Remote Support for Civil Engineering with AR: Real-time Assistance for Distant Construction Sites

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• What is AR Remote Assistance?

• Benefits of AR Remote Assistance

• Use Cases of AR Remote Assistance

• A Guide to Simple Surveying with LRTK

• Conclusion

• FAQ

Introduction

In recent years, digital transformation (DX) at construction and civil engineering sites has been accelerating, and among these developments, the use of AR (augmented reality) technology—commonly referred to as " AR civil engineering "—is attracting attention. In particular, in the field of remote assistance, where skilled technicians can support distant construction sites without traveling to them, AR technology holds great potential. On civil engineering construction sites facing chronic labor shortages and challenges in skill transfer, establishing an environment where support can be received remotely and in real time is extremely important for both productivity improvement and quality assurance. Furthermore, together with recent social circumstances (such as measures against infectious diseases), the demand for remote support technologies that obviate the need to dispatch personnel to sites has increased even further.

The construction DX initiative i-Construction (Ai-Construction) promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism also advocates the use of new technologies such as on-site remote attendance, and remote support using AR is a solution that is attracting attention within this trend.

In this article, we explain in detail the mechanisms and benefits of AR remote assistance, and introduce real-world use cases. Additionally, at the end of the article we touch on the solution LRTK, which enables simple surveying using AR technology, and propose the latest tools to drive DX at civil engineering sites.

What is AR Remote Assistance

AR remote assistance is a system that uses AR-enabled devices to provide real-time remote support for on-site work. A major feature is that, rather than simply sharing on-site footage, you can overlay digital instructional information (text, arrow icons, images, 3D models, etc.) on the shared footage. For example, a remote technician can view what the on-site worker is seeing and indicate with an arrow icon on the on-site footage, "Please retighten that," or move a 3D model while explaining, "This is how this structure will look in the future."

As devices for enabling AR remote assistance, in addition to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, head-mounted displays like smart glasses (AR glasses) are used. Smartphones and tablets are easy to adopt, but because one hand is occupied during work they are mainly effective for inspections and supervisory tasks. By contrast, eyeglass-style AR glasses leave the worker's hands free, allowing safe assistance even while handling tools. By using AR, unlike simple voice calls or video conferences, real-time support becomes possible with the sensation of "as if someone were right beside you," enabling smooth on-site response even from remote locations.

Benefits of AR Remote Assistance

Implementing AR remote assistance brings various benefits to operations at civil engineering and construction sites. Here, we'll outline the main effects from the perspectives of efficiency and quality and safety enhancement.

Benefits of Efficiency

• Reduced travel time: Remote assistance eliminates the need for skilled personnel to visit the site every time. Experts can monitor multiple sites from the office and give instructions instantly as needed, significantly reducing travel and waiting time. As a result, overall lead time for tasks is shortened, contributing to shorter project timelines and cost savings.

• Faster decision-making: When problems occur on site, workers can share the situation via AR and seek real-time advice. Because remote experts can provide immediate answers and judgments, on-the-spot adjustments and troubleshooting are possible. Accelerated decision-making also helps minimize work interruptions and rework.

• Optimization of human resources: One experienced technician can support multiple sites remotely, improving personnel allocation efficiency. Limited experts can be virtually deployed to the sites that need them when needed, helping alleviate labor shortages. Reducing the physical and mental burden of travel also helps maintain the productivity of experienced personnel.

• Improved emergency response capability: Even in the event of sudden accidents or malfunctions, experts can immediately instruct countermeasures from a remote location. Initial response can be carried out on the spot without waiting for on-site arrival, preventing the escalation of damage or impact and minimizing downtime.

Benefits of Improved Quality and Safety

• Uniformity of construction quality: Even less experienced workers can carry out tasks with near-veteran precision when remote experts guide procedures and key points in real time. As a result, variability in workmanship is reduced and consistent overall quality can be ensured.

• Reduction of mistakes and waste: Because work can proceed while confirming site conditions via AR, mistakes caused by "mishearing" or "assumptions" can be reduced. When instructions are visually shared on the spot, there are fewer misunderstandings, leading to early detection and correction of construction errors. This suppresses rework and material waste and contributes to preventing quality defects.

• Skills transfer and human resource development: Remote support is also effective as a setting for training new employees. When a novice worker is performing tasks on site, remote veterans can give step-by-step advice and tips, strongly supporting OJT (on-the-job training). Because trainees can learn veterans' know-how in real time at the site, this promotes the growth of younger workers and contributes to future technician development.

• Improved safety: Remote support via AR also delivers safety benefits. For example, highlighting hazardous zones or no-entry areas on the screen alerts workers and prevents accidental entry. For work around heavy machinery, remote supervisors can view AR footage to check for people in blind spots and issue immediate warnings. AR-guided work procedures are also expected to reduce errors caused by human mistakes or misunderstandings. Using smart glasses frees workers' hands so they do not need to look away during machine operation, enhancing safety. These measures raise on-site safety management standards and reduce accident risk.

Use Cases of AR Remote Assistance

In practice, the adoption of AR remote assistance is progressing in the civil engineering and construction sectors. Here are some concrete examples of how it is used on-site.

Sharing expert skills on-site via remote assistance: A major electrical equipment manufacturer offers an AR remote work support service that allows on-site workers’ views to be shared with remote specialists while issuing work instructions via voice and AR. Through cameras or smartphones worn by workers, experienced engineers at headquarters can send precise real-time advice. This makes advanced support possible without experts traveling to the site, contributing to improved work efficiency and accuracy. Also, because remote staff can closely understand on-site conditions, it helps not only reduce travel costs but also standardize work quality.

Improving efficiency in public works with remote on-site supervision: In Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, a demonstration experiment was conducted using AR glasses for remote support in supervising construction sites of public facilities. Through camera footage from eyeglass-type AR devices worn by on-site workers, remote supervisors can check construction progress while issuing instructions. In five demonstration trials, it was confirmed that performing supervision remotely reduced work time by an average of 1.4 hours per session (equivalent to a reduction of 425–638 hours annually). The AR glasses display text showing material part numbers and quantities, allowing workers to inspect delivered items while viewing that information, thereby streamlining tasks that previously took time on site. Because the eyeglass-type devices leave workers’ hands free during work, there are also major safety benefits, making this a good example of achieving both improved supervisory efficiency through remote presence and enhanced safety.

Remote support for heavy equipment operations: Construction equipment manufacturers are developing systems that incorporate AR to assist operators in operating heavy machinery on construction sites. The operator’s cab display or AR glasses show in real time the target excavation lines from the design drawings and the machine’s current position information, enabling remote managers to provide appropriate advice to operators. This allows less experienced operators to perform accurate excavation and embankment work without relying on intuition, contributing to waste reduction and stabilized quality. Furthermore, because the current positions and attitude information of heavy machinery are constantly visualized in AR, it also helps with layout planning and traffic flow management on large sites where multiple machines are operating. In this way, AR-based remote support is being increasingly used as a means to improve on-site work accuracy without increasing manpower.

In addition, AR technology is being utilized in various aspects of construction management. For example, during excavation work, visualizing the locations of underground buried objects (such as pipes) with AR helps prevent accidental damage; in slope works, design models and as-built conditions can be compared and checked on site; and in road works, the planned finished alignment can be projected onto the site to check the as-built condition—AR serves as a support tool throughout the site. There are also cases where a full-scale model of the finished image is projected on site and used to explain the project to nearby residents and clients, and the value of AR as a tool for building consensus and for public relations is drawing attention.

Promoting Simple Surveying with LRTK

As described above, AR technology greatly contributes to improving efficiency and quality in civil engineering construction, including remote assistance. However, when actually using AR on-site, there are challenges such as "how to align digital information with the real-world environment" and "whether special equipment is required." The solution attracting attention is the solution provided by our company, "LRTK".

LRTK (El-Arr-Tee-Kay) is a cloud service that lets you easily perform AR surveying and overlay design data just by attaching a compact, high-precision GNSS receiver to a smartphone or tablet. Conventional AR systems required marker placement and initial alignment calibration at each site, but LRTK utilizes satellite positioning (RTK-GNSS) so users can always determine their location with centimeter-level (cm; half-inch accuracy) accuracy, eliminating the need for cumbersome on-site alignment tasks. For example, if design drawings or BIM model data are uploaded to the cloud in advance, simply pointing a smartphone on site will display the design model in AR at actual size and at the correct coordinate positions. The simplicity that allows anyone, with one smartphone per person, to handle everything from simple surveying to AR-based construction verification is well supported on job sites.

In practice, LRTK has already begun to be used at many civil engineering and construction sites, and has received high praise such as "the time required for surveying was dramatically shortened" and "data sharing between the field and the office has become easier." It is the latest AR-enabled positioning tool that supports i-Construction (construction DX) promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and will serve as a powerful partner to achieve accurate and efficient construction management even with a small crew. If you are interested in simplified surveying with AR or the digitalization of construction management, please take a look at LRTK's detailed information and consider bringing a new "visualization" experience to your site.

Summary

The introduction of remote support using AR technology is bringing unprecedented transformation to civil engineering construction sites. By visualizing site conditions in real time even from remote locations and enabling immediate, appropriate decisions and instructions, work processes that relied on manpower and experience are being greatly streamlined. As seen in the case studies, concrete benefits have already been reported at many sites, including remote technical support, AR-assisted heavy equipment operations, and reduced labor for surveying and inspection tasks.

On the other hand, while mastering new technologies on-site requires prior preparation and data organization, in recent years easy-to-use AR solutions that combine smartphones, tablets, and cloud services have appeared, steadily lowering the barriers to adoption. With remote assistance, skilled workers are freed from the burden of travel and veteran expertise can be utilized for longer, raising expectations for workstyle reform. By incorporating AR remote support into your company's on-site operations, there is ample potential to supplement labor shortages, improve work efficiency, and ensure quality.

First, using the content and case studies presented in this article as a reference, please consider in your own workplace "what challenges can be solved with AR". It’s fine to start with small initiatives. Beginning to apply AR on the shop floor can provide an opportunity to take productivity and quality-control standards to the next level.

Finally, we also introduced LRTK as an example of a construction management tool that leverages AR technology. By adopting the right solution, you can maximize the efficiency and quality-improvement benefits of remote support. Put cutting-edge technology on your side at the site and bring new innovation to civil engineering construction.

FAQ

Q: How is remote assistance superior to phone or video calls? A: With AR remote assistance, you can overlay and share digital annotations and instructions directly on the on-site video, making it far easier to understand than explanations that are only verbal or video-based and less likely to cause misunderstandings. Because the field worker and the supporter can view the situation from the same perspective and visually indicate points, the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" applies, improving the accuracy and speed of instruction delivery. A major advantage is that, even from a remote location, you can receive smooth support as if someone were standing next to you on site and guiding you.

Q: What equipment and preparations are needed to use AR remote assistance on a construction site? A: Basically, you can get started with Internet-connected smartphones or tablets and other AR-compatible devices, plus a dedicated app for remote assistance (or a cloud service). By preparing site drawings and 3D models and registering them in the app, you can also display design information on the shared video feed. If you need more precise alignment, consider using a GNSS receiver mounted on the tablet or AR glasses. It's recommended to start with common mobile devices and gradually expand your equipment.

Q: Does introducing AR remote assistance incur costs? Is it cost-effective? A: Implementation costs vary case by case, but in recent years it has become possible to start remote assistance at relatively low cost by leveraging general-purpose smartphone apps and cloud services. Even when procuring dedicated, high-performance equipment, the barrier to adoption is lower than with traditional large surveying instruments or specialized systems. Above all, remote assistance has demonstrated benefits such as reduced travel time and fewer rework due to mistakes, which shortens project schedules, so the cost advantages from lower labor costs and prevention of quality defects are substantial. Because it can be effective even on small sites, overall you can reasonably expect it to be cost-effective.

Q: Can the use of AR also help improve on-site safety? A: Yes, AR remote assistance also contributes to safety management. For example, highlighting hazardous areas or no-entry zones with AR to alert workers can prevent accidental entry. For work around heavy machinery, remote supervisors can check via AR footage for people in blind spots and issue immediate warnings. AR-guided work procedures can also be expected to reduce mistakes caused by human error or misunderstandings. In safety training, AR simulations can be used to virtually experience hazardous tasks and enhance hazard prediction training. In this way, implementing AR contributes greatly not only to efficiency and quality but also to improvements in safety.

Q: What is the difference between VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality)? Which is better suited for remote support in the construction industry? A: VR is a technology in which you wear a goggle-type device and are fully immersed in a completely virtual space to carry out work or training. On the other hand, AR is a technology that overlays digital information onto real-world scenes, allowing you to view the actual site and data simultaneously. For on-site support in construction and civil engineering, because it is necessary to check and work within the actual working environment, it can be said that AR is often more suitable. With AR you can consult drawings while observing the site and give instructions or perform checks on the spot. VR is useful for simulating construction plans and experiencing the finished image in advance, but for the purpose of supporting on-site work through "remote support," AR—which can be fused with the real scene—will likely take the lead.