HD Hyundai Vice Chairman and CEO Kisun Chung presented “Xite Transformation,” the vision that transcends the limitations of time and space and will become a solution to create a more sustainable future for humanity. He delivered his keynote speech on Jan. 10 at CES 2024, held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
HD Hyundai refers to Xite as an expanded concept for construction job sites. It incorporates the company’s goal to bring innovation in building smart construction sites with autonomous, digital twin, eco-friendly, electrification and more future construction equipment technologies.
Vice Chairman Chung delivered his keynote during his third year attending CES. He shared, “The construction industry has laid the foundation for human civilization, and yet it remains one of the slowest today when it comes to technology and innovation.” He continued, “We are here today to share HD Hyundai’s vision for changing the future course of humanity by changing the future of the construction industry, which we are calling Xite Transformation. This solution utilizes the latest technology to create a more sustainable future for humanity by solving pressing challenges such as safety, security, supply chain issues and climate change.”
Chung continued to present the company’s three main innovation goals: enhancing safety with digital technologies, delivering productivity with site autonomy, and decarbonizing and building an energy value chain. He also revealed its innovative technology, X-Wise and X-Wise Xite, which will be key in the journey towards Xite Transformation.
X-Wise is an AI platform that maximizes safety and efficiency in fleet management to reach the ultimate goal of site autonomy and will be applied to all HD Hyundai’s industrial solutions as a base technology going forward. X-Wise Xite is an intelligent site management solution developed for optimal production of infrastructure by connecting all construction equipment applied with X-Wise in real time.
In addition to realizing site autonomy with these two innovative technologies, HD Hyundai plans to become the leader in open innovation by partnering with global top players in the industry to build a new global ecosystem.
Followed by Chung’s opening speech, partnering companies specified how they plan to collaborate with HD Hyundai to actualize Xite Transformation. Winta Bereket, the marketing manager at HD Hyundai Infracore North America, introduced HD Hyundai’s AI technology applied to construction equipment that will enhance safety and productivity, advancing the realization of site autonomy.
Prof. Marco Hutter from Gravis Robotics shared how his research on quadrupedal robots grew into developing autonomous excavators, and outlined the key features of robotic construction equipment. Vice President of Google Cloud, Philip Moyer, and Aerin Jungmin Lee from HD Hyundai presented the roadmap that the two companies are mutually working on with generative AI.
President and CTO of HD Hyundai XiteSolution, Dong-wook Lee, shared the blueprint of how the company plans to realize a fully autonomous site solution by combining intelligent construction equipment and X-Wise Xite. HD Hyundai will introduce the technological capability to create an environmentally friendly ecosystem.
The last speaker was Ghadah Alhamoud, international relations advisor at the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resource, Saudi Arabia, who shared his expectation for Xite Transformation, especially on how it will contribute to NEOM and the Saudi Vision 2030.
A representative of HD Hyundai said, “Our vision of ocean and land focuses on realizing our role as a Future Builder shared during CES 2022. That is why we will be keenly working with our global top partners and doing our utmost to present a new future for humanity.”
A summary of HD Hyundai’s keynote by speaker appears on the following pages.
The excerpts below are in order of appearance during the HD Hyundai keynote.
Xite Transformation — Kisun Chung, HD Hyundai Vice Chairman and CEO
- Since we first attended CES two years ago, we’ve been sharing developments on our Future Builder vision. Last year, as the world’s largest shipbuilder, we talked about Ocean Transformation, a fundamental change in how we interact with our oceans.
- This year, we are taking this journey of innovation one step further and presenting Xite Transformation, our site vision. With Xite Transformation, we plan to achieve three main goals: enhance safety, build site autonomy and support decarbonization.
- With our AI-based technologies, X-Wise and X-Wise Xite, HD Hyundai will make an evolution in our industry, from a hardware-based equipment manufacturer to a software-driven solution provider.
- We are also going to lead this historic transformation by building a new global ecosystem for open innovation, working together with industry-leading partners.
Smart CE (Construction Equipment) — Winta Bereket, HD Hyundai North America Marketing Manager
- Safety has always been a top priority for us. Thanks to X-Wise, safety is getting a technology upgrade. For instance, Smart AAVM (All-Around View Monitoring), a CES Innovation Award Honoree, teleoperation and our state-of-the-art smart workstations.
- X-Wise will make a more efficient approach to equipment handling, and HD Hyundai will make advancements in its equipment to intelligent machines to complete site autonomy.
Guest Speaker: Construction Robotics — Prof. Marco Hutter, Gravis Robotics Co-founder
- HD Hyundai and Gravis discovered in our research that quadrupedal robots and construction equipment actually have a lot in common. This inspired us to start a collaboration to develop robotic construction equipment.
- HD Hyundai has been striving toward autonomous construction with its Concept-X in 2019 and then again with Concept-X2 in 2022. This will unlock unprecedented capabilities for future construction and to transform the very nature of this industry.
X-Wise Xite — Aerin Jungmin Lee, HD Hyundai AI Center Senior Manager
- X-Wise Xite is our intelligent site management solution that connects different machines with each other.
- It also integrates various situational awareness to improve safety at site and maximizes productivity using the latest digital twin technology and AI analytics.
Guest Speaker: AI Partnership — Philip Moyer, Google Cloud AI Business Global Vice President
- We are using a large language model to build construction-specific AI technology.
- X-Wise Xite will be using data from Google to pick up on a pattern of behavior and preferences which ultimately helps it personalize recommendations in accordance with the user’s priorities.
- HD Hyundai has taken an open approach to bring positive developments in the construction industry.
Xite Autonomy — Dong-wook Lee, HD Hyundai XiteSolution President/CTO
- HD Hyundai will be combining the innovations in intelligent equipment and intelligent site management to deliver fully autonomous site solutions by 2030.
- We are also working on decarbonizing the future of the construction industry and developing a global value chain such as electrification and an environmentally friendly energy ecosystem.
Guest Speaker: Saudi Vision 2030 — Ghadah Alhamoud, International Relations Advisor at Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia
- HD Hyundai is already a top supplier of construction equipment in Saudi Arabia.
- We are excited to see HD Hyundai’s technologies shared at this year’s CES and how they can accelerate the pace of innovation for the Saudi Vision 2030.