Skanska USA to implement machine learning for photo and video content

Implementation of computer vision and voice detection for analytics of content from UAVs (drones), site cameras, and mobile devices

Las Vegas, NV - November 1, 2016 - Today, Newmetrix, a cloud-based platform for analyzing photos and videos from industrial environments, announced a national collaboration with leading construction management firm Skanska USA Building. 

The business announcement, made at the Commercial UAV Expo, will also be discussed at the joint Skanska USA Building and Newmetrix presentation, New Age "Reality Capture": Leveraging Machine Learning and BIM to Organize Field Data.  The business relationship is made possible by the Skanska Innovation Grant Program, which has been designed to foster applications of new technology to unlock value for Skanska and its clients.  The pilot program will support the use of the Newmetrix platform at select Skanska project sites around the U.S. to test and deploy machine-learning software for organizing field data such as photography and videos.

According to Oliver Smith, VDC Director in Skanska’s Innovative Construction Solutions group, “Construction jobs provide many unique challenges on a daily basis. The implementation of drone technology and other data capturing technologies can provide enhanced solutions to the areas of safety, quality control, logistics and planning, visual communication, and security to name a few.  We’re excited to work with Newmetrix to add valuable analysis to the ever increasing amounts of photo and video data we’re collecting via these methods.”

“After preliminary trials together, we’re excited to collaborate with Skanska to take the implementation of the Newmetrix platform to the next phase with more project sites taking advantage of the tool,” said Newmetrix Founder & CEO, Josh Kanner.  “The areas of speech and image recognition have significant benefits in the AEC industry for everything from progress tracking, to safety, quality and even productivity analysis. In results from Skanska projects, we've seen benefits from analytics of field photo and video data, whether from UAVs (drones) or the mobile devices of field personnel.  We’re just getting started and see great potential going forward.”

The collaboration between Skanska USA Building and Newmetrix has also been profiled recently by Commercial UAV News, in the article Drones in Construction: Organizing Field Data and Enabling Machine Learning.

 

About Skanska USA

Skanska USA is one of the largest, most financially sound construction and development companies in the U.S., serving a broad range of clients including those in transportation, power, industrial, water/wastewater, healthcare, education, sports, data centers, government, aviation and commercial.  Headquartered in New York with offices in 31 metro areas, we have more than 11,000 employees committed to being leaders in safety, project execution, sustainability, ethics and people development. In 2015, our work in building construction, civil and power/industrial construction, commercial development and infrastructure development (public-private partnerships) generated $7.1 billion in revenue.  Global revenue of parent company Skanska AB, headquartered in Stockholm and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, totaled $18.4 billion in 2015. Skanska shares are publicly traded in the U.S. on the OTC market under the symbol SKBSY through a Level I American Depository Receipt program. 

Topics: Press Releases

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