An augmented reality application that is claimed will revolutionise the process of maintenance work has been launched by a French tech company.
Carl Software has joined with the Toulouse Institute for IT Research (IRIT) to produce a headset that gives building engineers a “virtual workbench”, in the physical space where the work is to be performed and allows them to use hand gestures to call up the information they need to work on an item of plant.
The company says: “In real time, the engineer can use their augmented reality headset to display a 3D model of the machine being worked on, display the list of operations to be performed and checked off, produce an augmented report with full context, access remote assistance via Skype and share a live view of it.”
The “augmented maintenance” system is currently in the research and experimentation phase of development, with a prototype being tested in Toulouse. The company hopes to bring the completed product to market by 2021.
The system uses an IT ecosystem developed by Carl Software for maintenance management solutions, including the Carl Source CMMS and the Carl Touch mobile application.
Image: Carl Software’s image of its augmented reality display