Matterport’s customer story about Knutson Construction reports two headline gains: the contractor produced construction documentation at least twice as fast and reduced costly jobsite visits by 75 percent. Knutson says the change came from using dimensionally accurate digital twins across estimating, pre-construction, project management and virtual design and construction—not from treating a 3D camera as a faster replacement for ordinary photographs.
Those figures describe one contractor’s experience as reported by the platform vendor. Matterport does not publish the case study’s baseline period, project count, calculation method or independent audit, so the results are useful as a workflow example rather than a guaranteed industry benchmark.
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What Matterport says Knutson changed
Knutson Construction is a family-owned contractor focused on healthcare and education work in the upper Midwest. According to Matterport, the company began using its digital-twin platform on jobsites in 2019. The reported objective was broader than collecting attractive walkthroughs: Knutson used captured conditions as working information for several teams that traditionally needed separate visits.
- Documentation speed: Knutson’s vice president of Technology & Innovation, Katie Montag, said, “We can produce our construction documentation and images at least twice as fast now thanks to Matterport.”
- Jobsite travel: Montag also said one person could reliably perform work that had previously involved the estimator, pre-construction manager, project manager and virtual design construction manager, with the number of jobsite visits reduced by 75 percent.
- Other reported effects: Matterport describes faster decision-making, on-time completion and happier clients, but gives no numerical measurements for those outcomes.
The wording matters. These are results published in a vendor-written customer case study, not a controlled comparison between equivalent projects. The page does not state how many projects produced the percentages, what period formed the baseline, or how “twice as fast” was calculated.
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How the digital-twin workflow reduced trips
1. Capture prospective and active locations
Knutson used Matterport capture equipment to record prospective client locations and existing jobsite conditions. A digital twin combines the visual record with spatial information, allowing people who are not physically present to inspect the captured environment and return to the same record later.
The case study presents this as a way to avoid sending several specialists to collect overlapping information. Instead of asking an estimator, pre-construction manager, project manager and VDC manager to make separate trips, one capture could provide a common reference for their subsequent work.
2. Turn the capture into measurable project data
The team exported Matterpak point-cloud files from the platform. A point cloud is a set of spatial points representing the captured environment and can be brought into compatible design, coordination or analysis workflows. Matterport also says Knutson used its Property Intelligence tools to generate measurements and square-footage details.
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That distinction is important for construction. A photographic record can show what a wall, corridor or laydown area looks like; a dimensionally accurate twin can add quantities and distances that support estimating and planning. The case study does not specify the tolerances achieved, the software used after export, or the conditions under which measurements were checked in the field.
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3. Reuse the same record during multiple phases
Knutson applied the captured information to estimating, pre-construction, project management and virtual design and construction. A single site record therefore served several decisions instead of being created once and then discarded as soon as a bid or site walk ended.
For an estimator, the record can provide a visual and measured reference when developing quantities or clarifying an existing condition. During pre-construction, teams can review access, adjacency and current conditions without immediately arranging another visit. Project managers can use the same record to discuss progress or investigate a question with remote colleagues. VDC staff can use point-cloud exports as an input to coordination work, subject to the accuracy and format requirements of their own process.
4. Add outdoor capture without the former drone workflow
In 2022, the case study says Knutson switched from drone photography to a Matterport Pro3 for outdoor scanning. The examples include documenting small sidewalk cracks and recording current conditions in laydown areas. Matterport says this removed the need for a licensed drone operator for those captures. That statement applies to the situations described by the customer story; it is not evidence that every outdoor survey, aerial view or regulated flight can be replaced by a ground-based camera.
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The Knutson examples show several categories of information that can be deliberately captured and reused:
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- Existing conditions: the state of a prospective facility or active work area at the time of capture.
- Geometry and dimensions: measurements and square-footage details generated through Matterport Property Intelligence, with the usual need to confirm critical dimensions before fabrication or contractual decisions.
- Surface conditions: visual evidence such as the small sidewalk cracks cited in the case study.
- Site logistics: the arrangement and condition of laydown areas, access paths and surrounding spaces.
- Coordination context: a shared visual reference for estimators, managers and VDC personnel who need to discuss the same location.
- Machine-readable spatial output: Matterpak point-cloud files that can be exported for downstream work.
A scan is a record of conditions at a particular time. It does not automatically establish that a concealed assembly is sound, that work complies with a specification, or that a safety condition remains unchanged after the camera leaves. Those questions still require the inspection, testing, survey control or professional sign-off specified by the project.
Hardware identified in the customer story
Matterport names several products used by Knutson. The page does not provide an apples-to-apples accuracy, speed, cost or suitability comparison, so the list should not be read as a ranking.
| Device | How it appears in the case study | What the source does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Matterport Pro3 | Knutson adopted it for outdoor scanning in 2022, including sidewalk and laydown-area documentation. | Capture time, accuracy specification, total cost or performance in other site conditions. |
| Matterport Pro2 | Named among the products used by Knutson. | How its results compare with the Pro3 or which projects used it. |
| Leica BLK360 | Named among the products used by Knutson. | Any project-specific role, workflow comparison or output advantage. |
| Ricoh Theta | Named among the products used by Knutson. | Accuracy, production rate, cost or suitability relative to the other devices. |
The camera is only one part of the reported system. The claimed gains also depended on deciding what to capture, processing the data, exporting it when needed and making it available to the people responsible for project decisions.
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Can a 3D scan replace a construction site visit?
It can replace some information-gathering trips, but the Knutson story does not establish that scans eliminate every physical visit. A remote review is most defensible when the question concerns visible, accessible conditions that were captured recently and at adequate detail.
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Situations where a twin may reduce travel
- Reviewing an existing space before an estimate or pre-construction meeting.
- Checking the visual condition of an area whose layout has not materially changed.
- Discussing a question with remote stakeholders who need the same visual reference.
- Extracting measurements or square-footage information for early planning.
- Recording outdoor conditions such as a laydown area or visible pavement defect when aerial imagery is not required.
Situations that still call for people on site
- Safety inspections, quality-control checks or observations that require physical access.
- Concealed conditions, material testing, survey control and measurements needed for fabrication or legal compliance.
- Work areas that have changed since capture, including active demolition, installation or weather-related damage.
- Tasks requiring a licensed surveyor, inspector, drone pilot or other credentialed professional.
- Any decision where the project specification or authority having jurisdiction requires an in-person observation.
The practical rule is to use the twin to answer questions that the capture can support, then schedule a visit when the question exceeds that evidence. That is a narrower and safer claim than saying a scan replaces site supervision.
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Companies considering a similar process can adapt the sequence described by Knutson while setting their own accuracy and approval controls.
- Define the decision before capturing. Write down whether the record is for estimating, existing-condition review, coordination, progress documentation or another purpose. The decision determines the areas, detail and measurements required.
- Set capture boundaries. Identify rooms, exterior areas, access routes and laydown zones. Record the date, project phase and any areas that could not be safely or completely captured.
- Choose equipment for the condition. The customer story names Pro2, Pro3, BLK360 and Ricoh Theta, but does not declare one universally best option. Match the device to required output, site access, lighting, weather and the skills available to operate it.
- Capture a continuous, reviewable record. Include the features people will need later, not just visually impressive spaces. For outdoor work, include the specific surfaces, edges, cracks or storage areas that inform the decision.
- Generate measurements and export required data. Use Property Intelligence for the measurements and square-footage details supported by the workflow, and export Matterpak point-cloud files when downstream coordination or analysis requires them.
- Publish one controlled reference. Give estimating, pre-construction, project management and VDC teams access to the same dated record. Define who can annotate it, who approves measurements and how superseded captures are identified.
- Validate critical information. Check dimensions that affect price, fabrication, safety or contractual commitments against an appropriate field method. Keep the validation record with the project documentation.
- Track avoided travel and decisions. Log visits that were avoided, shortened or still required, along with the reason. Compare the time and cost of the complete process—not just camera operation—with the former workflow.
How to evaluate the reported gains in your own company
Matterport does not publish the calculation behind Knutson’s percentages, so another contractor should establish a baseline rather than copy the figures into a business case. For a defined group of projects, record:
- Hours from capture to usable documentation.
- Number of people and trips required to answer a typical question.
- Travel time, mileage, lodging and other visit costs.
- Time spent resolving an existing-condition question or redoing an incomplete capture.
- Changes, delays or decisions attributable to missing information.
Measure comparable work before and after adoption, and keep the project type, geography, phase and documentation standard consistent. A healthcare renovation, a school addition and a greenfield site may have very different travel patterns. Separating those categories prevents a favorable project mix from being mistaken for a technology effect.
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What the Knutson story proves—and what it does not
The case study supports a concrete conclusion: Knutson used digital twins, point-cloud exports and measurement tools as shared construction information, and Matterport reports substantial gains in documentation speed and fewer costly visits for that customer. It also shows that outdoor scanning with a Pro3 became part of the workflow in 2022.
It does not provide an independent audit, a project count, a baseline period, a calculation method, current equipment pricing or a universal device comparison. It does not show that every contractor will achieve the same result, that all inspections can be remote, or that the Pro3 alone caused the reported improvement. Contractors should treat the figures as a customer example, test the workflow on a defined project set and retain physical inspections wherever the project, code or professional duty requires them.
Practical takeaway for construction teams
The most transferable idea is not simply buying a 3D camera. It is creating one reliable, measurable site record that multiple disciplines can use after the capture: estimators quantify it, pre-construction teams review it, project managers consult it, and VDC staff export the spatial data they need. When that record answers routine questions remotely, some travel can be removed from the process. The size of the benefit depends on capture quality, project conditions, team adoption and the controls used to verify important information.
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