Khatib & Alami (K&A) has further extended its Geographic Information System (GIS) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) capabilities after partnering with Canada-based vGIS, a leader in visualizing hidden infrastructure through Augmented Reality (AR) technology.

AR provides users with an interactive experience of a real world environment, enabling them to visualize digitally-created objects within the real world view. AR can also offer the ability to interact with these objects via smartphones and headset devices.

Through its strategic partnership with vGIS, K&A can provide clients with accurate AR views of the surrounding infrastructure at project sites, such as utility networks or proposed engineering designs. This will significantly enhance the detection of potential clashes or other errors which can lead to delays or cost overruns, while supporting stakeholder collaboration.

“GIS, BIM and AR can be used together to display infrastructure and utilities in-field and in real-time, helping designers, project managers and field workers to locate the right assets faster, saving time and preventing costly errors and delays,” says Manal Sayed, Senior Director of GSI at K&A.

“By incorporating AR into enterprise GIS data that can be viewed as a natural extension of the real world, users will be able to see their geospatial data around them in the most understandable way possible.”

Like K&A, vGIS is an award-winning partner of Esri and Microsoft. The company’s product portfolio includes a visual GIS platform and an array of custom mixed reality applications designed for Microsoft HoloLens.

K&A is a multidisciplinary consultancy company and a global leader in providing Geospatial solutions, and is the Platinum Partner for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software specialist Esri in the Middle East & Africa. The company’s experts are supporting the development of geo-enabled smart cities across the region.