With the rise of the metaverse, more engineers are seeking ways to take advantage of new technologies to enhance their workflows and improve productivity. New visualization and virtual reality (VR) tools are available, but how can we make the most of them? This class will delve into the newest VR and visualization tools to explain how they can be used to enhance workflows within infrastructure projects for rail, highways, and bridge structures—and get the whole team onboard with your project proposals. During this class there will also be an opportunity to experience these projects using a VR headset.

Extended reality (XR) is gaining traction in the enterprise sector for finding new ways to solve old problems through improved workflows that capitalize on spatial understanding. However, deploying XR hardware in large organizations can be complex and challenging. This session will provide you with a comprehensive overview of best practices for deploying XR hardware in enterprise companies. We'll begin by discussing XR hardware and its applications in the enterprise sector, including the various VR headsets available today and key considerations for selecting the right hardware for your company. From there, we'll move on to deployment and installation, covering best practices for addressing common security and IT concerns, mobile device management, and managing hardware logistics and testing. To conclude, we'll address common adoption challenges and the importance of employee training and support, arming you with the knowledge to bring XR to your company.

Virtual reality (VR) is often used as a tool to present a visualization of the final situation to a project team or the client. Within Dura Vermeer, however, VR is also used in another way: to hold virtual safety sessions. After all, in VR it is actually possible to "experience" an unsafe situation on the construction site. Based on the 4D model—which includes equipment, temporary situations, safety zones, and work zones—an export is made to VR. The foreperson and safety personnel use this VR model during a virtual safety session to investigate whether the project can be built safely. During this industry talk, we'll take you through Dura Vermeer's current processes for creating a VR model, and show you how we use VR to test whether we can construct a project safely. In addition, Dura Vermeer will be joined by a representative of Autodesk's XR team to discuss how Autodesk Workshop XR software is streamlining workflows and advancing this use case on active projects.

This topic was nominated as the focal topic for Autodesk CEO's investor relations AEC Q1 earnings call on May 28th. The pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. As we all settle into the "new normal,” there has been significant technological change. We can no longer create the same traditional design teams and expect to deliver on all of the coming infrastructure work. We must rethink how we build our teams to support all of our clients' needs. As we look to capitalize on immersive collaboration platforms, such as The Wild, we are adding entirely new skill sets and resources to our design teams, including immersive media specialists, digital delivery experts, trainers, and adoption strategists. This is enabling rapid growth to our business and changing the way we deliver our infrastructure projects. As a result, we're developing novel adoption strategies to ensure long-term success for our clients in this new digital reality.

In this comprehensive session, Chuck Lounsberry, Jon Matalucci, and AJ Lightheart will share their extensive experiences with integrating extended reality (XR) into workflow processes. This session will highlight more than a decade of discoveries, achievements, and challenges, providing attendees with a road map of the landscape of XR application in various business settings.