DroneDeploy on the State of Reality Capture: Trends, Adoption, and Future Prospects

DroneDeploy’s Groundbreaking Survey Reveals Rapid Growth, ROI Insights, and Optimistic Projections in Reality Capture Technology

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb

In recent years, reality capture and photogrammetry have been rapidly gaining traction. Accurate mapping and data capture are crucial across various industries like construction, agriculture, and infrastructure. DroneDeploy has released its first-ever State of Reality Capture report and survey to delve into this trend.

The survey, which gathered insights from 1447 respondents across 119 countries, highlights key takeaways essential for professionals navigating this dynamic space.  Here are three of the top findings:

Adoption is on the Rise

DroneDeploy’s survey revealed that 60% of enterprise-level businesses already use reality capture hardware and software, and are 33% more likely to do so than their smaller competitors. In certain industries, like architecture, engineering, and construction, the number rises to over 75% total adoption, with a further 21% planning to adopt the technology in the future. For businesses with over 10,000 employees, reality capture has become even more popular, with around 80% of companies having already adopted some form of photogrammetry technology, showing the importance of high-quality scanning to large organizations.

While Cost Remains a Concern, Reality Capture is a Strong Investment

For businesses that aren’t using reality capture, the biggest barriers cited were the cost of adoption (39%) and the difficulty of quantifying ROI (39%). However, the survey also revealed that 96% of companies that have adopted reality capture technology are seeing ROI, whether that’s from cost savings or more efficient operations. Among this group, 29% reported a significant return on investment. How are these technologies helping businesses grow? Over 77% reported better project visibility, 57% said that it reduced their time and cost expenditures, 56% reported improved customer satisfaction, and 50% reported improved communication with teams or stakeholders. Almost half of enterprise customers reported cost savings between $10k and $100k.

Businesses are Bullish on the Future

62% of the businesses surveyed plan on increasing their expenditure on reality capture over the next year. Where is this money going? 31% say that they plan on increasing their use of robotics for reality capture, followed by 16% who plan on utilizing docked drones (which have fallen in price precipitously over the last couple of years). 92% report that they think reality capture use will grow over the next 2 years. Among companies with 100+ employees, over 20% believe that it will become ubiquitous. When asked whether reality capture will be a key competitive edge over the next 5 years in their industry, 92% agreed. The takeaway is clear- reality capture isn’t going away. It’s just getting started.

Access to the full version of the report is available here.

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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry.  Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.

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