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The way we experience instruction and assignment are changing. As technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) become the standard, new possibilities emerge. When paired with large language models brimming with historical and technical knowledge, these tools can deliver some of the most scalable and revolutionary teaching capabilities our industry has ever seen.
I often talk about standardization and spend a lot of time thinking about what subjects might be ripe for universal instruction and organization. What could that future look like when we’re all reading from the same sheet of music? Would we work better and build a better environment? I happen to think we would, could and should be striving for this all the time.
One thing we know about building is that every professional brings a unique approach to getting from point A to point B. An old and kind of morbid phrase I’ve heard often on the jobsite goes, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” This adage captures the challenge we have of ensuring safe and reliably consistent installations despite varied methods.
Perhaps it’s time to reimagine the cat entirely and set a new standard for how we approach and teach skilled trades by giving the future a functional dataset to build from.
EdTech: A new reality
Classrooms constantly adopt new tools to keep students engaged. Not long ago, paper worksheets, chalkboards and projectors were the norm. In today’s more modern classrooms, they’ve been replaced by digital smartboards and personal computing devices. The display of assignment is getting streamlined, with fewer physical resources but not without investment and commitment.
I’ve been finding more and more VR education programs popping up with amazing and accessible functionality, yet some dangerously lack the instruction and understanding of regulatory compliance. When it comes to plumbing, I could think of a few available programs I would like to make available to interested kids, yet the barrier of entry still makes the phase-in aspect difficult.
One neat tool I found shared online was a free AR 3D pipe drawing on the web app “Your 3D online” (https://p3d.in). On this web app, you can find a few different sanitary pipe drawings that you can view through your screen’s camera feature, placing the pipe directly on the living room floor — or wherever you’re pointing your phone camera.
With time, I believe most households and schools will have some type of digital lens available to them, providing either virtual or augmented visual capabilities. At said point, the opportunities to learn anything from anywhere can simultaneously create a spark of opportunities for those who may not have had it before.
As a young apprentice, I attended a joint apprenticeship training center for five years, managed by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada. My schedule was two nights a week after my standard 35-hour work week: one night for a three-hour lecture and the other for hands-on shop training with my peers, many of whom I worked with during the day.
Over time, I noticed these standards shifting as I spoke with trainers and schoolteachers who explained their approach to these new teaching options. I heard about reduced work weeks to include schooling and ones in rural areas, where hours-long car rides may be required to get to the nearest brick-and-mortar training center.
I spoke with vocational public-school educators and learned how scarce these options are and how important it is to show young students and develop our next generation of builders. This is where I think virtual or “metaverse”-style learning is intriguing and promising for the next generation, already highly proficient with this technology.
While I firmly believe physical, hands-on instruction will always be indispensable, combining it with digital tools creates a stronger, more dynamic learning experience and historical recordkeeping. In my experience, learning done on the jobsite is where it sticks to the bones. Without hands-on experiences and successes and failures, learning from peers remains one of the most valuable experiences for a tradesperson.
It is nearly impossible to recreate the experience of working with other tradespeople or a mentor and building something tangible together as a crew. Without this very personal generational knowledge exchange, many of the trades’ most treasured skills and techniques risk being lost.
A common fear is that adopting new tools and technologies will erode our traditions. I see it differently. By embracing technology while honoring trade’s ancestral history, we can preserve and amplify our trades for future generations.
Of course, the transition isn’t without challenges. Bad actors may attempt to exploit these changes and profit grossly from our skillset. However, I do feel that with vigilance and transparency, we can ensure the trades remain as rewarding for the next generation as they have been for us, and that is considered building, all the same.
Trendsetting: A lesson in efficiency
Have you ever heard of a fab lab? It’s a fabrication facility where new technologies are tested and built to be integrated efficiently and strive for scalability. These spaces have driven some of the most innovative applications of efficiency-enhancing technologies and can even build more of themselves, with plenty of available data from their conception. Yes, robots building robots is very real in the year 2025.
One exciting trend is the multiplication of human output with the help of bots. Imagine an employee walks into an office, logs on, suits up and begins the workday. Not in the traditional sense, however.
Instead, she puts on a VR headset and haptic glove and perhaps stands on a sensor-driven device, instantly connecting to a bot located in a warehouse or on a remote jobsite. This bot could operate heavy machinery or anything built for remote capabilities with sensors and cameras, like the ones becoming standard on our personal vehicles for safety-related autonomous intervention.
In this scenario, the robot mimics the worker’s physical actions through sensors and motion controls. Over time, as the bot “learns” through either live guidance or programmed memory, the scalability of the task now becomes exponential and undeniably profitable. A single worker could potentially control multiple robots, transforming a 1:1 ratio into 1:100 without much effort.
While it may seem dystopian to some, it’s a beacon of hope for those working in harsh or dangerous conditions. Industries such as mining and manufacturing require intense labor to provide our goods, often under extreme circumstances. This technology offers a chance to improve safety and efficiency in ways previously unimaginable, allowing everyone to come home safely to their families.
This future isn’t distant; it’s already here, hence the title of this column. While it may feel disruptive today, we can aim for a balance where plumbers and technology work side by side, preserving the craft while elevating it to new heights and distances.
As building designs and energy systems evolve, so must skilled trades. It’s our responsibility to protect the craft as it has protected us. By embracing innovation with intention and thorough transparency, we can ensure the skilled trades remain valuable, built on tradition and progress.