doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S1-C26-cd


Improved Crew Productivity, Communication, Safety and Quality via “Virtual Supervision”


Lahiru P. Silva and Janaka Y. Ruwanpura

Project Management Specialization, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

ABSTRACT

Information and communication chaos is a common phenomenon in the construction industry which has been discussed by many scholars in the past. Supervision staff plays a major role in technical communication in the construction site environment. Better utilization of supervision time is a key factor to improve communication, productivity, quality and safety. The University of Calgary’s productivity improvement research team developed and pilot tested a novel concept called the “i-Booth ©”. Popularity of remotely accessible cameras within the construction industry increased considerably in the last few years. Optimized deployment of those cameras with the “i-Booth © ” rise the term “Virtual Supervision”. The Construction Monitoring and Visualization Center (CMVC) serves as the nerve center of the “Virtual Supervision” system. The focus of the “Virtual Supervision” systemis to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, communication, and worker satisfaction. High resolution cameras connected to CMVC with real-time data transmission is expected to improve integration between the stakeholders and the quality of site supervision. In addition to the research contributions, real-time video streams and archived video facilities will be utilized to enhance the capacity building of construction personnel in the areas of constructability, construction technology and construction productivity. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and analysis of research of the integrated “Virtual Supervision” system by measuring and assessing construction productivity and worker and communication.

Keywords: Construction productivity, Virtual supervision, Construction visualization, Supervision, Engineering education.



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