Imagine a future in which you don a headset to enter a virtual-reality simulation of a construction site before it exists. A future in which a robot analyzes a space slated for renovation, recording each minute detail, from measurements to materials, in a fraction of the time and cost it would take humans to do the work. And imagine that, in that future, the world of creating buildings is so friendly to its human workers that language barriers are no longer an issue, with in-ear translation technology that allows people to communicate onsite, hands-free, in real time.

Advances like these would be game-changing—life-changing, in some instances.

Reprinted courtesy of Christie Chapman, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.