Time Magazine Highlights Innovative Construction Tech

Brief 

Time magazine’s list of the year’s best inventions includes technology from Exodigo that allows construction crews to identify subsurface objects without excavation. Other construction-related technologies on the list include Icon’s House Zero, which features a high-strength concrete wall system.

Insight

Holograms of buildings that can be viewed via augmented reality headsets, drones that can be controlled from a joystick on a tablet and forklifts that can be operated from thousands of miles away are just a few of the innovations on Time magazine’s 200 Best Inventions of 2022 list that could help solve some of the biggest productivity obstacles facing the construction industry.

Time has been compiling lists of the year’s 100 best inventions for more than 20 years. This year, in a sign of how quickly tech is transforming many sectors, Time’s editors doubled that list for the first time ever.

Though not every invention on the list is tech-related, many of the breakthrough innovations are powered by artificial intelligence, augmented reality and robotics — and a handful of them could prove revolutionary for the construction industry.Here are six of the most construction-focused innovations that made the list.

Exodigo subsurface mapping platform

Exodigo’s “non-intrusive” platform lets construction crews see what’s underneath a site without the need for costly, time-consuming drilling and excavation and reducing the risk of redesigns. Exodigo’s platform applies artificial intelligence to data collected using sensors carried by small carts and drones to produce detailed 3D subsurface maps that reveal underground utilities and other subterranean surprises.

Magic Leap 2

No longer the domain of science fiction, holograms are entering the mainstream — and they could transform preconstruction. Contractors and designers can now beam up aligned,

interactive holograms of large buildings using the Magic Leap 2, an augmented reality headset that runs customized enterprise solutions at scale. When powered by Argyle software, Magic Leap 2 provides one-click BIM updates for real-time site visualization and quality assurance.