AR in Digital Concrete X-Ray: How Radii-x Changed the Marking Step with Augmented Reality

The concrete scanning industry is entering a new era. Augmented reality, AI-assisted imaging, and real-time data overlay are no longer concepts from a tech conference — they are being applied directly on job sites, on slabs, in the field.

Radii-x designed and built AR Preview — a feature that overlays the X-Ray image directly onto the concrete slab surface in real time. No printed film. No paper layout. No manual measurements. The image, live, on the slab, through the laptop screen. Built specifically to reduce mistakes and optimize the marking process in Digital Concrete X-Ray inspection. Radii-x is the first company to implement augmented reality for marking in the Digital Concrete X-Ray industry.

AR is already proving its value across the broader scanning industry. Screening Eagle (Proceq) brought augmented reality to GPR inspections, giving results a level of visualization quality that makes structural inspection reports more representable for engineers. GPRS introduced SiteMap — an AR-powered platform for utility locating that brings a new standard of accuracy and visibility to underground infrastructure mapping. The technology is real, it works, and the industry is adopting it. In Digital Concrete X-Ray, Radii-x took that next step.

This article explains what AR Preview is, why it was built, and how it works in practice across three real-world marking scenarios that every X-Ray operator will recognize.

The Marking Process Is Where Mistakes Happen

According to the Digital Concrete X-Ray on-site workflow, after the shooting is complete, the job enters Stage 3 — Reporting. Marking is one of the most important parts of that stage.

Not every company does it after the X-Ray, and that's understandable. It takes time — film processing, printing the image at the office, going back to the shop, then returning to the site. When your schedule is tight and you have more jobs the same day, the marking step is often the one that gets skipped.

At Radii-x, we believe the final result of any concrete inspection — X-Ray, GPR, or otherwise — is a sketch on the surface. That's where the industry is, and that's what clients expect to receive. GPR sets that standard, and it makes complete sense. Only the technician who performed the inspection knows exactly what's underneath that slab. Their job is to clearly communicate that information to the engineer, the client, and the coring crew — and the most direct, practical way to do that is marks on the slab. No extra equipment needed, no time spent laying out positions. The driller looks down and knows exactly where to go.

Since Digital Concrete X-Ray involves almost no interpretation at the image stage — you see what's in the concrete essentially as it is — the marking step is actually the place where most issues can occur. Not because it's a complicated process, but because it involves manual work under real job site conditions. Rushing to finish marking because the next job is already waiting. Getting through your twentieth X-Ray to mark at the end of a long shift. Having a dense image with multiple element types that each require their own set of manual measurements — rebar, PT cables, conduit, all on the same shot. These are the situations where small things get missed or shift slightly.

AR Preview: The Solution

AR Preview is Radii-x's solution to the marking step.

Instead of measuring distances from the image and transferring them to the slab manually, the operator sees the X-Ray image overlaid directly onto the slab surface — live, on the laptop screen, at approximately 80% opacity. A camera pointed at the slab captures the real surface in real time. The X-Ray image is superimposed over that live feed. The operator looks at the laptop and sees both simultaneously: the actual concrete surface and the X-Ray image of what's underneath it.

Marking becomes visual. The operator replicates what they see on screen directly onto the slab — no measurements required, no calculations, no translating image coordinates into physical distances. The image itself becomes the guide.

That's precisely why we built AR Preview. AR and AI are shaping where the industry is heading — and Radii-x is moving with that direction. But beyond the technology itself, AR Preview is a genuinely practical solution to real job site concerns: reducing the chance of mistakes during marking, protecting the accuracy of the inspection result, and helping companies deliver the sketch on the slab every time. Let's look at those cases.

Three Common Cases — and How AR Preview Handles Each

Here are three situations where the marking step gets complicated. They're recognizable to anyone who has done X-Ray inspection work or managed a crew that does.

Case 1: Measurement Shifting

Before each X-Ray shot, a reference point — a custom "marker" — is placed under the digital detector as a reference. That marker appears in the X-Ray image, connecting the digital image to the exact location on the slab.

From there, the operator measures distances from the reference point to each embedded element on the digital image. Then replicates those same measurements on the slab with a tape measure. That's where mistakes can happen — reading the wrong measurement, grabbing the wrong number from a screen full of dimension lines, especially at the end of a long day.

With AR Preview, the measurement step doesn't exist. The image is overlaid on the slab and the operator marks directly from what they see. No numbers to read, no distances to replicate.

Case 2: Missing Things to Mark

After the measurements are done, the slab already has preliminary marks and lines on it from the measurement process. Then the operator starts marking by element type — rebar first, then PT cables, conduits, whatever the priority is. While focused on one type, the small marks for other elements are already on the slab but easily overlooked among everything else on the surface. A line that hasn't been completed yet, a measurement dot that blends in — these are easy to skip past, especially when you're working through a large number of images or it's late in the shift.

The consequences go beyond that single job. Even if the missed element is a rebar or an ending rebar — something that may not cause immediate damage if a driller hits it — the moment a client notices something wasn't marked, confidence in every other X-Ray you've done for them drops. They start wondering what else was missed. That's not just one complaint — it's a client relationship at risk.

AR Preview keeps the entire image visible on the slab throughout the marking process — the operator sees everything simultaneously as they mark. But there's an additional step that makes missing something nearly impossible: the opacity control. Once marking is complete, the operator slides the opacity handle from 100% — showing the full X-Ray image — down to 0%, revealing only the marks on the slab. Then back up to 100%. Moving between the two in real time makes it immediately clear whether every element in the image has a corresponding mark on the slab. If something was missed, it shows up instantly.

Case 3: No Marks Because It Takes Too Much Time

As we mentioned earlier, at Radii-x we consider marking the benchmark — the expected result of any concrete inspection. And yet many X-Ray companies skip this step. Part of the reason is the time involved, but part of it also comes back to Cases 1 and 2 — the mental load of manual measurements and the risk of missing elements when you're already tired. There aren't many people who perform Digital Concrete X-Ray compared to GPR operators in the field. Keeping your technicians sharp matters. Adding an exhausting marking process at the end of every job is one more reason companies quietly stop doing it.

Digital X-Ray already eliminates most of the logistical burden — no film, no printing, no going back to the shop. But even with a digital workflow, the manual measurement and marking process on site still takes time. AR Preview cuts that time by at least two times compared to manual measurements on the digital image.

Real Job Site Setup

By the time AR Preview is used, the X-Ray images are already on the laptop. That's the starting point. The only extra equipment needed is a tripod and a webcam connected to that same laptop, with Radii-x software already open.

That's it — nothing complicated, nothing that requires additional setup time on site.

The camera on the tripod is positioned to capture the slab surface directly beneath the shot area. The live feed comes into the software and the X-Ray image is overlaid on top at approximately 80% opacity. The operator aligns the overlay using the reference point — the same custom marker placed under the detector during the X-Ray — and marking begins.

The scale of the digital X-Ray image is 1:1. That scale consistency is what makes accurate overlay possible.

The operator marks directly on the slab surface using a marker, crayon, or chalk — watching the laptop screen the entire time, going element by element across the image, right to left, top to bottom. When done, they use the opacity handle to slide between the image and the marks to verify nothing was missed.

Based on a user test conducted by Nova, one of our clients: the same image was marked twice. Manually, with measurements, it took eight minutes — two elements were missed, and some marks were slightly off.

Not a critical error on its own, but enough to affect how much a client trusts the accuracy of your X-Ray work.

With AR Preview, the same image took four minutes. Nothing was missed.

For more on what happens after the image is captured, see Post-Processing in Digital Concrete X-Ray: What Actually Happens After the Image is Captured.

What This Means for Your Operations

When we were building AR Preview, we thought cutting the time to mark elements would be the main reward. That was the goal we designed around. But after user tests and real field use, we discovered something we didn't fully anticipate: the main benefit is the near-zero probability of missing something during marking. That turned out to be the reward that matters most.

The time savings — cutting the marking process by at least two times compared to manual measurements — is a very real and immediate benefit. Direct cost savings on every job. But it's the second reward, not the first.

AR Preview doesn't just make marking faster. It makes the whole step more reliable. Less time on marking means less fatigue — which connects directly back to the three cases above. Fewer rushed measurements, less chance of losing track of what's been marked.

AR Preview is also one more reason why we call this Digital X-Ray at GPR speed. X-Ray accuracy — with the turnaround time it takes to complete a GPR scan at the same location. The marking step used to be where that speed advantage was lost. Not anymore.

AR and AI are shaping where the industry is heading, and AR Preview is where Radii-x chose to apply that direction — not as a feature for the sake of technology, but as a practical answer to the situations that affect accuracy, time, and client trust every day.

If you're a GPR company evaluating Digital Concrete X-Ray as a service to add, a concrete X-Ray operator looking to improve how the marking step works, or a current Radii-x client who wants to understand the AR setup better — contact us. We're happy to walk you through AR Preview in a live demo.