The Impacts of computer vision technology in construction: investigating applications and challenges

Abstract

The application of Computer Vision (CV) is transforming many industrial sectors by improving the interactions of technology with the physical environment. According to the research, CV technology heavily impacts construction by offering enhanced solutions to issues such as safety, quality, and progress. This research employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method to find the applications of CV and the related challenges within the construction sector, ensuing the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and PICO framework for the investigation. Out of the 38 studies that were retrieved through Scopus and Web of Science, the review aimed at comparing the application of CV in the following areas: automated progress monitoring, intelligent tracking, real-time quality assessment, improvement of safety, 3D modeling, and object detection. Nevertheless, certain challenges and threats limit the progress of CV such as the high processing times, technologies still in their infancy, and the complexity of integration with other models. Such challenges are grouped and associated with the application they belong to, and it is seen that automated construction progress monitoring faces the most difficulties. Last of all, this research provides construction stakeholders with a framework that links CV applications and challenges as follows with the view of indicating appropriate decisions to make. It is hoped that this framework will assist in avoiding problems and identifying the best practices in the application of CV technologies in construction.