The Site Visit is Dead: Why OpenSpace’s Latest Move Just Made Construction AI Grow Up

90% of the world’s data was generated in the last two years, yet construction still argues over progress. A new acquisition signals the end of the debate and the dawn of true visual intelligence.

For anyone who has ever walked a muddy construction site, clipboard in hand, trying to reconcile a schedule with the physical reality in front of them, the process of verifying progress is a familiar and often frustrating battle. It’s a world of subjective assessments, conflicting reports, and endless games of “20 questions” to get a straight answer. We capture vast amounts of data, yet clarity remains elusive. But a landmark acquisition in the construction technology space signals that this era of ambiguity is drawing to a close. The site visit as we know it is dead. And its replacement is something far more powerful.

On October 28, OpenSpace, the undisputed leader in 360° reality capture, announced its acquisition of Disperse, an AI-powered platform renowned for its sophisticated progress tracking. This isn’t just another corporate merger; it’s the fusion of two critical technologies that creates something entirely new: a single, unified platform for visual intelligence. It’s a move that takes construction AI from a promising but often overhyped concept to a mature, field-proven tool that delivers tangible, trustworthy results.

From Pretty Pictures to Hard Proof: The Power of Verified Progress

OpenSpace has long been celebrated for its intuitive and robust platform. OpenSpace is a fantastic piece of technology. Its ability to effortlessly create a comprehensive, navigable digital twin of a jobsite has been a game-changer for documentation and remote collaboration. However, the real challenge has always been translating that visual record into objective, quantifiable data. How do you move from simply *seeing* the site to truly *understanding* its status?

This is where Disperse comes in. Their technology combines jobsite imagery with advanced computer vision and, crucially, expert human verification to provide an objective, detailed view of what’s been built and what hasn’t. By acquiring Disperse, OpenSpace has now integrated this powerful analytical engine directly into its platform. The result is what they are calling “the only visual intelligence platform that pairs industry-leading 360° capture with verified progress analytics.”

This changes everything. It means that the same platform used to document the site can now be used to automatically and objectively validate work-in-place for billing, identify schedule risks by comparing actuals against the plan, and coordinate trades with unprecedented clarity. It integrates directly with the scheduling tools we already use, like Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project, turning them from static plans into dynamic, data-driven command centres.

“Our industry is full of promises about AI that rarely deliver. At OpenSpace, we’ve built a platform that does. With Disperse now part of OpenSpace, builders get real intelligence that is fast, accurate and proven in the field. This is what trust in construction technology looks like.” - Jeevan Kalanithi, CEO and Co-founder, OpenSpace

The impact is immediate and profound. Elliot Christiansen, a senior vice president at Cleveland Construction, shared his experience: “The speed at which we started to get accurate data back was pretty astounding... Because the data was accurate, we could have effective two-way conversations with our field team and get answers quickly, without having to play 20 questions with them like we used to.” This is the holy grail of project management: a single source of truth that eliminates arguments and allows teams to focus on solving problems, not debating facts.

A New Currency for Progress: The Maturity of Computer Vision

This acquisition is more than just a smart business move; it’s a sign of the growing maturity of computer vision technology in the construction sector. For years, the potential has been obvious, but the practical application has often fallen short. This merger signifies a turning point.

The technology is getting better and better all the time in terms of the way that it uses computer vision and it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that this next step has come out.”

The combination of OpenSpace’s intuitive capture and Disperse’s analytical rigour creates a tool that is not only powerful but also accessible. “And if it’s as intuitive as the OpenSpace platform is, we’re in for a real treat,” the team added.

This has a significant impact on one of the most contentious areas of project delivery: how we value progress. Whether on a construction, infrastructure, or energy site, the ability to have an objective, verifiable record of work completed changes the dynamic between clients, contractors, and subcontractors. It moves the conversation away from opinion and towards data, fostering a more collaborative and less adversarial environment. It provides a trusted, independent benchmark that can be used to resolve disputes, approve payments, and keep the project moving forward.

“Disperse was built to give construction teams a trustworthy, objective picture of progress. By joining OpenSpace, we can deliver that clarity at unprecedented speed and scale.” - Olli Liukkaala, CEO, Disperse

The End of the Walk-Around: What This Means for You

The implications for project delivery professionals are clear. The days of relying solely on physical site walks and manual progress reports are numbered. Visual intelligence platforms are becoming the new standard, and those who fail to adapt will be left behind. This technology provides a level of insight and control that is simply impossible to achieve through traditional methods.

This isn’t about replacing the expertise of project managers; it’s about augmenting it. It’s about freeing them from the drudgery of data collection and verification so they can focus on higher-value tasks: strategic decision-making, risk mitigation, and stakeholder management. It’s about giving them the tools they need to build faster, smarter, and more efficiently.

The acquisition of Disperse by OpenSpace is a clear sign that the future of construction is visual. It’s a future where every element of a project is documented, tracked, and analysed in a single, unified platform. It’s a future where data, not opinion, drives decisions. And it’s a future that is arriving much faster than many of us expected.

The Future of Your Jobsite is in Plain Sight. Are You Looking?

The game has changed. The tools that were once considered cutting-edge are now becoming the baseline. To stay competitive, you need to understand this new landscape of visual intelligence and how it can transform your projects. The information is no longer hidden in the mud and dust of the jobsite; it’s available, in real-time, to anyone who knows where to look.

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