Hello HoloLens Hard Hat

In the summer of 2016, Microsoft made history by releasing HoloLens. This spatially aware device was the first of its kind. Capable of understanding the surrounding environment through an array of sensors, HoloLens projects holograms with such precision that they appear fixed in place, much like physical objects, so you can walk around and interact with them. The ability of HoloLens to show holographic projections that feel, look, and behave like real objects creates a whole new niche in the market: the mixed reality, where the physical world blends seamlessly with virtual ones.

HoloLens is more than a device; it is a sophisticated platform that developers can utilize to create new breeds of applications. Until HoloLens, many such ideas were science fiction, but HoloLens has let them spawn to life.

vGIS is an application that was born of the technology introduced by the HoloLens platform. vGIS uses the capabilities of mixed reality to create GIS-powered applications that can be applied in a variety of areas. The first of these industry-specific products was vGIS Utilities—a system that delivers accurate and stable in-the-field visualizations of utilities and infrastructure. vGIS lets you “see” buried pipes, lines, and cables in real time.

After deploying the vGIS application in real-world situations, the team behind vGIS discovered several shortcomings. Being a first-generation device, HoloLens is much like the original iPhone—a device positioned to revolutionize the world yet still raw and with a lot of room for improvement.

One such area is personal protective equipment (PPE). Most work sites mandate all personnel to have appropriate PPE. HoloLens is certified as protective eyewear. However, it was not possible to wear a hard hat while using HoloLens, and the hard hat is a “must.” Most job sites do not permit any personnel without hard hats, and a missing hard hat is often cause for termination.

Rather than wait for someone else to deliver a hard hat solution, the vGIS team developed its own device that has been in trials since the summer of 2017. By the time Microsoft announced that it was working on a similar device to be released in 2018, the vGIS solution had already tracked hundreds of hours of active field use.

Read more: www.meemim.com/2017/11/15/hololens-hard-hat-hardhat