XYZ Reality and UCL win Innovate UK KTP Grant to help transform hospital construction
London-based construction technology start-up XYZ Reality and 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.
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technologies both in design and build are crucial, as current approaches are time-consuming, ineffective, costly and out of date.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 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.”
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.
Quote from Grant Funder:
Mohan Ahad, Knowledge Transfer Advisor, Knowledge Transfer Network, 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.”
About XYZ Reality
XYZ Reality is the company behind HoloSite, the world’s first Engineering Grade Augmented Reality system. The company is on a mission to eliminate 2D in its entirety, empowering construction teams to Build it Right, First Time.
Purpose built for the construction sector, HoloSite enables site teams to view and position holograms of design models to millimetre accuracy. The AR hardhat solution is making a huge dent on the 77 percent of megaprojects that overrun globally. It has brought efficiency to the building process by eliminating errors, reducing rework and delivering on time.
The product has been deployed across complex mission critical projects in Europe, including data centres, airports and hospitals.
Named the UK’s third hottest startup and one of the Top 3 construction technology firms, XYZ Reality is committed to supporting the construction industry in developing technology to boost productivity and bring efficiency to the sector.