Evolution of the i-Booth© onsite information management kiosk

Inadequate communication and non-availability of information have been widely observed in construction projects, causing low productivity and tool times of around 50% in high-rise building construction projects. The use of information technology to overcome communication barriers has been extremely limited at the construction site level, as construction companies typically hesitate to adopt new technologies. However, workers have expressed their willingness and ability to use new technologies at the construction site level. By considering the views of all the relevant construction stakeholders – workers, managers and technology developers – a novel information technology based communication concept called the Information Booth was developed and was pilot tested in an actual construction project environment, improving the tool time, productivity and worker satisfaction. The Information Booth then evolved into the i-Booth© with many additional features, including virtual supervision with a real-time information synchronizing system and camera system. This paper describes the possible applications of information technologies in the construction industry with the introduction of the i-Booth©.