One of many fields to undergo phases of disruptive technology and innovation is utility locating technology.

Augmented reality can work with GIS technology that collates the recorded GPS locations of assets from various sources to visualize their position in the real world. This means that via their mobile device’s live video feed, users can see and walk through interactive 3D renderings of buried assets such as buried cables or pipes.

Certain implementations like Augview can also perform spatial updates on incorrectly positioned assets while they are exposed, and update any missing critical attribute data for a particular asset. Users can associate geotagged photos with any such updates, allowing the asset owner to check any updates before they are committed.

The ability to communicate potential faults, safety notifications and accurate asset locations in such a timely manner represents a massive change in traditional processes – but it also offers great benefits over the existing methods, which can result in human error and take considerable time, leaving inaccurately recorded assets open to accidental excavation.

It’s this combination of features that has the potential to shake up the current conventions in the utility locating sector – and in doing so, revolutionize the field to create a more efficient and cohesive future.