Bringing Heavy Equipment to the Digital World: How ASTEC is Using Extended Reality to Revolutionize Construction

At World of Concrete 2025, Chase Walker, Senior Simulation Engineer at ASTEC, showcased how the company is leveraging extended reality (XR) to solve one of the biggest challenges in heavy equipment: bringing massive, complex machinery to customers—without physically moving it.

“We build everything from rock to road,” Walker explained. “That means we manufacture equipment for mining, concrete, and asphalt—anything that moves material from the ground and puts it back on the road. The problem is, our machines are enormous. We can’t always bring them to customers, and they can’t always come to us.”

Revolutionizing Customer Engagement with Extended Reality

For ASTEC, traditional equipment demonstrations, training, and site planning were expensive and logistically challenging. Enter extended reality (XR)—a solution that allows customers to visualize ASTEC’s full range of equipment in real-world settings without requiring physical transportation.

“Typically, at trade shows like this, we bring just one major piece of equipment. But now, with XR, we can bring any piece of machinery to a customer’s site—virtually—on-demand,” Walker said.

Customers can overlay digital versions of ASTEC machines onto real-world locations, helping them plan site layouts, evaluate equipment fit, and even troubleshoot issues without ever having to see the physical machine.

Use Cases: Where XR is Making a Difference

ASTEC’s XR technology is already in use across multiple applications, helping customers:

✅ Visualize large-scale equipment in 3D—placing machinery into topological maps to plan site layouts.
✅ Train operators remotely—service teams can meet customers on-site with just three XR headsets and a wireless hotspot to walk them through troubleshooting or operational guidance.
✅ Enable virtual sales demos—allowing customers to explore equipment they may not have access to in person.

“Our workflow is simple: three headsets, a hotspot, and we’re ready to go,” Walker explained. “We can develop a fully interactive experience in under 30 minutes and deploy it remotely.”

Customer-Led Innovation: The Unexpected Benefits of XR

While ASTEC initially developed XR for equipment visualization and sales, customer feedback has driven unexpected innovations.

“Customers started asking for features we hadn’t even thought of,” Walker said. “For example, topological mapping—the ability to overlay equipment onto realistic terrain models—was a request we heard a year and a half ago. We built it, and now it’s a key part of our offering.”

The insights gained from putting headsets on real customers have been game-changing.

“I wear these every day—I’m used to them,” Walker explained. “But when a customer puts on a headset for the first time, their mind is blown. Their feedback has led directly to new features, faster adoption, and more industry use cases.”

The Future of XR in Heavy Equipment

Looking ahead, ASTEC is continuing to push XR adoption in the construction and materials industry—an area traditionally slow to adopt cutting-edge digital tools.

“This industry isn’t known for using tech like extended reality,” Walker noted. “But once customers see it in action, they immediately recognize the value. The more we expose people to it, the more they understand how it can save time, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.”

ASTEC’s long-term vision includes:
🔹 Expanding XR-powered training solutions for operators and maintenance teams.
🔹 Developing AI-driven automation for predictive maintenance and operational efficiency.
🔹 Scaling the technology for global adoption across multiple ASTEC product lines.

Final Thoughts

With extended reality revolutionizing how customers interact with heavy equipment, ASTEC is setting a new standard for sales, training, and project planning in the industry.

“No one wants technology for the sake of technology,” Walker concluded. “We’re making sure every feature solves a real problem and delivers actual value to the people using it.”

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