Buildots supplies construction helmets that chart construction workers’ progress

The AI-driven overview dashboard from the Israeli company Buildots helps project leaders to get a better understanding of a construction process more quickly. Buildots’ marketeer Dori Raveh explains it in more detail.

What is Buildots? 

“By bringing together AI technology and wearable hardware, we are creating technology that can intelligently digitalize a building construction process. This helps to optimize processes, minimize delays and avoid budget overruns. We supply helmets that have a 360 camera attached to them. The images taken are converted with the help of AI into useful data for a dashboard.”

Also interesting: 2050 Materials aims to reduce CO2 emissions from the construction industry via online platform

What is it that makes you unique in what you do?

“There are plenty of other companies offering 360 camera solutions. What makes us unique is the way we process this information. A project manager walks around the site with the camera helmet that records everything. The collected images are sent to our platform. This is our unique selling point. On the basis of the 360 images, the platform collects thousands of data points and translates them into a virtual ‘control room’. We use AI technology to make a comparison between the data points and the original construction schedule; how far have they progressed? What still needs to be done? Thanks to this comparison, you can fine-tune the process and boost productivity.”

Is there a demand for your construction helmets and overview dashboard?

“We have had multiple customers so far, spread over twelve different countries including the United States, Germany and Hong Kong. In some countries, such as the United States, it was initially a one-off project. That American property developer has now also signed up with us for new projects. The United States is a country with great deal of potential. There are so many construction companies there. This also applies to Asia. We are really on the brink of a major expansion. That is also an important focus point for us at the moment – growing sales. And, of course, to make the product more user-friendly and accessible with other options such as more languages. Our goal is to become bigger, not richer.”

How much does your product cost? 

“I can’t make any concrete statements about this. We only supply to companies that have a minimum of 7000 m² of construction ground on which to build 150 residential units. In the end, how much it costs such a company is dependent on several variables, such as how many photos they take and how many times a week they convert those photos into data. If you compare us to other companies providing solutions with 360 cameras we are expensive, but we are delivering more than that, of course. Any project that is residential or commercial with a good degree of BIM is interesting enough to be looked into.”

What does the future look like for Buildots?

“There are, as I mentioned earlier, some areas where we would like to expand. Both technologically and geographically. There are other opportunities that we are exploring right now. We are not yet involved in all phases of the construction process. That is what we want to work towards. The focus now is on wrapping up the construction process, but a lot happens before that. Take, for example, excavations, safety and the welfare of the construction workers.”