R-CON 2026, the annual conference produced by Reality Capture Network (RCN), will take place October 12–15 at the Boise Centre in Boise, Idaho. The event brings together contractors, owners, engineers, surveyors, VDC and innovation leaders, and technology companies working across reality capture, digital twins, and construction technology.
This year’s conference will feature three days of main-stage programming, an expo hall with more than 70 exhibitors, and an expanded emphasis on hands-on learning and interaction between attendees. RCN is introducing eight training workshops, launching Innovation Village for early-stage companies, and hosting the first R-CON Innovation Hackathon.
Networking remains a fundamental part of the programming. RCN Founder and CEO Matthew Byrd says the organization has intentionally created more opportunities for attendees to work alongside one another, exchange ideas, and build relationships rather than spending the conference primarily listening to presentations.
“Listening to talks is valuable, but people learn by doing and they buy from people they trust,” Byrd said. “So we expanded the parts of R-CON where you use your hands and meet people, and we protected them on the schedule.”
Read the full length Q&A with Matthew Byrd for additional details and insights regarding R-CON 2026, and themes he is seeing in the reality capture industry: R-CON 2026 Matthew Byrd Interview.
R-CON 2026 Themes
Moving Beyond Data Capture
For much of the past decade, reality capture has focused on improving the technology required to collect data. Sensors have become faster, point clouds denser, and capture platforms increasingly accessible. Byrd believes the industry is now entering a new phase in which more attention is being placed on what organizations can actually do with that data.
“For years this industry has been focused on collecting data—better sensors, faster scans, denser point clouds,” Byrd said. “What people are excited about now is what happens after.”
Accuracy, Liability, and What Goes Wrong
The program also reflects growing interest in candid discussions about the practical limitations of reality capture technology. Accuracy, liability, and unsuccessful implementations are prominent themes in the 2026 conference. Sessions include The Battle of Reality Capture: Accuracy, Speed, Cost, Liability, Reality Capture Is Lying to You: Why Most Programs Fail Before the Data Leaves the Field, and a workshop examining whether reality capture datasets are actually survey-grade.
“There’s real appetite right now for unfiltered conversations about accuracy, liability, and why reality capture programs fail,” Byrd said. “Everybody has seen the polished case study; what they want is the practitioner who will tell them what went wrong and what it cost.”
Emerging technologies
Emerging visualization technologies are creating another area of experimentation. Byrd pointed specifically to Gaussian splatting and radiance fields as technologies that have generated renewed curiosity among experienced reality capture professionals.
“It’s the first thing in a while where seasoned professionals are experimenting like beginners again,” he said.
Artificial intelligence and physical AI represent another important part of that shift from capture to intelligence. Reality capture professionals have spent years building detailed digital representations of physical infrastructure, and Byrd believes those datasets could become increasingly valuable as AI systems gain the ability to understand, analyze, and eventually interact with the physical world.
“The people in our community are suddenly sitting on something extremely valuable, and they’re figuring out what that means for their businesses,” he said.
Workshops
Eight new workshops will run across four rooms during R-CON 2026, covering topics including reality capture fundamentals, positional accuracy, UAS mapping, aerial LiDAR, Gaussian splatting, photography, and open-source 3D geospatial workflows.
According to Byrd, RCN built the program around community demand, areas of project risk, and emerging technologies.
Reality Capture 101 – Concepts, led by Josh DeStefano of DPR Construction and Andrew Brister of Measured LLC, will introduce newer attendees to the broader reality capture landscape. Accuracy and quality control will also be a major focus, with Rami Tamimi of The Survey School examining whether datasets are truly survey-grade and ASPRS-led workshops covering LiDAR and UAS photogrammetric mapping within its Positional Accuracy Standards.
Other workshops include Dylan Gorman of Pilotbyte demonstrating an aerial LiDAR workflow from raw data to deliverable, Michael Rubloff of RadianceFields.com introducing Gaussian splatting, Barry Bassnett of RICHPiX 360 examining photography in reality capture, and Elizabeth Rosenbloom of LumenArc Labs covering open-source 3D geospatial workflows using Blender and GIS.
The workshops range from introductory to advanced, but Byrd said the emphasis throughout is practical instruction rather than promotion.
“Across all of them the format is instructional, not promotional,” Byrd said. “These are three-hour blocks with working practitioners at the front of the room, and the expectation is that you bring questions and leave with something you can apply in your work.”
Innovation Village
R-CON 2026 will also introduce Innovation Village, a two-day area dedicated specifically to startups, early-stage companies, and emerging technology projects.
The concept addresses a challenge Byrd has observed at traditional industry trade shows. Young companies may not yet be able to justify the cost or scale of a conventional expo presence, while the companies attendees may find most interesting can sometimes be difficult to discover on a large show floor.
“Those are exactly the companies our attendees want to find,” Byrd said.
Innovation Village gives emerging companies a more accessible way to demonstrate technology and connect with practitioners, customers, investors, and partners. It will include startup booths, live presentations, a founder area, and a curated technology showcase.
RCN is also looking beyond traditional reality capture companies. “The most useful ideas in this industry usually arrive from an adjacent one,” Byrd said. “If a startup walks out of Innovation Village with one enterprise conversation that turns into a contract, or feedback from industry helps them shape what they’re building, we did our job,” Byrd said.
Hackathon
Perhaps the biggest departure from a traditional conference format is the first R-CON Innovation Hackathon, which challenges participants to apply reality capture, geospatial technology, software, and AI to problems beyond typical industry workflows.
Byrd describes the motivation as a “translation problem.”
“We have extraordinary data and extraordinary tools, and we mostly point them at documenting buildings,” he said. “Meanwhile there are enormous regional and national problems that are fundamentally spatial problems, and almost nobody is connecting the two.”
Teams are focusing on two challenges: wildfire resilience and rare earth and mineral development. In both cases, the goal is to turn fragmented spatial data into actionable intelligence for applications such as risk assessment, environmental monitoring, planning, permitting, and emergency response.
Unlike a conventional 48-hour hackathon, teams formed in advance and developed their concepts with mentor support before presenting at R-CON. Finalists will showcase their work on the Innovation Village stage on October 13.
For Byrd, the larger goal is to create ideas and teams that continue beyond the event.
“What success looks like to me: a team that keeps working together after October, a solution that a utility or an agency actually wants to test, and a handful of participants who discover they can build in this industry rather than only deliver in it,” he said.
Networking and Building the Reality Capture Community
Despite the expanded technical programming, Byrd says networking remains fundamental to R-CON.
Reality Capture Network itself originated as a way to connect practitioners who were often the only reality capture specialist within their organization or part of relatively small teams.
“Before there was a conference there was a community,” Byrd said. “R-CON is that community in a room.”
There is also a practical reason those relationships matter.
“This industry moves faster than any documentation can keep up with,” he said. “The most valuable information at any given moment isn’t published anywhere, it’s in the head of someone who tried that sensor last month, or negotiated that contract, or made that mistake. You get access to it through relationships, not search results.”
R-CON 2026 will include networking opportunities throughout the conference, beginning with a welcome happy hour and karaoke night on Monday. Other events include Club R-CON on Tuesday evening, an event on Boise State University’s blue turf Wednesday, exhibitor happy hours, and dedicated VIP programming.
Byrd recommends arriving at R-CON with a plan by reviewing the speaker and exhibitor lists, identifying people you want to meet, and reaching out in advance. Once there, he advises attendees to “lead with curiosity instead of a pitch” and actively participate by joining workshops, meeting new people, and asking practitioners about their work.
That approach reflects the broader goal of R-CON 2026, helping attendees not just discover new technology, but understand it, challenge it, and learn from one another. “People should leave with insights, skills, and relationships they didn’t have before arriving.”
A special thank you to Matthew Byrd for taking the time to share his perspective on R-CON 2026 and the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping the reality capture industry. I’m excited to attend R-CON this year and experience the event firsthand. If you’ll be there as well, I hope to see you in Boise!
