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Builders can find a surprise source of inspiration in Pokemon.

Inspiration can come from the strangest of places for the TecHome Builder. Sometimes, the spark can even be ignited by an electrically-charged cartoon rodent named Pikachu.

The smart phone gaming app, “Pokemon Go,” has dominated the news cycle in recent weeks—a headline-maker second only to the current election. The app, a reimagining of handheld gaming from the nineties, is made all the more interesting through its use of augmented reality (AR) technology.

The industry has seen a handful of endeavors in the AR space, yet Henry Clifford, president of Livewire, calls “Pokemon Go” one of the neater appl...

Jeff Hansell has gone a long way to get to his TecHomes of today.

Innovation moves fast. If you don’t keep up with the changes, your business could suffer.

Just ask Jeff Hansell. The co-owner of Swiftwater Custom Homes in Washington has learned a lot about technology’s evolution since including solar hot water systems in his first projects back in 1981.

“Back then, in the Pacific Northwest, this was considered groundbreaking,” says Hansell. “So, that got me hooked on being on the leading edge of things and trying to understand where technology was going.”

Jeff Hansell.
Jeff Hansell.
Keep in mind, however, that this was 35 years ago, and technology has been risi...