Karlsruhe, since May 2009
We co-founded mobile construction documentation. And we are far from done.
Since May 2009 we have been developing tools in Karlsruhe for building with fewer errors and greater efficiency — from mobile defect recording in 2013 to the 360° helmet camera DIGIBAU 360. Today, more than 50,000 users in 7 languages work with our systems.
Who is Open Experience?
Open Experience is an owner-managed software company from Karlsruhe, founded in May 2009 as a spin-off from the KIT/FZI research environment. We develop the platform for the construction phase: software for defect management, construction documentation, site diary, checklists and schedule tracking — and, as the only provider in our competitive field, also the matching construction-site hardware, including the 360° helmet camera DIGIBAU 360. Development, support and hosting are based in Germany.
Why we do this
Two sentences we let ourselves be measured by — they have stood in our company philosophy like this for years.
- Mission"We believe we can make the world a little better by offering technologies for building with fewer errors and greater efficiency."
- Vision"The complete digital coordination of construction sites, where people, machines and autonomously acting robots work together in harmony" — based on a model that is continuously and automatically fed with up-to-date data from the construction site.
That is exactly the campaign line we work with: the construction site that documents itself. Not an advertising slogan, but the goal we have been researching since 2018.
From spin-off to the platform for the construction phase
Every milestone is documented — from press releases, the news archive and research projects.
- May 2009
Founded in Karlsruhe
Open Experience GmbH as a spin-off from the KIT/FZI research environment, funded by the EXIST start-up grant (BMWi) and "Junge Innovatoren" (Baden-Württemberg).
- 2011
First large-scale projects
onlineBemusterung launches on large Karlsruhe projects, including "Upper East" with 142 residential units.
- March 2013
Entry into the mobile world
onlineBauabnahme: recording defects on mobile devices directly on site — developed with partners from the construction industry. This product became Construction Defects.
- 2014
Version 2.0
iPhone support, offline mode and free access codes for subcontractors — the network principle that still applies today.
- January 2015
First appearance at BAU
Premiere at BAU in Munich, the world's leading trade fair — we have been present at every edition since.
- 2016
QR codes on site and PMG partnership
Construction documentation with QR-code identification. PMG about us: "one of the most technically mature solutions for defect management in Germany" (Mike Riegler, PMG).
- 2017
Defects in the BIM model
BIM-capable defect management with 3D location referencing — premiere at BAU 2017.
- 2018
Research project digiBau
Start of the project with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (ZIM/BMWi) — the birth of the helmet camera system.
- 2020–2022
ESKIMO — AI for construction execution
BMBF research project with KIT, Fraunhofer IPM and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences: AI from our own research, not bought in.
- 2021/2022
DIGIBAU 360 — a world first
World premiere in November 2021, market launch in April 2022: the 360° helmet camera system as our first own hardware product.
- May 2024
15 years of Open Experience
Anniversary lecture series at Karlsruhe Palace with the conference volume "Digitale Transformation" (ISSN 2512-8108).
- 2025
Bau-Cam premiere
Newly presented at BAU 2025 — on our largest trade-fair booth to date.
- Today
The platform for the construction phase
Ten tools, software and hardware from a single source, AI from our own research — and with OXI, the next step towards autonomous construction-site capture.
We build on research, not on buzzwords
Open Experience emerged from research and keeps researching — with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, FZI, KIT and Fraunhofer IOSB.
- digiBau (since 2018)Helmet camera system for seamless site-walk documentation, with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (ZIM/BMWi) — result: DIGIBAU 360.
- ESKIMO (2020–2022)AI building blocks for construction execution (BMBF) with KIT, Fraunhofer IPM and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences — the foundation of our defect and object recognition.
- BIM-4-CARE (2024–2026)Completed project on model-based management of buildings across the lifecycle — currently running are SmartMark and KRITIS3D.
That is the evidence behind our AI story: no bought-in feature, but the results of our own research projects.
Led by someone who speaks both languages — construction and software
Dipl.-Ing. Konstantin Krahtov, founder and managing director, founded Open Experience more than 15 years ago as a KIT spin-off — after years of research at the FZI Research Center for Information Technology.
- Close to the construction siteProduct decisions come from project conversations, not from roadmap workshops — customer requests go directly into the standard version.
- Customer protection instead of one-off specialsIf a custom feature is adopted into the standard version, we contribute up to 50% of the implementation cost.
Values you can see
Not as a mission statement on the wall, but as decisions that cost money or convenience.
Openness
"We stand for openness, transparent processes, trustworthy partners and continuous innovation." That is why our packages and limits are published openly on the pricing page.
Sustainability
No company car — business travel exclusively by train, bike and car sharing. Plus a paperless office; we don't just digitalize the construction site.
Social
Annual CharitySportDay with a donation per kilometer run — and the coronavirus initiative terminfrei.org from our own team.
Made in Germany
Development in Karlsruhe, hosting in Germany, support from people who know your project.
Frequently asked questions
How long has Open Experience existed?
Since May 2009 — founded in Karlsruhe as a spin-off from the KIT/FZI research environment, funded by the EXIST start-up grant.
What was onlineBauabnahme?
Our original product: from 2013, one of the first mobile solutions for recording defects directly on the construction site — today part of Construction Defects and the OX platform. The app still carries this name in the App Store.
Is DIGIBAU 360 developed in-house?
Yes — it emerged from the research project digiBau (2018), world premiere in 2021, market launch in 2022 as our first own hardware product.
Where is Open Experience based?
Amalienstraße 1, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany. Development, support and hosting take place in Germany.
How big is the company?
Open Experience is an owner-managed software company with its own development, support and research team in Karlsruhe.
Get to know us — ideally on your project.
45 minutes, your questions, no sales pressure. You talk to people who know construction sites.