{"id":24394,"date":"2024-01-15T03:58:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T11:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/contemporary-supersensing-discussing-client-led-implementation-with-danielle-dy-buncio\/"},"modified":"2024-01-15T03:58:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T11:58:47","slug":"contemporary-supersensing-discussing-client-led-implementation-with-danielle-dy-buncio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/contemporary-supersensing-discussing-client-led-implementation-with-danielle-dy-buncio\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemporary Supersensing: Discussing Client-Led Implementation with Danielle Dy Buncio"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Digital innovation offers us unparalleled choice when it comes to realizing client goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But finding the right approach is still as challenging as ever.<\/p>\n

The modern built environment is increasingly defined by digital innovation. This includes sensor technologies, digital integration, and other tools gathered under the growing potential of BIM. However, when it comes to implementing practical solutions for clients in real-world environments, securing deliverable, fit-for-purpose innovation can be difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But far from impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founding the Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The pursuit of digital innovation lies at the heart of the teams at\u00a0VIATechnik<\/a>. Founded in 2012 by Danielle Dy Buncio and her husband Anton, the company supports its clients through a combination of VDC, BIM, VR, and AR technologies and \u2013 to date \u2013 has supported more than 2,000 projects across the globe, including projects with Tesla and Apple.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI started my career as a civil engineer and graduated from Stanford,\u201d says Dy Buncio. \u201cI consider myself lucky in that regard as a\u00a0lot\u00a0<\/em>of innovation and technology crept into the civil engineering program.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After graduation, Dy Buncio found herself working in Silicon Valley, Sydney, Australia, and in the Chicago area, covering building and infrastructure. This learning was carried through to her later work with VIATechnik, which was founded under a commitment to using digital technologies to streamline client engagement and communication, and encourage digital transformation for a better built environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work across the industry \u2013 from design to construction, to operations, and across stakeholder groups,\u201d she says. \u201cThat includes owners, real estate developers, construction firms, design firms, through to material fabricators and suppliers. This lets us take in the full breadth of the industry and see what\u2019s working, what\u2019s not, and help our clients pursue innovation and push the needle forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seizing Supersensing<\/h2>\n

As with all practitioners, sensor technology plays a key role in her daily practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about it as the integration of the digital and the human,\u201d she says. \u201cWe follow the idea that \u2013 as humans \u2013 we can use technology to augment our capabilities, and that\u00a0fundamentally<\/em>\u00a0changes the way we interact with the built environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her work with VIATechnik, this means using VR and AR solutions to add to human sensory perception and processing power. The combination of bespoke software and headsets allows clients to enter an environment where VR offers a more effective solution space than conventional reality, supporting stakeholder engagement and fostering innovative approaches to problem-solving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been interesting for me to see my clients experience technological augmentations and interact with the systems.,\u201d she says. \u201cFor example, when I draw in the real world, I\u2019m still drawing in 2D, on a flat piece of paper. But when I use my virtual reality headset, I\u2019m able to draw in three dimensions. So, there\u2019s this simple aspect of adding that technological layer on top of conventional sensing that allows me to do something that they\u2019re not typically doing in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dy Buncio, this combination of sensing and interacting with the built environment directly feeds into BIM best practices and allows for accurate, innovative project modeling. In many cases, this includes the capacity to feed in project data and \u2018fast forward\u2019 to see how a potential build will resolve in the coming months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But forecasting is only one of the benefits available to adopters, especially when it comes to the integration of live sensor data to validate, predict, and respond to project demands.<\/p>\n

Expanding Opportunity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For Dy Buncio and her team, sensor technologies are becoming an active part of their multi-strand process that helps drive change and improvements at all levels of business, especially when it comes to issue resolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we navigate through the world, we use our senses to understand what to do and how to make decisions,\u201d says Dy Buncio. \u201cIn this case, technology provides this additional level of insight that expands those senses and allows our learning to tackle challenges. So, anything that can provide us with a new source of data becomes an interesting prospect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ability to add live data sources and feeds from sensor technology allows for additional levels of depth and insight\u2014a tempting proposition, even to the historically conservative building industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, it can be a hard sell. But I find that the construction industry, individuals, and companies within the sector are moving a mile a minute,\u201d she says. \u201cConstruction projects are fast-paced. There\u2019s a lot of complex moving parts, and it\u2019s hard to slow down and start to understand what technology like sensors can do for you. But when you integrate those data sources, analyze what that data is telling us, and start viewing it in new ways\u2026 you\u2019ve unlocked an enormous lot of opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While capturing data may be easier than ever before, applying best practices to draw out insights is still a significant challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Processes and Problem Solving<\/h2>\n

Squaring technology\u2019s ability to unlock opportunity with our capacity to implement it correctly brings a wealth of challenges. The lure of digital solutions can result in practitioners putting the cart before the horse and focusing on the tool over the issue that it is meant to address.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to approach it from a problem-solving perspective and keep clients rooted in the reality of today, with an eye towards the opportunities clients want to grasp.\u201d Dy Buncio says. \u201cThis can end up with our team highlighting the ability for sensors, plus additional technologies, to unlock opportunities and solve problems. But we really need to start having those conversations, the right way, at all levels of the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

This helps add value throughout the production lifecycle. For VIATechnik, this means empowering clients to make \u201chigh velocity, high quality decisions\u201d through data insights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But those decisions are hard to capture when it comes to Covid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Integration and Covid<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The disruption and threat of Covid continues to be a long-term hazard for the sector. But it has thrown up a rare opportunity to learn more about operating in demanding environments, and the nature of contemporary tech implementation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re all looking forward to this post-Covid environment. But one key takeaway for us is that we actually can conduct deployments much faster than we thought,\u201d Dy Buncio says. \u201cIn some situations, cloud-based technology rolled out in a week instead of a year and a half. That showed us that we could move faster when there was an impetus to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, contemporary sensor tech allows teams to secure extensive data capture. The strategic deployment of sensors allows for creating feedback loops, as seen through recent efforts from\u00a0Boston Dynamics and Trimble Inc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the process does require a coordinated approach to integration. While acquiring information is one issue, understanding and actioning decisions is another question entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs creators of the built environment, we actually are tasked with predicting the future. But here and now is really where the insights and action come from,\u201d says Dy Buncio. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily one piece of technology we\u2019re recommending to everybody, or one set of workflows. It\u2019s the thought process, the framework, that we bring to our clients. We need to start thinking differently as we integrate our virtual design and construction experiences. Let\u2019s make a new plan because better plans lead to better execution. And forthcoming change and challenges mean that we\u2019re going to need them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Danielle Dy Buncio will be speaking at WDBE 2021 on September 28, 2021. You can\u00a0r<\/a>eview the summit program<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0register for the event<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0WDBE.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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