Towards Remote Construction Site Analysis: From Laser Point Clouds to Virtual Reality Applications

Abstract

Efficient construction monitoring and project visualization are vital in civil engineering: they promote safety, minimize costs, and ensure adherence to design plans. With advances in reality capture techniques, such as LiDAR, point clouds have emerged as a powerful tool for digitizing largescale scenes with excellent accuracy. However, the challenges of processing and visualizing large-scale point cloud data remain significant, particularly for applications in horizontal infrastructure projects. In this case study, a point cloudbased digital reconstruction of an interchange conversion project was developed to aid in defining best practices for data processing of large-scale point clouds and to develop novel digital tools to enable remote construction site inspection and analysis. The obtained models are leveraged to provide insights on three advanced methodologies for data exploration: (1) desktop interfaces for accessible remote monitoring, (2) holographic interfaces for collaborative visualization, and (3) immersive virtual environments for enhanced interaction and simulation. These three methods are compared for accessibility, opportunity, and their potential to improve decision-making and project outcomes in construction monitoring and analysis.