Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Mobile and Pervasive
Computing in Construction:
an Introduction
Chimay J. Anumba and Xiangyu Wang
1.1 Background
Generally speaking, the purpose of mobile computing is to provide a computing
service to anyone authorized, anytime, anywhere. Simple examples of mobile
computing devices which have been widely used by the general public are personal
digital assistants (PDAs) and laptops. Projects in the construction industries
normally produce a large quantity of information that needs to be accessed by
different stakeholders, such as architects, engineers, project managers and super-
intendents, even foremen. This information usually has to be retrieved in a remote
manner from numerous locations inside or outside the construction site, and even
under varied conditions. In current practice a field team's project information
access and retrieval, information editing and decision making are still limited to 2D
paper-based technical drawings and specifications. However, as economics drive
the industry towards more digital information management, more information
technology (IT) tools are needed for accessing, storing and conveying digital project
information (Wang and Dunston, 2006a). Gartner Analysts (2004) predicts that by
2014 more than 30% of mobile workers will be equipped with wearable augmented
computing devices. Mobile computing technology holds great potential in this
regard and has been explored to improve construction processes (Magdi
c
et al.,
2002; Saidi
et al.,
2002; Hammad
et al.,
2003; Reinhardt
et al.,
2004). For example,
equipment management in the construction site is a process that monitors the
operating condition of equipment, maintains and repairs equipment components
and also inputs log data for future access. The current practice of the field crew
heavily refers to technical specifications. The field crew often faces the problem of
not finding the right information in a convenient and timely manner, which makes
this approach labor intensive (Wang
et al
., 2006). Mobile devices such as the PDA
and wearable computers are being explored for storing, conveying and accessing
