitals are complex construction environments because of the sheer range of MEP services involved. This often leads to clashes and errors in the build phase, and the need for expensive and time-consuming re-work.”
Prof Duncan Wilson, Professor of Connected Environments in UCL Bartlett CASA, added: “This KTP grant offers us an important opportunity to understand how AR can help different users interact digitally with the environment in novel ways, and by doing so improve productivity, and deliver time and cost savings.”
XYZ Reality’s founder and CEO David Mitchell said: “We’re thrilled to have been selected for the KTP grant and delighted at partnering with UCL on this project. Our Engineering- Grade AR technology is already being deployed on construction projects with the same levels of complexity as hospital builds, and I’m pleased to say that it is generating significant time and cost savings.”
David continues: I’m passionate about supporting the NHS, so I’m glad that this research will enable us to fully understand the benefits that our technology can offer these specific projects, and help those constructing UK hospitals to build it right, first time.”
Mohan Ahad, Knowledge Transfer Adviser at KTN – one of the delivery partners for the KTP Programme – shares: “This is a very exciting project, which will demonstrate how Augmented Reality can reduce waste and increase productivity in the construction sector. I look forward to working with XYZ and UCL on this transformative concept.”
Natalie Gough, Programme Manager – Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, UCL Innovation & Enterprise, said: “KTP is the best mechanism for XYZ Reality to work closely with leading UCL expertise. It will enable them to understand how to adapt and validate use of AR technology in hospital projects, and to establish an internal intelligence function. It’s a chance to really understand the potential of this technology to reduce waste and increase productivity. It will also help transform the construction sector, and for an exciting start-up to feed into the evidence base and government priorities.”
For more information on XYZ Reality, please visit www.xyzreality.com.
For more information, please contact Claire Quinton-Tulloch on claire@transatlanticent.com or +44(0)7989419827.
This partnership received funding from Innovate UK.
Funding competitions for KTP and Management KTP are open throughout the year. More information here.
For more about KTP at UCL: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/enterprise/businesses/grow-your-business-through-knowledge-transfer-partnership-ktp
For more about KTP in general: https://www.ktp-uk.org/
Visit the latest KTP Associate jobs, see here.
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